Dos & Doughs: Making tasty treats

It’s not too late to treat your little sweethearts to some fun in the kitchen for Valentine’s Day. Refrigerated cookie doughs and other treat kits sold at the grocery stores have made it easier than ever to whip together fun treats for the kids. They’ll want to get into the action, too, cutting out cookies, dipping strawberries or shaking sprinkles.

With a little imagination you can turn those ready-to-bake doughs into treats that they can’t wait to eat.

Press refrigerated cookie dough into a mini heart-shaped pan or just a mini muffin tin. Children can help with the dough or wait and press a heart-shaped chocolate or peanut butter cup into the center of the cookies while they are cooling. The little cookie tarts, featured recently on a food blog called thepioneerwomancooks.com, will be hard to resist.

Experiment with different flavors: Peanut butter cookie dough with miniature Reese’s seems obvious. Try chocolate chip cookie dough with caramel or cherry cordial Kisses, sugar cookie dough with dark chocolate hearts or brownie dough with dark chocolate hearts. (The Pioneer Woman recommends oatmeal chocolate chip with caramel Hershey’s Kisses.)

To make them: Cut the refrigerated cookie dough logs into 1 1/4-inch rounds and then quarter. Drop a piece of the dough into each well-greased mini-muffin cup. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until they are just beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and press an unwrapped miniature chocolate, peanut butter cup or heart into the center of the cookies. The heat from the cookies and the pan will slightly melt the chocolates. Remove when cooled slightly.

Sprinkles can dress up the treats even more for the holiday.

Jennifer Gatts, manager of Carolyn’s, Candy and Cookie Supplies, 1705 N. Hamilton St., says if you have just a few quick supplies you can make candies with the kids. Chocolate or candy melts, molds and squeeze bottles for all you need to make little hearts, suckers or candies.

“Candy molds are great for kids to help with … anything with chocolate especially for the kids, (because) it’s not too hot,” Gatts says. “They can use squeeze bottles so it’s easy for them.”

Gatts sells both milk and dark chocolate for melting, along with candy melts in red, pink and white that are perfect for Valentine’s Day fun.

But even without molds, chocolate and sprinkles can transform an Oreo into a Valentine’s Day sucker, or a marshmallow into a fun holiday treat. Dip marshmallows, strawberries and other fruit into melted chocolate or candy melts. Sprinkle with heart sprinkles, colored sugar or nonpareils while they are wet or brush with edible glitter after they dry.

To make an Oreo sucker: Separate one side of the chocolate cookie from the filling. Using a sucker stick, scrape a line of the white cream filling out.

Dip the sucker stick in melted chocolate, white chocolate or candy coating and replace in the space.

Replace the chocolate cookie and dip entire cookie into the chocolate. Place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Decorate with sprinkles such as nonpareils, decorettes, or shaped sprinkles, while candy is wet.

Place cookie sheet in freezer to set up (about 5 minutes).

If nothing else, any recipe for frosted cookies and cupcakes can quickly be turned into valentine treats with the sprinkles, sanding sugar and valentine-themed picks or rings, Gatts says.

Make a cookie bouquet by baking cookies onto craft sticks. A bouquet can also be made from dipped strawberries on craft sticks or various length skewers. Or, add a chocolate dipped strawberry to Rainbow Fruit Skewers from Ellie Krieger’s new “The Food you Crave” cookbook (recipe follows.) Shape crispy rice into a heart and wrap individually in pretty cellophane bags.

The holiday needn’t be the reason for a one-day sugar high. Cookie cutters can transform an everyday sandwich into a treat. Cut a heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Serve a snack with cheese and turkey slices cut out with miniature X’s or O’s. Use a squirt bottle to make heart-shaped pancakes or cut round pancakes with a heart-shaped cutter for breakfast.

Kids will love rolling out soft pretzel dough into the shape of hearts, knots or even their initials. The recipe below from Martha Stewart will take an hour of rising time before it’s ready for little hands.

Ready-made bread dough from the grocery store’s freezer section can also be substituted. Thaw dough in the refrigerator overnight before cutting it into 12 pieces and rolling each piece into a 15-inch rope. After forming your pretzel, let them stand for 15 to 20 minutes and then brush with one lightly beaten egg white mixed with a tablespoon of water. Sprinkle with coarse salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic salt, Parmesan cheese or cinnamon sugar, if desired. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Place a roasting pan filled with one inch of water on the wire rack below the baking pretzels.

Dipping fruit is fun, but even without chocolate, children will love little strawberry mice from Family Fun magazine. They’re easy to assemble and hard to resist. The Web site, www.familyfun.com, also includes instructions for making healthy hearts out of watermelon and oranges or ladybugs with strawberries, red grapes and honeydew melon. There are hundreds of other ideas and recipes there as well.

But don’t forget the most important part: Enjoying those sweet little smiles.

Strawberry Mice

From Family Fun magazine

Fresh strawberries

Mini chocolate chips

Black decorators’ icing

Almond slivers

Toothpick or skewer

Red lace licorice

Wedge of cheese

For each mouse, slice a small section from the side of a strawberry so it sits flat.

Press a mini chocolate chip into the tip for a nose, using a small dab of icing to secure it in place, if necessary.

Add icing eyes and stick 2 almond slivers into the top of the berry for ears.

For a tail, use a toothpick or skewer to core a small hole in the back of the berry and push the end of a piece of licorice lace into the hole. Serve these cute berry treats with small triangles of cheese.

Yield: Varies

Nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.

Sweet Heart Krispy Treats

From www.familyfun.com

Cooking spray

3 tablespoons margarine

6 cups mini or (60 regular-size) marshmallows

Red food coloring

9 cups crispy rice cereal

Heart shaped cookie cutter

Plastic bags, yarn

Lightly coat a 10-by-15-inch baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside

Melt the margarine in a large pot over low heat. Add the marshmallow, stirring them continuously until they melt. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in drops of red food coloring until the color receives a thumbs up from the chef.

Add the cereal, stirring until they are evenly coated with marshmallow. Spoon the mixture onto the baking sheet.

With waxed paper or lightly buttered hands, smooth out the mixture, spreading it to an even thickness.

Cut out hearts with the cookie cutter. Place each heart in a clear plastic bag, tie on a yarn bow, and they’re ready for giving.

Yield: 7 (5-inch) hearts

Approximate nutrition per 5-inch heart: 311 calories, 5 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 15 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 64 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 339 milligrams sodium.

Soft Pretzels

From Martha Stewart. This dough can also be divided into 32 pieces to make miniature pretzels.

2 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 packet active dry yeast

5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons canola oil

2 tablespoons baking soda

1 large egg

Coarse or pretzel salt

Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Pour warm water into bowl of electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. In a small bowl, combine water and sugar and stir to dissolve sugar. Sprinkle with yeast and let sit 10 minutes; yeast should be foamy.

Add 1 cup flour to yeast and mix on low until combined. Add salt and 4 cups flour and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat on medium-low until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup flour and knead on low 1 minute more. If dough is still wet and sticky, add 1/2 cup more flour (this will depend on weather conditions); knead until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a lightly floured board, and knead about 10 times or until smooth.

Pour oil into a large bowl; swirl to coat sides. Transfer dough to bowl, turning dough to completely cover all sides with oil. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray two baking sheets with cooking spray. Set aside. Punch down dough to remove bubbles. Transfer to a lightly floured board. Knead once or twice, divide into 16 pieces (about 2 1/2 ounces each) and wrap in plastic.

Roll one piece of dough at a time into an 18-inch-long strip. Twist into pretzel shape; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel. Continue to form pretzels; eight will fit on each sheet. Let pretzels rest until they rise slightly, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, fill large, shallow pot with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Add baking soda. Reduce to a simmer; transfer three to four pretzels to water. Poach 1 minute flipping after 30 seconds. Use slotted spoon to transfer pretzels to baking sheet. Continue until all pretzels are poached.

Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush pretzels with egg glaze. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack, or eat warm. Pretzels are best when eaten the same day, but will keep at room temperature, uncovered, for two days. Do not store in covered container or they will become soggy.

Yield: 16 pretzels

Approximate nutrition per serving: 170 calories, 1.3 grams fat (less than 1 gram saturated, 7 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 34 grams carbohydrate, 13 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 1,059 milligrams sodium.

Rainbow Fruit Skewers with Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

From Ellie Krieger’s “The Food You Crave.”

“The full spectrum of fruit is represented all in a row, with a big, juice chocolate-dipped strawberry payoff at the end. This is a delightful treat for kids and grown-ups alike. Just make sure you break off the pointy tip of the skewer for the little ones,” Krieger writes.

1 kiwi, peeled

1 large orange, peeled

1/2 cup large fresh blueberries, picked over for stems

1 cup pineapple chunks

12 chocolate dipped strawberries (recipe follows)

Cut the kiwi and orange crosswise into 4 rounds, then cut each round into 3 pieces, so you end up with 12 pieces of fruit.

To prepare the skewers, work 2 blueberries about a third of the way down the skewer, add a piece of kiwi, a pineapple chunk, a piece of orange and top with a chocolate dipped strawberry. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve within a few hours.

Yield: 12 servings

Nutrition per serving: 100 calories, 3 grams fat (1.5 grams saturated, 27 percent fat calories), 1 gram protein, 19 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 3 grams dietary fiber, 1 milligram sodium.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

2 1/2 ounces good-quality dark chocolate (60 to 70 percent cocoa solids)

One 16 ounce container strawberries, washed, hulled and patted dry

Line a tray with waxed paper. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place about two-thirds of it in the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir occasionally, very gently, until the chocolate has melted, about 1 minute. Remove from the double boiler and add the rest of the chocolate, stirring gently until it has melted.

Dip the strawberries in the chocolate, place on waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set, about 15 minutes or up to several hours.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrition per serving (3 medium berries): 88 calories, 4 grams fat (2.5 grams saturated, 41 percent fat calories), 1 gram protein, 13 grams carbohydrate, 1 milligram cholesterol, 2.5 grams dietary fiber.