The 70 Best Valentine’s Day Desserts You’ll Swoon Over
Regardless of how you feel about Valentine’s Day (“It’s the best!” or “It was invented by the devil!”), you have to admit that it’s a great excuse to satisfy your sweet tooth. This year, bake one of these 70 Valentine’s Day dessert recipes (with love, of course) to complete your romantic dinner menu. We’ve got recipes for everything from chocolate cake to heart-shaped brownies to no-bake cheesecake jars that are perfect for indulging on February 14 with your other half.
RELATED: The 35 Best Valentine’s Day Cookies to Make with Your Family
1. Berries and Cream Cookies
This pretty-in-pink recipe only requires 40 minutes of your time. The secret to the cookies' blush color? Freeze-dried raspberries.
2. Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Blondies
Your S.O. will be totally impressed that you took the time to brown butter for these crackly, caramelly, cinnamon-kissed bars.
3. Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
That’s a cream cheese and marshmallow filling, in case you needed another reason to make these.
4. No-Bake, Gluten-Free Rose Petal Brownies
Psst: They’re also vegan and sugar-free.
5. Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
You know how we feel about dessert mash-ups.
6. Red Velvet Lava Cakes
The gooey chocolate center really seals the deal. (A scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn't hurt either.)
7. Pink Party Doughnuts
Official proclamation: Dessert for breakfast is totally fine on V-Day.
8. Cupid’s Cupcakes
Between the strawberry-Nutella buttercream and freeze-dried strawberry dust, you’re officially Cupid in an apron.
9. Red Velvet Brownies
Savor everything you love about red velvet cake without fussing with all those layers.
10. Mini Chocolate Tarts
These dainty little tartlets are bound to impress, but they’re actually super easy to make. (You don’t even need a rolling pin.)
11. Valentine’s Day Cupcakes for Two
A pair of chocolate spice cakes topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, ready in just ten minutes. Thanks, Coterie member Stefani Pollack.
12. Salted Caramel Brownies
Be still our salty-sweet loving heart. A heart-shaped cookie cutter makes them holiday appropriate in a flash.
13. Lemon Rose Shortbread Cookies
Want a break from chocolate? We love these delicate, buttery shortbread cookies. Add some rose petals if you’re feeling fancy.
14. Mini Berry Nutella Heart Pies
We love the way the berry filling peeks out the tops of these adorable hand pies. Serve them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a pile of extra napkins.
15. Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
The raspberry-cream cheese frosting works overtime, adding much-needed tang to the cookie-brownie base.
16. Easy Nutella Mousse
Mousse seems like the kind of dessert reserved for fancy restaurants, but it’s actually so simple to make at home.
17. Red Wine Chocolate Truffles
Two V-Day icons in one decadent dessert. It only takes four additional pantry staples to pull them together.
18. Bite-Size Almond Raspberry Spoon Cakes
Indulge a little or a lot (like, a dozen).
19. Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies
Might we suggest wrapping these up in cute goodie bags for the kids' classmates?
20. Chrissy Teigen’s 3-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse
You only need dairy and chocolate chips for the mousse, but the salty crackle of Rice Krispies and hazelnuts is well worth the extra work.
21. Valentine's Day White Chocolate Popcorn
Three ingredients, plus the optional (read: essential) addition of sprinkles and conversation hearts.
22. 3-Ingredient Strawberry Ice-Cream Shell
It's never too cold out for sundaes in our book.
23. Mini Tiramisu
Feel free to pour the brandy or rum with a heavy hand when preparing this coffee-laced treat.
24. M&M Cheesecake Cookie Bars
Chewy, tangy, creamy and flat-out festive.
25. Ruby Red Grapefruit Panna Cotta
This Italian treat is timelessly elegant and only calls for six ingredients.
26. Chocolate Shortbread Heart Cookies
Use Dutch processed cocoa powder for a richer chocolate flavor.
27. Gluten-Free Apple Rose Tart
The press-in pecan crust is a breeze to assemble, meaning you'll have plenty of time and energy left to craft the apple-rose toppers.
28. Nutella Sandwich Cookies
Tiny meringues stuffed with chocolate-hazelnut spread? Excuse us while we inhale the whole plate.
29. Raspberry Rose Chocolate Cupcakes for Two
The keys to the frosting are raspberry preserves and a dash of rose water.
30. 3-Ingredient Blood Orange Granita
This grown-up take on shaved ice isn't limited to summertime, especially during citrus season.
31. Easy Frosted Valentine Sugar Cookies
Your kids will be chomping at the bit to help decorate them.
32. Rosé Poached Pears with Ginger and Vanilla
The only way we're eating fruit for dessert from now on is if it's soaked in wine.
33. Blueberry, Blackberry and Raspberry Soufflés
The secret to foolproof soufflé? Don't overmix the batter.
34. Easy Valentine’s Day Nougat Candy
We didn't know mini marshmallows had this in them.
35. Easy Chocolate Marshmallow Cups
Your date is sure to ask what fancy candy store you bought them at.
36. Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Boxed cake mix never looked this good.
37. Pink Chocolate Dipped Palmiers
How classy are these? No one would guess you started with store-bought palmiers.
38. No-Bake Dessert Lasagna
This frees your oven up to cook Valentine's Day dinner.
39. Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Pair it with a batch of chocolate-covered strawberries.
40. Vegan & Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Ginger Tart
No butter, eggs or milk to be found here.
41. Frozen Chocolate Soufflé
Scared of your soufflé deflating before it hits the table? This foolproof recipe calls for freezing it for a few hours instead of baking.
42. Raspberry Hugs Chocolate Cookies
They're stuffed with creamy raspberry-chocolate candies.
43. Chocolate Glazed Espresso Cheesecake
Ending dinner with coffee and dessert has a whole new meaning.
44. The Easiest 3-Ingredient Brigadeiro
Our pink strawberry milk version has V-Day written all over it.
45. Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches
Chocolate-cream cheese ice cream + chocolate cookies = a one-way ticket to our happy place.
46. Chocolate Raspberry Fool
As simple to make as a microwave mug cake, but so much more satisfying and impressive.
47. Valentine's Day Chocolate Chip Cookies
These just never get old, do they?
48. Blackberry Jam Pie-Crust Straws
Thanks to store-bought puff pastry, these come together in just 35 minutes.
49. Heart Pancakes
Serve them to the kids for breakfast or stack them with homemade whipped cream and fresh berries for dessert.
50. Neapolitan Pie
Complete with layers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry custard. The nostalgia is real.
51. Gluten-Free Lemon-Raspberry Pavlova
One perk of having pavlova instead of cake? You can have two (or, ahem, three) slices without feeling too bogged down.
52. Strawberry, Cardamom and Pistachio Pavlova Bites
Wow. We can hear your date's oohs and aahs already.
53. Chocolate-Stuffed Brownie Bites
Chewy at the edges, fudgy in the middle and stuffed with your favorite milk chocolate.
54. Angel Food Cake
It's light as air, leaving you with plenty of room for another glass of vino.
55. Puff-Pastry Plum and Thyme Galette
Just lay the puff pastry in a skillet, pile on the fruit and bake to golden-brown perfection.
56. Churro Bites with Chocolate Sauce
Fried dough rolled in cinnamon sugar is our love language.
57. Chocolate Charcuterie Board
Alternative charcuterie boards are ever-trendy for a reason. Pair chocolate with cookies for crunch, popcorn for salt and fresh raspberries for tartness.
58. Caramel-Stuffed Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
We have nothing against old-school gingerbread, but we’re swooning over the gooey, molten caramel centers in these sweets.
59. No-Bake Mini Mason Jar Spiced Cheesecakes
Thanks to store-bought red currant jelly, these little cheesecakes take ten minutes to prepare before magically coming together in the fridge.
60. Cranberry Chai Spice Thumbprint Cookies
Bursting with blood oranges, cranberries and cinnamon.
61. Spiced Palmiers
These patisserie-quality cookies are a labor of love...but that's what Valentine's Day is all about, isn't it?
62. Espresso Streusel Coffee Cake
Best served alongside a cup of joe. (Or even better, coffee spiked with Baileys.) Savor the leftovers the next morning.
63. Raspberry Choux Puffs
Just looking at these cuties gives us all the warm fuzzies. The crème pâtissière has a surprise whipped inside: passionfruit pulp.
64. Chocolate and Salted Peanut Crêpe Cake
Forget fussing over piped frosting and daintily cut fruit. This shockingly simple crêpe cake is a lazy baker's dream.
65. Cardamom Crème Brûlée
Steeping whole cardamom pods in the cream not only offers warm spice to the custard, but it also modernizes the dessert and plucks it right out of '90s territory.
66. Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
They're essentially double chocolate chip cookies dusted with cayenne-spiked cinnamon sugar. We'd make a pot of hot cocoa for dunking them in, if we were you.
67. Espresso-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze
Believe it or not, this crowd-pleaser starts with an unexpected ingredient: active sourdough starter.
68. Fig–Dark Chocolate Brownies
Honey-like fig jam, dark chocolate and Dutch process cocoa powder make for the coziest winter dessert of all time. You'll need a tall glass of milk for this one.
69. Tie-Dye Sugar Cookies
If Valentine's Day is a family affair at your house, look no further than these marbled handhelds that the kids will be eager to help you decorate.
70. Giant Peanut Butter Cup
Nothing says "I love you" like a piece of homemade candy that's nine inches wide. Consider your dinner date wooed.
RELATED: The Best Valentine's Day Candy and Treats, Ranked from Blecch to Bae
For even more great recipes, check out our first cookbook, Only the Good Stuff.
