Everybody loves chocolate or at least they should. Recent research shows that eating a little chocolate is good for you. Don’t tell your kids though, or they’ll never let you forget it.

Valentine’s Day was made for chocolate. Let the kids make some chocolate cupcakes. For most cake and cupcake recipes, it is easy to throw in a bit of melted chocolate for an extra sweet tasting dessert. Top them with icing fit for the occasion—red or pink.

Jell-O has been a kid favorite since it was introduced to the world. Turn the popular treat into a Valentine’s Day treat with some cookie cutters. Cookie cutters shaped like hearts, kissing lips, cupid, or letters create holiday cut-outs for the kids. Let the kids cut the shapes after the gelatin has set.

Kids love to decorate with icing and sprinkles and candy. If you make cupcakes, brownies, or cake for them this Valentine’s Day, let them decide how the finished confections will look. Put the icing in a bag designed for that purpose so the kids can pipe the icing through to create words or pictures on the dessert. A plastic storage bag with a small hole cut into the corner works just as well as a cake decorating bag.

Cookies go well with any holiday. For Valentine’s Day, use sugar cookies. With sugar cookies, they can be topped with icing, sugar, and sprinkles. Try to get sprinkles shaped like hearts. Our tried and true cookie cutters can be used again to cut the chilled dough into the same shapes as the gelatin treats.

How about a dessert pizza? Using cookie dough, roll it out to the shape and diameter of a large pizza. Follow package instructions for baking the cookie. Once it’s done and cooled, top with icing. White or vanilla icing can be tinted pink or darker with some red food coloring. Then, let the kids top the dessert pizza with their favorite candies. Plain M&M’s, candy sprinkles, and other chewy sweets can top the pizza.

Try a new twist on some dessert favorites. Add large candy hearts to the top of cupcakes.  Create a cake shaped like cupid. Use heart-shaped foil cups to bake brownies. All of these ideas are easy enough for your kids to help you create them.

Feed that sweet tooth with some great treat ideas this year. Your kids might have a few ideas of their own to add to the pot for more Valentine’s Day fun.

1 T ginger juice
1 T honey
8 chicken drumsticks
2 C canola oil
4 T corn flour
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
4 T breadcrumbs

How to Make It:

Place the ginger juice into a sealable plastic bag big enough to hold all the
drumsticks.

Add the honey to the bag and seal.

Shake the bag until the ingredients are mixed together well.

Add the drumsticks, seal and refrigerate 4 hours.

Place the canola oil into a deep fryer or large heavy sauce pan and bring the
temperature to 365 degrees.

Remove the drumsticks from the bag and throw away the bag.

Roll each drumstick through the corn flour.

Dip them into the egg and then roll them through the breadcrumbs being sure to
completely cover the drum stick.

Place  drumsticks into the fryer  and fry  until a golden
crispy brown on the outside and the internal temperature reaches at least 180 degrees.

You should probably only do a few legs at a time. So for before starting the second batch
allow the heat of the oil to come back to 365 degrees before adding any more
drumsticks.

Drain on a paper towel and allow them to cool before serving.

Serving Size:  4

What child doesn’t enjoy a good chicken leg?  Give them these for lunch or
dinner with a little honey and brown sugar dipping sauce and watch them eat
every bite.