Fast And Frugal Valentine Treat

Valentine’s Day generates quite a bit of public disagreement. It’s always interesting to see where people fall in the mix on this day. Are you a hopeless romantic who secretly (or not so secretly) looks forward to grand gestures on this day? If so, then these stories are for you. Or perhaps you are one of those that dreads this holiday – hello singletons and begrudging spouses. I understand, although my household is somewhere in the middle.

While dates are not necessarily mandated, we do enjoy giving small gifts to each other and especially to the kids. I’ve also developed quite a soft spot for the incredible homemade ones people are coming up with such as this lovely round up from Cool Mom Picks. But, here’s the real reason I enjoy Valentine’s Day.

I know it’s terrible, and I keep reading about sugar addiction, but every Valentine’s Day I look forward to getting small, sweet treats for my family. One of our favorites are the special Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups that come out on holidays like this. We feel certain they are significantly better than regular ones due to the freshness and the peanut butter to chocolate ratio. Yes, we’ve tested and studied this at length.

So, imagine my delight when I discovered that you could make your own from scratch. Hello happy family! Here’s how easy it is to make this fast and frugal Valentine treat.

Making This Peanut Butter & Chocolate Valentine’s Treat

Ingredients

• 16 0z Milk Chocolate (I used chocolate chips!)
• 1/3 to 1/2 Peanut Butter ( I used all natural to feel better about this whole thing)
• 1/4 c Confectioner’s Sugar
• 2 tbs Softened Butter

Oh my goodness, just four ingredients, all of which I usually have on hand in my pantry. Next time I will also pick up all natural milk chocolate without preservatives so that I know everything that goes into this is free of what I don’t want my family eating.

Steps

1. Mix the butter, sugar and peanut butter together until it is deliciously creamy and then set it aside
2. Make a double boiler to melt 1/2 of the chocolate. If you are not familiar with how to do this, it’s really easy as you can see here
3. Spoon your melted chocolate into your pan – mini muffin tins are perfect for this. We used our thin heart shaped one just for fun this time. Be sure to lightly grease them first.
4. Place the chocolate in the fridge to harden. Or if you are impatient, like we are, you can put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes
5. Spread a layer of peanut butter onto the hardened chocolate. This is where the homemade part is the best: every person can make his own chocolate to peanut butter ratio
6. Melt the second 1/2 of your chocolate and spread the final layer on top
7. Cool again and then pop those incredible bites of goodness out of the tin

…and Enjoy

Isn’t that the easiest, best recipe? I made a few batches and it’s nearly impossible to mess up. Now, I have some things to learn about getting them more perfect looking but I can assure you, I’ve had no complaints thus far. After all, I do tend to believe:

“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.”

Mother Teresa

However, if homemade is just not your cup of tea or you have more self-discipline about the sweets, there are A LOT of great deals for Valentine’s Day right now. Go ahead, get one for yourself and one for your sweetie!

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