Valentine's Day Recipes: Say 'I Love You' With Cookies Or Sweet Chocolate Stencil Cupcakes

Cupid's Day is right around the corner and our friends from Reynolds Kitchens shared with us a few simple, cost-effective, yet super sweet Valentine’s Day treats that any-level baker can easily make. Besides, we don’t know any better way to say "I love you" than with cookies or sweet chocolate stencil cupcakes. Get inspired for this romantic holiday and read below how to make these special desserts to surprise your sweetheart.

Valentine Conversation Heart Cookies

Say "I love you!" on Valentine’s Day with these yummy sugar cookies inspired by classic conversation hearts.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 can (16 oz.) vanilla frosting
• Food coloring
• Reynolds® Parchment Paper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two cookie sheets with Reynolds Parchment Paper.

Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

Roll half the dough at a time between two sheets of parchment paper to 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch heart-shape cookie cutter, cut out cookie shapes, rerolling dough as needed until all the dough is cut out. Place shapes 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very light brown. Transfer the parchment paper with baked cookies to wire racks and let cool. Once cooled, slide the parchment paper onto a work surface.

Tint frosting as desired with food coloring. Frost cookies with one color and use another color to pipe a message over the frosted cookies.

Personalized chocolate-stencil cupcakes.

Materials

• Reynolds Parchment Paper
• Chocolate stencil (printout available here)
• Baking sheet
• Melting chocolate
• Piping bag and tip
• Favorite baked and frosted cupcakes

Instructions

Print out Reynolds Chocolate Valentine’s Day stencil. Place stencil on baking sheet. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the stencil – you’ll be able to see through to the printout. Tip: Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets are flat and pre-cut for easy use. Melt chocolate and pour into piping bag. Using a thin tip, trace the Chocolate Stencils available here. Use the alphabet to spell out a personalize message.

Tip: You can roll up parchment paper to use as a make-shift piping bag if you don’t have one handy—no tip needed, just curl parchment paper to desired opening width. Carefully place cookie sheet in freezer and allow chocolate to harden for at least one-hour.

Once chocolate is frozen, gently lift off of the parchment paper with a flat spatula, and place on top of cupcake of choice. Be creative and enjoy!