I’ve been pondering ideas for a Valentine’s Day treat this week, and all the latest dessert trends came to mind:  Cake-Pops, Whoopie Pies, Fancy Cupcakes, etc.  I wanted to make something slightly less predictable, but with a good amount of visual appeal.  I decided to make heart shaped Rice Krispie Treats covered with chocolate and pink sprinkles, served on lollipop sticks.  I thought for sure I had invented the next best dessert trend; but, as I do with most of my ‘original’ ideas, I ran a quick Google search to see who may have already come up with it.  To my disappointment, there have been plenty of people to make this exact treat, but that didn’t stop me from creating my own version.

This sweet treat is not just for Valentine’s Day.  It was my Dad’s birthday yesterday, and I made him his own special bouquet of Rice Krispie Treat Pops.  Instead of hearts, I cut his in circles using biscuit cutters.

For added presentation, I spruced up the vases with coordinating paper and ribbon.

I measured the paper to fit inside each vase.  In the bottom, I layered styrofoam (which can be purchased at your local craft store), and then about an inch of paper crinkles on top to cover the styrofoam.  I finished them off with a couple of layered ribbons, and then stuck the pops into the styrofoam to arrange my bouquet.

These were a hit at the birthday party last night, and doubled as decoration for the table.  I’m thinking they might be the perfect treat for my son’s 3rd birthday next Fall.    What kid doesn’t love Rice Krispie Treats, and with chocolate to boot!

Since it’s over a week until Valentine’s Day, we’ll be consuming the heart shaped one’s this afternoon at my Sister-in-Laws birthday party/Superbowl.

Usually, I like my Rice Krispie Treats extra buttery and marshmallowy, but since these had to hold on the lollipop sticks without falling apart, I stuck to the recipe on the back of the Rice Krispie Cereal box, which is a little bit drier than my usual preference.  I doubled the recipe below since I was making a Valentine’s batch and a Birthday batch.

The recipe is simple.  Start by melting 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over low heat.

Next, add one 10 ounce package of marshmallows.

 Stir the butter and marshmallow until melted and smooth.

Remove from heat and add 6 cups of Rice Krispie Cereal.  Stir until well combined.

Press the treats into a greased container or cake pan and let cool.  I left mine about 1″ thick and smoothed the top well.

Once cooled, turn the treats out of the pan onto a cutting surface.

Use cookie cutters, or biscuit cutters to create your desired shapes.

This can take a good deal of elbow grease, depending on how solid your cutter is.  The biscuit cutter was fairly easy, but the heart shaped cutters I had were not as sharp and didn’t have the handle for leverage.  Also, the heart shaped cutters I had were not very deep, so I had to press the bottom half of my treats into them like a mold.  This worked out just fine, and they popped out easily without greasing the cutters.

Next, I pressed the lollipop sticks in, being careful to center them inside the treat.  You can find lollipop sticks at quite a few places these days.  Since Cake Pops are the new craze, I’ve been seeing them pop up at many grocery stores.  You should be able to find them at your local craft store, party store, or restaurant supply if your grocery store doesn’t carry them.  They come in two lengths.  I chose the longer ones, which worked better for my bouquets.

I took the easy route for my dipping chocolate and just melted a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a glass bowl over boiling water.

I also bought a bag of white-chocolate chips and planned on adding a bit of red food coloring for pink dipped treats, but I had so much semi-sweet chocolate I decided not to use the other bag.  Maybe next time!

Some of the treats were dipped half-way, some were coated with chocolate on the front, and others I used a piping bag and squiggled the chocolate on top.  I immediately added sprinkles after dipping each one in chocolate so they stuck well before the chocolate started to harden.  These need to be chilled in order to harden the treats well so they don’t slide off of their sticks.  Once they were dipped and decorated, I placed them on wax paper and into the fridge until we were ready to leave for the party.

Such a delightful treat, and super cute!  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!