Recipes You Must Try This Valentine’s Day
Caroline Johnson, Junior
Heart-Shaped Banana Pancakes
Adapted from a recipe by Food Network
Start a love-filled day in a heart-shaped way!
Ingredients
- Two large eggs
- One banana
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Chocolate chips (optional)
Directions:
- Blend the eggs, banana and pumpkin pie spice in a blender until smooth
- Heat a large, nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-low heat
- Take a metal, heart-shaped cookie cutter and spray the inside with cooking spray. Right before you’re ready to pour the batter, place the cookie cutter on the skillet (you don’t want to heat the cookie cutter, just make sure it’s there when you pour the batter)
- Working in batches, drop silver-dollar portions of the batter (about one tablespoon) into the cookie cutter and onto the skillet, sprinkle on the chocolate chips, remove the cookie cutter after the edges set, and cook until golden brown (one to two minutes per side)
Make Your Own Cheez-Its
Adapted from Real Food RN
What says “love”better than cheese?
Ingredients
- One cup all-purpose flour
- One cup shredded, extra sharp cheddar
- Four tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
- Two tablespoons cold water
- Sea salt for sprinkling on top
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a food processor or blender, combine flour, cheese, and butter
- Pulse until it’s a crumbly texture, but well-combined
- Add water and process until a dough forms
- Divide dough into two balls and chill for 15 minutes in the fridge, or until firm (not longer than 30 minutes)
- Roll one ball out on a Silpat until about ¼ inch thick (I use Silpat because then you do not need to flour a surface and make a big mess)
- Pick up Silpat and rolled-out dough and place on a baking sheet
- Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into squares and trim off uneven edges (you can add extra dough to the next ball)
- Sprinkle with salt, lightly
- If you want to, poke little holes in the top with a toothpick to make them look even more like Cheez-it crackers
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until they are bubbly and slightly browning on the edges
- Take out of oven and recut the crackers with a pizza cutter (just trace the lines you made before)
- Allow to cool completely before breaking them apart
- Repeat with second dough ball
- I store them in a plastic bag in the fridge, and they last up to one week
- This recipe makes about 80-100 small crackers
Individual Raspberry Cheesecakes
From KidsHealth.com
Whether you’re treating yourself, family, a friend, or that special someone, these are a delicious way to show you care, and they even have a festive pink color!
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 24 ounces light cream cheese, softened
- One teaspoon vanilla
- Four eggs
- 1 ½ cup raspberries
- Topping ingredients
- Eight ounces light cream cheese
- ¼ cup sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to blend the sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla
- Add eggs to cream cheese mixture one at a time and blend after adding each egg
- Line 24-cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Fill cupcake liners ¾ of the way full with cream cheese batter
- Divide raspberries evenly between the 24 cupcakes and sprinkle on top of each cupcake.
- Bake for 25 minutes
- Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes. A well will form in the middle of each cupcake
- Turn the oven to 450°F
- In a small bowl, blend together topping ingredients. Using a small spoon, drop topping into the center of each cupcake.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Keep refrigerated.