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  1. Midwest Living
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  4. 20 Best Valentine's Day Dessert Recipes

20 Best Valentine's Day Dessert Recipes

By Midwest Living editors Updated December 19, 2022
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Gateau au Chocolat
Credit: Blaine Moats

Treat your sweetie to decadent cakes, glazed Valentine cookies, easy truffles, mini chocolate souffles and more.

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Gâteau au Chocolate

gold rim plate with Gâteau au Chocolate
Credit: Blaine Moats
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This exceedingly moist and rich (but so simple!) cake is all about chocolate and butter; if you can swing it, choose top-quality brands.

Related: Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes

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Mini Raspberry White Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Mini Raspberry and White Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Credit: Kritsada Panichgul
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This special-occasion dessert will disappear quickly. Soft cookies sandwich a white chocolate mascarpone filling and seedless raspberry preserves.

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Valentine's Day Marshmallow Treats

Valentine’s Day Marshmallow Treats
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Dress up rice cereal hearts with frosting, pretzels, peanut butter, chocolate and other toppings for Valentine's Day sweets.

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Red-Hot Velvet Brownies

Red-Hot Velvet Brownies
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These cinnamon-spiked red velvet bars taste just like red-hot candies—with a layer of luscious cream cheese frosting on top! 

Related: Delicious Red Velvet Dessert Recipes

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Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
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Top these gooey-center, intense chocolate desserts with powdered sugar.

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Cookie Canvas

Cookie canvas

Whip up flavored icing for cookies, sweet rolls, cakes or coffee cake in minutes. Just mix 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar with 2 to 3 tablespoons liquid, then drizzle away. For a Valentine's Day treat, try maraschino cherry juice for pretty pink color. Maraschino cherry juice, coffee and creme de menthe add color as well as flavor. Most other liqueurs and citrus juices yield white or cream-color icing. For unflavored drizzle, use milk.

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Mini Chocolate Soufflés

Mini Chocolate Soufflés
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These warm, bittersweet puffs have coffee in them, but you'd never know it. Performing culinary sleight of hand, the hidden ingredient just helps chocolate taste more chocolatey, like a capful of vanilla would, but with a darker intent.

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Red Velvet Pots

Red Velvet Pots
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For a cake that comes together in minutes, just mix and microwave. Top with a powdered sugar heart.

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White Chocolate-Cherry Shortbread

White-Chocolate-Cherry Shortbread
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Dip these cookies in melted white chocolate, then roll in nonpareils and edible glitter for Valentine color.

Related: The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes

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Valentine's Day Chocolate Trail Mix

Valentine's Day Chocolate Trail Mix
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Sweet, salty, chewy, crunchy—this has everything you want in a snack mix. Plus chocolate, of course!

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Salted Almond Truffle Tart

Salted Almond Truffle Tart
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One of our testers described this tart's filling as "chocolate butter." We couldn't agree more. It's fantastically rich, with roast-toasty salted almonds in the crust and flaky sea salt on top to balance the sweetness.

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Vanilla Pudding with Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle

Vanilla Pudding with Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle
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Chocolate desserts may be traditional on Valentine's Day, but for vanilla fans, we like this twist on old-fashioned cookies and milk—a creamy vanilla pudding topped with crispy-buttery cookie bits.

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Three-Tiered Chocolate Cake

Three-Tiered Fudgy Chocolate Cake
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Few foods say "celebration" like cake, especially chocolate. The recipe for this decadently rich dessert includes variations such as Hot Chocolate Cake, Spice is Nice Chocolate Cake and Mocha Chocolate Cake. 

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Fudge Brownie Hearts

Fudge Brownie Hearts
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These Valentine treats combine bittersweet and semisweet chocolate with plenty of butter, eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar for a moist, rich dessert. After the brownies have cooked and cooled, you can cut them into bars or use 3-inch heart-shape cutters. Drizzle with a vanilla glaze.

Related: Rich, Moist Brownie Recipes

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Red Velvet Cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake
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We took the red velvet cake we love and gave it a creamy twist. Don't let the red color fool you: The flavor is all chocolate.

Related: Creamy Cheesecakes You'll Love

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Candy-Box Caramels

Candy-Box Caramels
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Make packaged caramel squares a perfect, easy Valentine treat by dipping them in sprinkles, crushed nuts and bits of candy. Drizzle with dark or white chocolate to add even more color.

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Cocoa and Brown Butter Shortbread Bites

Cocoa and Brown Butter Shortbread Bites
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Browned butter infuses irresistible nuttiness into these four-ingredient cookies without sullying their essential simplicity or sandy texture. Dip them in satiny chocolate for effortless glamour.

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Creamy Peanut Butter Truffles

Creamy Peanut Butter Truffles
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Minnesota's Saint Paul Hotel features truffles similar to these.

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Tinted Angel Cake

Tinted Angel Cake
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The many colors of Kool-Aid, a Nebraska invention, mean there is an array of choices for this angel food cake that starts with a mix. Pink lemonade Kool-Aid adds pastel Valentine dessert prettiness and a delicate flavor to Tinted Angel Cake.

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The Original Chocolate Fondue

The Original Chocolate Fondue
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Fondue stars at the Melting Pot restaurant in Indianapolis. We offer The Original Chocolate Fondue recipe as well as versions based on s'mores and caramels. Dippers include fruit, angel food cake, pound cake cubes and marshmallows.

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Puffed Heart Lemon Cookies

Puffed Heart Lemon Cookies
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A lemon-flavor glaze, colored white or pink, adds a sweet-tart topping to these cakelike confections for a Valentine's dessert.

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    1 of 21 Gâteau au Chocolate
    2 of 21 Mini Raspberry White Chocolate Whoopie Pies
    3 of 21 Valentine's Day Marshmallow Treats
    4 of 21 Red-Hot Velvet Brownies
    5 of 21 Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
    6 of 21 Cookie Canvas
    7 of 21 Mini Chocolate Soufflés
    8 of 21 Red Velvet Pots
    9 of 21 White Chocolate-Cherry Shortbread
    10 of 21 Valentine's Day Chocolate Trail Mix
    11 of 21 Salted Almond Truffle Tart
    12 of 21 Vanilla Pudding with Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle
    13 of 21 Three-Tiered Chocolate Cake
    14 of 21 Fudge Brownie Hearts
    15 of 21 Red Velvet Cheesecake
    16 of 21 Candy-Box Caramels
    17 of 21 Cocoa and Brown Butter Shortbread Bites
    18 of 21 Creamy Peanut Butter Truffles
    19 of 21 Tinted Angel Cake
    20 of 21 The Original Chocolate Fondue
    21 of 21 Puffed Heart Lemon Cookies

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