30 Mini Desserts for Valentine's Day
Heart-shaped cookies. White chocolate drip cake for two! Here are our favorite Valentine's Day mini dessert recipes, so beautiful they double as gifts.
I think we can all agree on this: Valentine’s Day is meant for gorgeous desserts.
Forget date nights and red roses; the real scene-stealers are the festive sweets. I get giddy over them all: adorable heart-shaped cookies, tender red velvet cupcakes, marshmallows and juicy slices of fruit plunged into chocolate fondue, white-chocolate-freaking strawberry mousse. You know, red, white, and pink desserts that respect the holiday — and ones that just happen to be mini.
The Valentine's mini desserts part is key because when you’ve got an occasion that comes just once a year, you have to maximize your options. Small treats mean you can try more than one, right? To this end, I’ve curated this collection of colorful showstoppers that are likely to invite plenty of sampling. And FYI, you don’t have to pile on the calories: I’ve included a couple of healthier options, too. So go ahead, head to the kitchen and whip up something beautiful!
Jump ahead to:
Valentine’s Day cupcakes and mini cakes >>
Mini Valentine's Day cheesecakes >>
Extra-easy Valentine's Day desserts >>
More mini Valentine's Day desserts >>
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Valentine's Day cookies
If you're looking for quick Valentine's Day desserts, cookies — especially drop cookies — are a great place to start.
Raspberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Incredibly cute heart-shaped sandwich cookies, starring the mouthwatering trifecta of white chocolate, raspberry jam, and buttery shortbread, are a brilliant idea if you’re looking for a traditional Valentine treat.
Instead of filling butter cookies with raspberry jam, though, you could opt for raspberry ice cream and create your own frozen Valentine ice cream sandwiches. If you're looking for easy Valentine's Day dessert options, there are thin and crispy drop cookies flavored with cinnamon hearts, simple sugar cookies with pink frosting, and peanut butter blondies decorated with M&Ms. (Try any of these to get the kids involved.) Ambitious bakers might want to pipe strawberry-flavored meringue roses and then dip them in dark chocolate, or create heart-shaped macarons to fill with cinnamon buttercream frosting.
Valentine’s Day cupcakes and mini cakes
Making Valentines' Day mini cakes mean you can enjoy everything that you love about traditional cake but in a size that invites additional sampling.
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream
Valentine’s Day is meant for indulging, but this somewhat healthier red-velvet cupcake recipe gets top billing because of the genius use of beets in place of artificial dye. See how beautifully it colors the cake? This recipe also swaps in oil for butter (a great way to moisten cake). If you’re into more traditional cupcakes, keep reading, but you can still steal this beet trick for healthier food coloring!
In addition to the classic red velvet cupcake recipe that we all know and love, we’ve got a vegan, gluten-free chocolate version which come together in just 40 minutes — you can spend any extra time piping the frosting so it’s just right. Then there's dark chocolate cake with fresh raspberries. Or try something lighter: perfectly delicate white chocolate lemon cupcakes with strawberries on top for pops of bright red color. Delicious!
If we're talking mini Valentine's cakes they're automatically 110% more adorable, right? That’s got to be the case with the two-person-sized berry drip cake covered in white chocolate ganache, and the breathtaking pink and white ombre mini cakes. This last cake recipe calls for rhubarb, which can easily be swapped out for strawberries (and a tiny bit more food coloring to make the icing red instead of pink).
Mini Valentine's Day cheesecakes
Perhaps you're looking for Valentine's Day desserts for two? Mini cheesecakes are tailor-made for cute individual servings.
Mini Jam Cheesecakes
Who doesn’t love the tangy sweetness and creamy richness of cheesecake? When you make them mini, you get to enjoy them by the bite instead of being tempted by an entire cake. A raspberry jam swirl gives this first recipe its festive Valentine’s Day colors.
Still on the traditional-but-mini theme, the next cheesecake recipe also bakes in muffin tins; a fresh strawberry carries the red color. For a different look — one you can pull off in less than 30 minutes — layer buttery graham cracker crumbs, whipped cream cheese, and canned cherry pie filling in wine glasses to make Mini Cherry Cheesecake Trifles. Oreo cake pops sound like cake, but they're made from Oreo crumbs blended with cream cheese (instant cheesecake!), shaped into balls, and dipped in candy coating.
If you're in the mood for dark chocolate you can also opt for brownie bites topped with cheesecake; the little bites start with a brownie mix. Then there are raspberry cheesecake truffles. The adorable bite-size truffles look even more festive when you reveal the jewel-bright pop of red jam against the white cheesecake filling. They’d make fabulous gifts as well as desserts.
Extra-easy Valentine's Day desserts
The options in this category are all no-bake, the perfect treats for V-day if you're short on time or if you're looking for a project to make with kids.
Make Valentine Day Special with Pretzel Rods
Cute desserts don’t necessarily have to be painstaking or time-consuming. You can make very fun chocolate-covered pretzel rods, which require little more than dipping pretzel sticks into candy melts (pick some up at a craft store) and adding sprinkles. I don’t think I’m alone in having a major soft spot for these.
I also love the look of these light strawberry white chocolate mousse parfaits, which take only 20 minutes to throw together. You can scoop them into wine glasses to recreate the gorgeous presentation as shown, or mason jars also work fine.
Speaking of dipping, you knew there was no way I’d forget chocolate fondue. You can make strawberries and marshmallows look very pretty on a plate in seconds, then easily heat up chocolate for a reliably delicious and interactive dessert. No time to make a true red velvet cake? Try blending a red velvet cake mix with the ingredients for chewy Rice Krispie treats and then cutting out hearts!
More mini Valentine's Day desserts
These Valentine's Day treats run the gamut from pastries to confections, pudding, and even a festive drink.
How to make Heart Shaped Strawberry Pastries for Valentine's Day
Chances are good there’s a pie-lover in your life, and if that’s the case, you’ll want to check out these mini pies, which are surprisingly easy since they rely on store-bought pie dough and strawberry jam. For a festive touch, add some colored sprinkles.
For something completely different, cut out hearts from pie crust and turn them into s'mores using heart-shaped Peeps, Nutella, and more sprinkles. If you can melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk you can create the chocolate truffles or white chocolate hearts in the next two recipes. Add some Valentine’s M&Ms and red, white, and pink sprinkles, or edible gold hearts, and you’ve nailed the holiday theme.
Just in case you’re looking for something healthier, check out the chia seed pudding, which is vegan, gluten-free and very pretty. With buttery avocado, coconut milk, and cacao powder for richness — plus banana, maple syrup, and raspberries for sweetness — this dessert combo sounds decadent but is packed with healthy ingredients.
As for what to drink with all your treats, I'd like to suggest the perfect three-ingredient bubbly cocktail. Cheers.
Special treats for you and your loved ones
Valentine's Day dessert recipes get the attention on this holiday, and we're all-in on that, but why not make an evening of it, starting with a Valentine's Day dinner charcuterie board? Check out these next roundups to explore this and more Valentine's Day treats (including plenty of gooey dark chocolate desserts).