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Challenge: Be My Valentine

Valentine Treat Hearts

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With Valentine's Day around the corner and our kids excited to bring something to their friends, many of us feel the pressure to bring out the scissors and glue and craft sparkly creations with our kids.

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However, if you are anything like me and the thought of getting out the hot glue gun and having glitter everywhere for months is slightly terrifying; heading into the kitchen for a Valentine's Day solution is a much better (and easier) idea.

One of the reasons I love these Valentine's Day hearts is because I nearly always have a box of Cheerios in my pantry and with a little help of marshmallows and leftover sprinkles from Christmas, I can easily look like I have "mom superpowers" to my kids.

As the time passes, I've learned that my kids feel most loved when I spend time with them and spending just a few minutes making these with them is an easy way to do that.

The mixture is so yummy they have nicknamed it "sticky-O's" and the giggles that come out them while we are making these are just the type that make this mom smile and melts my heart.

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Buy using a heart shaped cookie cutter and dipping the corner in a little while chocolate plus adding a few red sprinkles, this Valentine's Day treat is now ultra special and different than the traditional treat. The final touch was to add a popsicle stick and bag them up in a cellophane baggie and these heart treats were ready for their friends.

Watch how these treats are made here.

Recipe:

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 10-ounce package marshmallows
  • 6 cups Cheerios
  • 1 1/2 cpus white chocolate chips (optional)
  • Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

  1. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter and marshmallows, stopping at 30 and 45 seconds to stir and combine.
  3. Add in Very Berry Cheerios and toss everything together with a wooden spoon.
  4. Transfer cereal mixture onto the lined baking sheet and press down throughout, distributing evenly around to about ½ inch thick.
  5. Set aside to cool for about an hour or refrigerate for 20 minutes until set.
  6. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, begin to cut out the hearts. Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate chips, stirring to make sure they don’t burn every 30 seconds.
  7. Begin to dip each corner of the Very Berry hearts and transfer to the clean, parchment lined baking sheet for chocolate to set. Sprinkle with sprinkles.
  8. Optional: After the hearts are fully cooled, push a cake-pop stick through the center of the heart and wrap with small cellophane bags to share with your friends.

Yield: 1-2 dozen hearts, will vary by size

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