Now that we’ve entered the great month of February, Valentine’s Day and Galentine’s Day are just around the bend. (South Bend, that is). To be perfectly honest, I had no idea that Galentine’s Day was a holiday before I started watching “Parks and Recreation” last semester.
Ever since, I’ve admired the gatherings that Leslie Knope puts together for her friends. In general, I think it’s a great practice to let loved ones know how much they mean to you. We can also learn from Miss Knope that a great way to show anyone appreciation is to provide delicious food! Inspired by this, here are some fabulous dessert recipes that are perfect for the upcoming festivities:
1. Biscotti
Biscotti are a great gift, great with coffee, great dipped in chocolate, and great cookies in general! They’re also sophisticated and romantic, perfect for the nearby holidays!
This is a recipe from Mama’s Italian Cookbook. If you love to bake and love Italian cuisine, I highly recommend this cookbook! I own it and have made, in addition to biscotti, several non-dessert recipes from it; they’re spectacular!
I’ve adapted the recipe to make chocolate chip biscotti, but feel free to add different fillers, such as dried fruits, nuts, peanut butter or butterscotch chips, orange zest, etc.
Ingredients:
· 1 2/3 cup chocolate chips
· Scant 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tbsp. for dusting
· Scant 1 cup superfine sugar, plus one tbsp. for sprinkling- use more if necessary
· 1 tsp baking powder
· ½ tsp ground cinnamon
· 2 eggs
· 2 tsp vanilla extract
Biscotti means “twice baked” in Italian, which is how they’re made and why they’re so crunchy! Yum! Combine the first list of ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla together, then add to the first mixture and combine. Feel free to use your hands at this point because you’ll have to lightly knead the dough. You can leave the dough in the bowl while doing this. The book and I recommend adding extra flour for dusting because the dough will be pretty sticky. After kneading, form two logs of dough about 2” wide and roll in extra sugar. Then put them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the outside. Remove and let cool for a few minutes. Then slice the logs into 1/2 inch slices.
Arrange the slices flat side down on the cookie sheet and bake at 325 F for 15-20 min. Remove from the oven and let cool. This recipe makes between 20-30 biscotti. If you want seriously indulgent biscotti, dip them in melted chocolate or Nutella!
2. Yogurt Pie
I learned this recipe from my family. The sheer simplicity of the dessert is almost as amazing as how it tastes! If you find yourself overwhelmed by rich desserts and chocolate creations this Valentine/Galentine season, this pie is a fantastic contrast because it’s light and fruity, depending on the yogurt flavor used. Choose strawberry, cherry, or raspberry yogurt to make the pie pink in the spirit of the holiday!
There are only three ingredients:
· One tub of Cool Whip
· One individual yogurt cup of your favorite flavor (I recommend Yoplait- other brands are fine, but not Greek yogurt)
· A pre-made graham cracker pie crust from the grocery store (9” diameter).
· Optional: You can mix fresh fruit into the pie filling if you want!
Combine the first two ingredients thoroughly, then pour the mixture into the crust and let chill in the freezer for at least three hours. When you’re ready to serve, remove and let thaw for about a half-hour; otherwise the pie will be too frozen to slice. That’s it!
3. Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies
If you are looking for chocolate this Valentine’s Day, these cookies deliver! Found on foodwhine.com, they’re much healthier than the average chocolate cookie, adding bananas and chia seeds and subtracting sugar!
One of the great things about these cookies is that they’re so variable. If you don’t have chia seeds, you can still make these cookies. You can either leave them out completely, or you can substitute them with flax seeds or sunflower seeds. These cookies also taste great without the cocoa powder. You can even just use banana, oats and honey/syrup to make a plain, but still delicious, version of the dessert.
Ingredients:
· 2 large mashed bananas
· 1 cup quick-cooking oats
· 2 tbsp. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
· 2 tbsp. honey or maple syrup
· 1 tbsp. chia seeds
· 32 (approx.) chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine ingredients in a bowl. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto a greased cookie sheet. Top off with more chocolate chips if desired, then bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. This recipe makes about 16 cookies.
4. Edible Raw Cookie Dough
Come on! EDIBLE COOKIE DOUGH!! There’s no way you’re not excited about this! This is the definition of indulgence, making it perfect to share (or not) on Valentine’s or Galentine’s Day! There are no eggs in the recipe, so it’s completely safe to eat. If you don’t have any vanilla extract, you can replace the milk with vanilla soymilk. One batch is the perfect amount to eat straight from the bowl while streaming romantic comedies on Netflix; I recommend doubling the recipe if you’re watching movies with a friend, a family member, or your significant other.
I hope you all enjoy one or more of these recipes. Feel free to tweak them however you want! One of the most fun aspects of baking is NOT following directions exactly and allowing creativity in the baking process. Express yourself, and treat yourself and your loved ones, too!
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