Looking for easy Valentine Treats for Kids this year? We’ve got them for you, here at Out of the Box Baking!
I love having the grandkids over for baking day. But, let’s be real: We often end up making a mess! I have huge aspirations but my projects are too complicated for kids. This year one of my granddaughters needed some quick projects for a bake sale at her church. We chose four super-quick and easy options.
Our finished products were gorgeous, so I know she was happy with the outcome. You’ll be happy, too! Making these things with the kids is super-easy.
Four Easy Valentine Snacks Kids Can Make:
1. Pink Puppy Chow
We made something similar to this at Christmas time but wanted to do a Valentine Version. I found a recipe online and tweaked it a little. Here’s what you’ll need to make Pink Puppy Chow:
INGREDIENTS:
- rice Chex
- red candy melts
- pink candy melts
- white candy melts
- coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
- Valentine M&Ms
- Valentine sprinkles
- powdered sugar
- strawberry cake mix
How we made our Puppy Chow:
- You’ll need a total of nine cups of Chex mix for this project. Divide it into three bowls.
- You’ll need three gallon sized baggies for the dry ingredients. Mix the cake mix and powdered sugar together, then divide between the three bags.
- Melt red candy melts and pour about half of it over one bowl of Chex. Stir/coat and then put into one bag of powdered sugar/cake mix and shake. Set aside.
- Repeat the process with the pink candy melts. Only use half and set the rest aside! Stir/coat, then place into a bag of powdered sugar/cake mix and shake. Set aside.
- Do the same with the white.
- You’ll end up with three bags of chow. Combine into a large bowl and add M&Ms and sprinkles.
- Now for the fun part! We transferred to a colander/sifter and got rid of the excess powdered sugar before separating into bags.
- I let the kids bag them up and add the ribbons. So fun!
Pink Puppy Chow
Yield: 9-10 bags
Sweet, strawberry-flavored chex mix for Valentines Day!
Ingredients
- 9 cups Rice Chex mix
- 1 bag red candy melts
- 1 bag pink candy melts
- 1 bag white candy melts
- 3 tbl. coconut (or vegetable) oil
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 box strawberry cake mix
- 2 cups Valentines M&Ms
- Valentines sprinkles
Instructions
You'll need three gallon sized baggies for the dry ingredients. Mix the cake mix and powdered sugar together, then divide between the three bags.
Melt red candy melts and pour about half of it over one bowl of Chex. Stir/coat and then put into one bag of powdered sugar/cake mix and shake. Set aside.
Repeat the process with the pink candy melts. Only use half and set the rest aside! Stir/coat, then place into a bag of powdered sugar/cake mix and shake. Set aside.
Do the same with the white.
You'll end up with three bags of chow. Combine into a large bowl and add M&Ms and sprinkles.
Now for the fun part! We transferred to a colander/sifter and got rid of the excess powdered sugar before separating into bags.
I let the kids bag them up and add the ribbons. So fun!
2. Chocolate covered pretzels
We made some of these at Christmas and the kids loved them so much! I knew they would be the perfect addition for our Valentines Day offerings.
INGREDIENTS:
- Mini pretzels
- candy melts
- oil
- sprinkles
How to make chocolate-covered pretzels:
- Remember the left-over melted candy melts from the Puppy Chow project above? We re-warmed them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to get them to the dippable stage then quickly dipped our pretzels.
- We opted to only cover about 1/2 – 2/3 of the pretzel, so we were able to hold onto them with our fingers without actually dropping the whole thing into the chocolate.
- We started by putting out waxed paper. We also had our sprinkles handy.
- I wanted to cover the pretzel quickly, while still wet. We worked until we’d used up all of our left-over candy melts.
- One granddaughter did the pink pretzels. Another did the white. I tackled the red.
- We added sprinkles while they were still wet.
- When they dried, my daughter merged a handful of them into a treat bag and made them look pretty with ribbons. Talk about a fun, easy treat!
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Pretzels, candy melts, oil, and sprinkles. Talk about the easiest edible Valentines project for kids!
Ingredients
- pretzels
- candy melts
- sprinkles
- oil
Instructions
- Add oil to candy melts
- Melt in 30-second increments until fully melted and smooth
- Stir
- Coat pretzels. (You can coat the whole pretzel by dipping it into the mixture with a fork but we chose to hold onto the pretzels and only cover about 1/2 - 2/3 of the pretzel with the chocolate.
- Place on waxed paper.
- Add sprinkles while still wet.
3. Chocolate-covered Graham Crackers
I covered the details of this one in my Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers post. They’re so easy and fun!
INGREDIENTS
- graham crackers
- white almond bark
- coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
- sprinkles
- red cookie icing (or melted red chocolate candy melts)
How to make Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers:
- Break the graham crackers in half (making squares)
- Melt the almond bark with a tablespoon of oil. (Melt in 30-second increments until smooth and liquid, stirring between times.)
- Lay out a sheet of waxed paper in advance.
- Thoroughly dip/coat the crackers, then place them on the waxed paper.
- Add royal icing (or red chocolate/candy melt) stripes, if you want to add more color.
- While still wet, add sprinkles.
- Allow to set up before packaging.
Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers
Ingredients
- 18 squares of graham crackers (one sleeve)
- 9 squares white almond bark
- 1 tbl coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
- sprinkles
- (melted chocolate or royal icing for decorating)
Instructions
Separate the squares of almond bark and place in a bowl. Add the tablespoon of oil.
Place the bowl in the microwave and cook on high in 30-second increments, removing to stir between times. (Mine took about a minute and a half.)
Stir all lumps away.
Move your bowl to your work station. Have the graham crackers and sprinkles nearby.
Working one at a time, dip the crackers into the gooey chocolate. The crackers have a top and bottom. Do you best to keep them top-up, using the rubber spatula to spoon chocolate over the top, then lifting with the fork.
As you lift with the fork give the chocolate covered graham crackers a little swish back and forth to level out the chocolate on top and remove any excess.
Gently place the cookie on the waxed paper. Do 2-3 in a row and then pause to sprinkle them. You want to sprinkle while they’re still wet.
If the bowl of chocolate begins to harden, simply put it back in the microwave for a few seconds.
Leave the cookies to harden. This should take about half an hour, maybe a bit longer.
Once completely hardened, take a paring knife and trim away the excess chocolate around the edges, leaving a smooth product.
Store in an airtight container. There’s no need to refrigerate. They should keep for a week or more in a sealed container.
4. Oreo Cupcakes
I had some Oreos left over from a birthday cake I’d baked the day before, so I decided to use those as cupcake toppers. We made some super-simple chocolate cupcakes and dressed them up with yummy Oreo-infused frosting!
Here’s how you can make them too!
OREO CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS:
- devil’s food cake mix
- oil
- milk
- eggs
- crushed Oreos
How to Make Oreo Cupcakes
- Make according to boxed mix directions but replace oil with 1 stick of room temperature butter.
- Add one cup of chopped Oreos to the batter.
- Using ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners (mine made 18)
- Bake for 18 minutes or until done
- Cool completely
FROSTING INGREDIENTS
- cream cheese, room temperature
- butter
- crisco
- crushed Oreos
- powdered sugar
- milk (to thin)
- 18 whole Oreos
How to Make Frosting
Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add Crisco and continue to beat. Add powdered sugar. Stir in a cup of crushed Oreos. Thin with milk, if consistency isn’t right.
Pipe frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Stick an Oreo atop each cupcake.
Oreo Cupcakes
Ingredients
- CUPCAKES
- 1 devil's food cake mix
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup milk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup crushed Oreos
- FROSTING
- 1 block cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup crisco
- 1 cup crushed Oreos
- 7-8 cups powdered sugar
- milk (to thin)
- 18 whole Oreos
Instructions
- CUPCAKES
- FROSTING
Make according to boxed mix directions but replace oil with 1 stick of room temperature butter.
Add one cup of chopped Oreos to the batter.
Using ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners (mine made 18)
Bake for 18 minutes or until done
Cool completely
Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add Crisco and continue to beat. Add powdered sugar. Stir in a cup of crushed Oreos. Thin with milk, if consistency isn't right. Pipe frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Stick an Oreo atop each cupcake.
These are some of my easy Valentines treats you can make with kids!
Looking for other fun Valentines offerings?
Check out my Easy Brownies recipe. It’s perfect for Valentines Day!
My Pink Velvet Cupcakes would also be easy to make with the kids! They’re super yummy and have a sweet ganache frosting.
If you’re really feeling adventurous, you can makes some of my famous sugar cookies and hand-paint them with the kids!
Before we go, check out these fun ideas (10 Cute and Easy Valentine’s Day Treats) from Allrecipes!
Here is a list of my Valentines Favorites recipes! These recipes will make your Valentine’s Day even sweeter! That’s all for now!
About the Author
Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.
