15 Kid-Friendly Valentine's Day Baked Goods & Desserts to Make at Home
Easy DIY Valentine's Day Treats - Family Baking Ideas - Classroom Party Desserts
Valentine's Day is the perfect opportunity to create sweet memories in the kitchen! Whether you're baking with children, preparing treats for classroom parties, or making heartfelt gifts for loved ones, these 15 easy Valentine's Day baked goods combine fun, flavor, and family bonding. We've curated the best kid-friendly recipes from trusted food bloggers and recipe creators to help you celebrate love one delicious bite at a time.
1. Hot Chocolate Bombs
These magical chocolate spheres filled with hot cocoa mix and mini marshmallows transform an ordinary morning into a Valentine's Day celebration. Hot chocolate bombs are both a delicious treat and an engaging hands-on project that brings families together in the kitchen.
The Magic Moment: Drop a chocolate bomb into a mug of steaming milk and watch your kids' eyes light up as the shell melts away, releasing a cascade of cocoa powder and fluffy marshmallows. It's a simple pleasure that creates lasting memories.
Why Parents Love Them:
• Kid-Friendly Process: Simple steps like measuring, spooning cocoa mix, and adding marshmallows keep children engaged without creating kitchen chaos
• Perfect for Gifting: Wrap them in cellophane bags or small boxes to share with classmates, teachers, grandparents, or neighbors
• Endless Customization: Experiment with dark, milk, or white chocolate, add peppermint pieces, rainbow sprinkles, or a dash of cinnamon for grown-up flair
• Make-Ahead Convenience: Prepare these days in advance and store in an airtight container until Valentine's Day morning
2. Red Velvet Brownies
Rich, fudgy, and festively red, these brownies from Mimi at Eats Delightful offer a delicious twist on the classic brownie. Cut them into hearts using cookie cutters and finish with a tangy cream cheese drizzle for an irresistible Valentine's Day dessert.
Pro Tip: Use a cookie cutter that's large enough (at least 2-3 inches) to prevent the brownies from crumbling apart. Let the kids help with measuring ingredients and creating heart shapes—it's a perfect activity for little bakers!
3. Frosted Sugar Cookie Hearts
These classic heart-shaped sugar cookies from Barley & Sage are an absolute must-try! Decorated with pink and red frosting and festive sprinkles, they're perfect for classroom Valentine's parties, family baking sessions, or sweet gifts. The recipe is foolproof, delicious, and wonderful for getting kids involved in the decorating process.
4. Heart-Shaped Brown Butter Iced Mocha Cinnamon Rolls
While I typically stick to traditional cinnamon rolls, Half Baked Harvest's Brown Butter Iced Mocha Cinnamon Rolls convinced me to venture beyond my comfort zone. We even attempted to shape them into hearts (with mixed success, but that's part of the fun!). The combination of brown butter and mocha creates an elevated twist on a breakfast favorite that's worth the extra effort.
5. Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake with Buttercream Frosting
This show-stopping layered chocolate cake is a family favorite for good reason. The rich chocolate layers paired with silky buttercream frosting make it impossible for kids (and adults!) to resist
"taste-testing"
throughout the baking process. It's the perfect centerpiece for celebrating Valentine's Day with family and friends, and kids love helping frost each layer.
6. Raspberry Sugar Cookies
Bursting with bright raspberry flavor and dipped in rich chocolate, these cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction deliver bold color and even bolder taste. They're stunning on dessert trays, perfect for tucking into Valentine card boxes, and a delightful combination of sweet and tart that appeals to all ages.
7. Valentine's Day Sugar Cookie Bars with Sprinkles
When you need a crowd-pleaser that's simpler than individual cookies, these sugar cookie bars from Emily at My Messy Kitchen are the answer. Topped with festive Valentine's Day sprinkles, they're easy to make, easy to serve, and easy to love. I've experimented with other recipes, but Emily's version remains unbeatable.
8. Classic Heart Cookie Cut-Outs
Sometimes the classics are classic for a reason. Take your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe, grab heart-shaped cookie cutters in various sizes, and let the kids go wild with decorating. Another one from Sally’s Baking Addiction, this one is the closest to my mom’s recipe and I love it. It's a timeless Valentine's activity that never gets old and always delivers smiles.
9. Heart-Shaped Fruit Pizza
For a slightly lighter Valentine's dessert option, fruit pizza hits the sweet spot, from Five Heart Home, it’s a hit! Start with a sugar cookie crust cut into a heart shape, spread with cream cheese frosting, and arrange fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries work beautifully) in decorative patterns. It's colorful, delicious, and a fun way to incorporate fresh fruit into your Valentine's celebration.
10. Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
No Valentine's Day is complete without lava cakes and this one from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe is on point! These individual molten chocolate cakes with gooey, flowing centers look impressively sophisticated but are surprisingly straightforward to make at home. The moment you cut into one and watch the warm chocolate pour out is pure Valentine's magic—even kids can help measure and mix the batter.
11. Puff Pastry Hearts with Strawberries
These elegant flaky puff pastry hearts filled with sweet whipped cream and fresh strawberries are absolutely stunning for a Valentine's brunch or dessert from Sprinkle of This. Fair warning: this one is best tackled by adults or older teens, the delicate pastry work requires patience and precision. But the elegant results are well worth it!
12. Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies
Gorgeous swirls of raspberry and cheesecake marbled through rich, fudgy chocolate brownies create a dessert that's as beautiful as it is irresistible. The color combination screams Valentine's Day, and the flavor combination will have everyone asking for the recipe. Kids can help swirl the batters together for a fun marbling effect. This is a great recipe from Scientifically Sweet.
13. Heart-Shaped Rice Krispie Treats
Rice Krispie treats hold a special place in our hearts, literally! We served them at our wedding, so they're a natural choice for Valentine's Day too. Noshing with the Nolands had a great recipe for these. Shape them into hearts, add colorful sprinkles, candy hearts, or drizzle with melted chocolate. They're quick, easy, nostalgic, and always a hit with kids of all ages.
14. Swirled Strawberry Pound Cake
A tender, buttery pound cake with beautiful strawberry swirls and pink hues throughout makes an elegant Valentine's Day gift or dessert table centerpiece. The swirled effect is easier to achieve than it looks, and the result is a bakery-quality cake that tastes even better than it looks, from My Cake School.
15. Easy Homemade Peanut Butter Chocolate Hearts
The classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate never fails, especially when shaped into adorable hearts! These homemade treats are incredibly simple to make, just a few ingredients and minimal baking time required. They're perfect for gifting to classmates, neighbors, or anyone special, and the peanut butter-chocolate combo is universally loved.
Make This Valentine's Day Deliciously Memorable
Whether you choose one recipe or tackle several, these 15 kid-friendly Valentine's Day baked goods offer something for every skill level and schedule. From quick Rice Krispie treats to show-stopping layer cakes, each recipe creates an opportunity to slow down, bond with your children, and make Valentine's Day truly special.
The best part? These treats aren't just about the final product—they're about the flour-dusted counters, the frosting-covered fingers, the giggles over misshapen hearts, and the pride on little faces when they share something they made with love. That's what Valentine's Day baking is really all about.
Happy baking, and Happy Valentine's Day!