With Valentine’s Day arriving next Saturday I have some adorable tasty low-fat lovebug cupcakes and heart-shaped cookies brought to you by Woman’s Day that are easy to bake and fun to share this Valentine’s Day. These two Valentine’s Day Recipes make the perfect treats to share with your kiddos in the kitchen and look so cute to create! The recipes are featured in February issue of Woman’s Day, now on newsstands nationwide! Happy baking!
Valentine’s Day Recipes
Valentine’s Day Recipes -Lovebug Cupcakes and Heart-shaped Cookies!
Ingredients
- Mini paper liners
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa not Dutch-processed
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 4 large egg whites
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 oz bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
- Royal icing recipe below and decorations
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F. Line a 24-cup mini muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking
- powder and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy, then whisk in
- the oil and vanilla. Add the egg white mixture to the flour mixture,
- stirring just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate.
- Divide the batter among the lined muffin cups and bake until a
- wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, 7 to 9 minutes.
- Remove from pans and let cool on wire racks. Decorate as desired.
Valentine’s Day Heart-shaped Cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 cup sliced almonds 3 oz
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 3 large egg whites
- ½ cup canola oil
- ¾ tsp pure vanilla extract
- Heart-shaped cookie cutters
- Royal icing recipe below and decorations
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a
- food processor, finely grind the almonds with ¼ cup flour, 1 to 2
- minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in the sugar, cornstarch,
- salt and remaining 2 cups flour.
- In a second bowl, beat together the egg whites, oil and vanilla. Mix
- the egg white mixture into the almond-flour mixture (the dough will
- not hold together yet). Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and
- knead 3 to 4 times to bring it together; shape into two 1-in.-thick
- disks.
- Roll each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper to ⅛ in. thick. Using
- different-sized heart cutters, cut out cookies. With a metal spatula,
- transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 1 in.
- apart. Reroll and cut the scraps.
- Bake, rotating the position of the pans halfway through, until the
- cookies are set, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 10
- minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Decorate as
- desired.
ROYAL ICING AND DECORATIONS
3 large egg whites
½ tsp cream of tartar
1 lb confectioners’ sugar
Red gel paste food coloring
Red, pink and white medium nonpareils
Red, pink and white sugar hearts
Sanding sugar, for decorating
1 Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until foamy, about 1 minute.
2 Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sugar, beating until just incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until medium-stiff glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes.
3 Separate into bowls and tint different colors. Transfer ⅓ of each color to separate pastry bags fitted with fine tips. Use a few drops of water to thin the icing remaining in the bowls for flooding; place in separate resealable bags; snip of the corners.
4 Using the thicker icing, outline lovebug wings on the cupcakes and outline the heart cookies, then flood using the thinner icing. Decorate while the icing is still wet. For multiple colors, let each icing dry before applying another.
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These Lovebug cupcakes are so cute! I love cupcakes as they are so easy to make. My son would love these. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
The cupcakes are so totally adorable, but I think I will try the cookies. They look so good, I would almost hate to eat them.
Those ladybugs are cute as the dickens! I can see these also during any spring or summer party they are THAT cute! I like how easy they look to make, simple yet effective. Thanks for posting this one, I have to remember to give this one a try when I want to impress the gals!
The ladybugs are just too adorable to eat. I love them!!
These are the cutest cupcakes ever. My niece would love these, she loves lady bugs.
how cute,,my grandkids would love these anytime
these cupcakes look so cute!
Those cupcakes are adorable. My niece would love to make these.
I love the cupcakes and they would be a perfect welcome spring dessert. I don’t think mine would be as perfect but I think I could get them close enough that they would look like ladybugs.
The lovebug cupcakes look so adorable and tasty, definitely using this idea!
I know my niece would love the cupcakes. She loves ladybugs.
These are adorable! I will definitely have to make these next Valentine’s Day.
Oh my goodness, these are so very adorable and so so cute. Thanks for sharing they look yummy too!
Oh my gosh, those cupcakes are delightful! Pinned and saved, I will have to make them.