Archives for February 8, 2013

Valentine’s Day is next week and when I think of Valentine Desserts, it’s gotta be Chocolate with a decadent fruit like oranges or raspberries or Cheesecake!

I am working with Great Value Refrigerated Doughs once again to create some delicious Valentine treats for my family as well as the kids teachers and classmates!  This time I get to use the Great Value Rolled Pie Crusts and Cookie Dough.  Oh, the pie crusts!  There are so many ideas for those, as you will see below.  Once again, most Walmart’s carry the Great Value refrigerated doughs; but they also make the store brands for all other grocery stores except Aldi.  Since we are a test market, I did not find them in my store; but did grab Publix’s store brand and they worked great!

First, my love of Chocolate and Orange should be satisfied with these Chocolate-Orange Turnovers (recipe from Home Stories A to Z, adapted for this use):

What You’ll Need:

• 2 Oranges, peeled and cut into segements
• 1 tsp. orange zest, chopped
• 2 oz. dark chocolate (I am using Green & Blacks)
• 1 package Refrigerated, Rolled Great Value Pie Crust
• 1 egg, beaten
• Granulated sugar or sanding sugar

Directions:

• Bring the pie crust to room temperature, preheat your oven to 350*, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Peel and chop up one orange and place in a bowl. Drain any juice. With a zester, zest your orange and place a teaspoon of zest in the bowl.
• Mix your chocolate chips into the orange and zest and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• On a floured surface, cut the pie crust into about 8 squares and place on parchment paper.
• Grab your filling from the fridge, pour off any juice, and place filling equally in each of your squares.
• Fold the corners over and pinch to close.  Or you can crimp the edges together.
• Glaze with beaten egg OR freshly squeezed orange juice.. Sprinkle with sanding sugar (or just regular sugar) and pop in the preheated oven at 350* for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
•  Garnish if desired with chocolate sprinkles mint leaves and orange rind curls and enjoy!

*I plan to duplicate this with raspberries and chocolate too and add some cream cheese!  You could do so many different combinations.

For the kiddos, I am tackling these Valentine Cookie Pops from Pizzazzerie!  Don’t those look fun?  I think I’ll embellish them by dipping them in melted chocolate and then sprinkling them with Valentine sprinkles too!

What You’ll Need:

• Great Value (or your store’s generic brand) Chocolate Chip, Sugar or Peanut Butter Refrigerated Cookie Dough
• Wilton Lollipop Sticks – the shorter ones (can be found at Walmart in the specialty baking section)
• Baking Chocolate or White Chocolate
• Valentine Sprinkles

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Roll dough onto floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness
• Cut out heart shapes using a 2-inch heart shaped cookie cutter. Re-roll scraps to make additional hearts.
• Place cutouts 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet.
• Twist Wilton Lollipop Stick into bottom of heart.
  • Tip: Do not simply lay the cookie on top of the stick – it may not bake all around.
• Bake 20 minutes and cool completely on baking sheets.

WHAT’S TRENDING? Looking for a few engaging activities? Grab Minute to Win it Games – Traditional, Holiday, Group, and more! Use these fun activities in the office, classroom, or at your next birthday party.

Last Updated on February 8, 2013 by