February - Valentine's Recipes

Devil's Food Trifle
From: Hillory Dahle

2 3 oz. pkgs. Jell-O Devil's Food Pudding
4 cups milk
1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese
1 Sara Lee frozen pound cake
12 oz. container Cool Whip
32 Oreos, crushed

Mix 3 cups milk and cream cheese together with hand mixer; add in 2 pkgs. pudding. Layer pound cake in bottom of dish. Use remaining milk to lightly drizzle on top of cake. Next, layer pudding mixture, crushed Oreos, then Cool Whip. Repeat the layers, finishing with a smattering of crushed Oreos on top.

There should be 2 complete layers when trifle is finished + sprinkling of Oreos on top.


No Bake Chocolate Chip Pie
From: Nancy Falls


1 15 oz. pkg. chocolate chip cookies (Chips Ahoy works great)
1 c milk
1 store-bought graham cracker crust
1 8 oz. container Cool Whip

Dip 8 cookies in milk, and place in a single layer in graham cracker crust. Top with 1/3 Cool Whip. Repeat layers with more cookies, milk, remaining Cool Whip. Crumble 2 cookies and sprinkle over pie. Cover and chill 8 hours.


Sugar Cookies
From: Jenni Bowman
(The beautiful cookies above were made by Sherri Waite)

3 c sugar
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs
8 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
6 tsp. baking powder
Spec of salt
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream first 4 ingredients. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and mix. Blend in vanilla. Roll to between 1/8" and 1/4" thickness depending on how puffy you want your cookies (they puff a bit once they bake). Bake at 400 or 375 (depending on thickness) for 7 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Sugar Cookie Frosting

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk

Mix all together and add more powdered sugar if needed.


Chocolate Covered Cherries
From: Jenni Bowman

8 Tbsp. melted butter
6 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 lbs. powdered sugar
3 10 oz. jars maraschino cherries with stems, drained
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 Tbsp. shortening

In large mixing bowl, combine butter, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and sugar. Knead dough and form into one large bowl. Pat drained cherries dry with a paper towel. Pinch off a small amount of fondant dough and flatten it into a circle in the palm of your hand. Form around cherry and place on waxed paper. The ball around the cherry should be approximately the size of a walnut. Repeat until all cherries are covered and place in the freezer to chill.

In a double boiler (or steel bowl placed over a pot of boiling water), melt chocolate chips and shortening together. Dip the cooled balls in the chocolate, let cool on parchment paper.

I found that this makes a LOT of fondant dough, so if you halve the amount you will still have plenty for around 80 cherries. If you store these long enough, the sugared mixture will become liquefied like the kind you buy at the store.


Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
From: Jenni Bowman

2 cups milk chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. shortening
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
Chocolate paper cups

In 1-quart sauce pan, combine chocolate chips and shortening. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally. Loosen top cup from stack but leave in stack for stability. Using paint brush, paint the inside of the cup with 1/8" thickness almost to the top of the cup. Repeat until 30 cups are coated. Refrigerate cups to harden.

In 2-quart sauce pan, combiner butter or margarine and peanut butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Stir in sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Press about 1/2 tbsp. filling into each chocolate cup. Spoon about 1/2 tsp. melted chocolate on top of filling; spread to cover. Freeze until firm (about 2 hours). Peel off papers carefully. Store refrigerated.

Variations: for Valentine's treats, make peanut butter mixture and press into an 8 x 8 pan lined with wax paper. Chill to firm for an hour. Using a small heart shaped cutter, cut out hearts and place on a cooling rack over waxed paper. Make the chocolate and drizzle over the top of each heart, letting it drip down the sides.

Instead of using cups, just make the peanut butter mixture and press into 8 x 8 pan and cover with the chocolate. Chill until firm and then cut into squares.

They really taste like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!