Valentine's Day is all about the rich and decadent desserts, am I right? We have rounded up our 40 best and most popular Valentine's Day dessert recipes from romantic chocolatey and fudgy treats, to heart-shaped cookies perfect for a Valentine's themed holiday cookie box, to festive cakes made for indulging, to indulgent date night dessert ideas. So if you are wondering what to make for yourself and your loved ones this Valentine's, then you have come to the right place.
Best Valentine's Day Desserts
Valentine's Day Heart Sugar Cookies
Valentine's Day heart sugar cookies are crisp on the outside, soft inside, and made festive with red and pink royal icing decorated on top.
These Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are delicious, moist, rich, and perfectly sweet. Top these Valentine’s cupcakes with festive sprinkles.
Raspberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Cute raspberry and white chocolate heart-shaped shortbread cookies literally melt in your mouth. They are the perfect Valentine's Day treat or for Date Night.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Chocolate covered strawberries are fancy, decadent, bite-sized treats that are loved by all. They are so simple and easy to make at home. One of my favorite date night dessert ideas.
These homemade Red Velvet Macarons with cream cheese frosting are like the beloved cake but in bite-sized form — bold red color and a hint of cocoa flavor.
Molten chocolate lava cakes are rich and fudgy with a classic gooey chocolate center that flows out like lava. So simple and easy to make. Perfect for Valentine's Day or a date night dessert.
Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Heart Cookies
Shortbread and chocolate are a match made in heaven. Cut our these cookies into any shape that you like and dip in chocolate.
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
This White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake is so decadent, made with a creamy white chocolate cheesecake batter swirled with homemade raspberry sauce.
Strawberry Cupcakes are made with real strawberries in both the tender cake batter and the creamy strawberry buttercream frosting. A picture-perfect treat!
Red Velvet Cookies with white chocolate are moist and chewy, deliciously chocolatey with a cake-like texture, and are striking red. Ready in 20 minutes!
Classic Strawberry Shortcake is a small, layered cake featuring fluffy crumbly biscuits, a fresh strawberry filling, and homemade whipped cream.
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles
Dark chocolate raspberry truffles are so much easier to make than you think. It's as simple as combining quality chocolate, cream, raspberry jam, and cocoa.
Nutella crepes with berries are sweet and indulgent. These French pancakes are an easy to make blender recipe that will have you craving breakfast all day.
Persian Love Cake is a rich, moist, and nutty almond cake loaded with floral and citrus flavors, topped with a lemon glaze, pistachios, and rose petals.
Lofthouse Cookies are super soft, moist, and thick, classic grocery store cookies made of a cakey sugar cookie, sweet buttercream frosting, and sprinkles.
Nutella mousse cups are rich, creamy, airy, and delicious. No bake and whipped together in just minutes with a few ingredients before it's ready to chill.
Oreo Brownies are a fudgy, rich and decadent dessert that is quick and easy to make from scratch in about 30 minutes using simple ingredients.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Rose Petal Buttercream
Light, airy and fluffy vanilla cupcakes with rose petal buttercream icing is the cutest treat for Valentine's Day. They are super quick and easy to make.
French Macarons with Vanilla Buttercream Filling
Easy French macarons with vanilla buttercream filling are sweet, light, airy, and delicate cookies that melt in your mouth. Beginners can make them too!
Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies are a soft, tender, and chewy Christmas cookie that is easy to make with no chilling required. The perfect holiday cookie!
Classic New York Cheesecake is stunning, delicious, rich, and creamy. Plus, it's surprisingly easy to make from scratch — even for beginners!
Fudgy brownies are rich, sweet, moist, and decadent. Plus, they're easy to make in one bowl (meaning less cleanup!) and ready in about 30 minutes.
Classic Madeleines are soft spongy mini cakes with a signature shell shape and dusting of sugar on top. Making French butter cakes is easier than you think!
The cutest bite-sized treat to serve at any event are vanilla cake pops from scratch -- luckily, they are actually simple and easy to make. Add pink or red food colouring to the chocolate coating, or use red and pink sprinkles to make them festive for Valentine's Day.
This fudgy double chocolate loaf cake is delicious, moist, and rich. It's easy to make with a quick one-bowl batter that's ready for the oven in 10 minutes.
Strawberry Muffins are tender, fluffy, and delicious! They are golden-brown and crisp outside while moist and cake-like inside and loaded with strawberries.
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are rich and chewy chocolate cookies with a smooth and velvety chocolate ganache filling topped with crunchy pistachios.
Baked Jelly Donuts with Strawberry Jam
These melt-in-your-mouth, homemade baked jelly donuts, coated in sugar and filled with sweet strawberry jam, are so soft, fluffy, spongy and airy.
Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake
Chocolate and vanilla marble cake is delicious, moist, fluffy with the perfect golden brown crust. With two classic cake flavors, this loaf cake has it all.
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft and chewy, easy to make, and so satisfying. Enjoy these cookies in under 20 minutes with no chilling required!
Decadent caramel pecan cheesecake bars with a graham cracker crust, cheesecake filling, and caramel pecan topping is perfect for any special occasion.
Festive red and green M&M cookies are super soft and chewy with the crispiest edges. Quick and easy to make in under 20 minutes with no chill time. Switch up the M&M's with red and pink for Valentine's Day.
Homemade salted caramel sauce is sweet, salty, and buttery. It's so simple and easy to make at home in just 10 minutes with 4 basic ingredients.
Flourless banana brownies are rich, fudgy, moist, delicious, and gluten-free. Make this quick and easy dessert is ready in just 30 minutes.
Easy Small Batch Almond Biscotti
Small batch almond biscotti are crunchy, crumbly and packed with almonds, perfect for dunking into tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and they are super easy to make.
Italian Lemon Drop Cookies (Anginetti) are light, cake-like, classic Italian cookies with citrus flavor throughout. Quick and easy to make in 30 minutes.
Homemade chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy, have perfectly crisp edges, and are loaded with chocolate chips. This classic cookie is quick and easy.
Caramel cheesecake brownies are totally indulgent and worth the effort, so toss that prepared brownie mix away and bake this with a few easy ingredients.
No one will be able to resist this perfectly sweet and moist, glazed brown sugar bundt cake. Made with Greek yogurt for major decadence and richness.
Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cookies
These perfectly soft, chewy and a little crumby chocolate chunk peanut butter cookies literally melts in your mouth. Make them in under 20 minutes.
Easy no crust burnt Basque cheesecake is the easiest one bowl recipe. It is perfectly caramelized on the top and edges and creamy yet firm on the inside.
Inspired by Starbucks lemon loaf, this moist, homemade lemon loaf with lemon glaze has the perfect balance between sweet and tangy, and so so flavourful.
Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
The best classic soft and chewy peanut butter cookies are puffy and thick, stay soft for days, and melt in your mouth. Make them in under 20 minutes.
Fluffy soft and moist, these are the best banana chocolate chip muffins ever. Prep this easy one bowl recipe in less than 10 minutes with a few ingredients.
Whipped Shortbread Cookies are sweet and buttery cookies that melt in your mouth. These light tea time treats have crisp edges and a crumbly center.
Easy to make and decorate, bite-sized chocolate cake pops are packed with chocolate and sprinkles are the perfect treat. Use red, pink and white sprinkles to make it festive for Valentine's Day.
Butter cookies are a classic cookie with a crisp, slightly crunchy texture that melts in your mouth on the first bite — and every bite after!
M&M cookie bars are soft and chewy, have crisp edges with a gooey center, and are loaded with M&M's and chocolate chips. The easiest way to bake cookies!
Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze
Melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter thumbprint cookies with raspberry jam and a drizzle of maple cinnamon glaze are the best holiday cookies and easy to make.
Smooth and creamy no churn vanilla ice cream with strawberry jam and toasted peanuts is easy to make, no ice cream maker required and better than storebought.
Easy homemade apple hand pies/turnovers are the perfect treat -- stuffed with tender apples and cinnamon and wrapped in crispy, flakey, buttery crust.
The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Grab a tall glass of milk and start dipping the best homemade, soft-centered, chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies you will ever try.
Caramel brownies are rich, moist, and decadent. Baked from the thickest and indulgent chocolate batter and topped with a homemade creamy caramel sauce.
Slice and Bake Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Easy slice and bake pecan shortbread cookies are sweet, nutty and buttery shortbread cookies packed with finely chopped pecans that melt in your mouth.
Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Twist Bread
Soft and fluffy sourdough cinnamon roll twist bread is buttery and layered with cinnamon sugar. Prep it the night before and freshly bake it right before serving for that fresh out of the oven experience.
Healthy banana bread is delicious and moist and contains no refined sugar or butter. Quick and easy to make with 10 minutes prep and few pantry staples.
Cut out shortbread cookies are soft, buttery, and melt in your mouth. Made with a simple 5-ingredient cookie dough and decorated with optional royal icing.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies
Brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip banana bread cookie bites are thick, fluffy, pillowy, cake-like little bites of banana bread heaven.
These pecan toffee bars combine the flavours of shortbread topped with crunchy nuts to create magic. Prepped in under 10 minutes with only 6 ingredients.
Jam-Filled Thumbprint Cookies with Almond Glaze
Soft, buttery, melt-in-your mouth jam-filled thumbprint cookies with almond glaze are the cutest, festive treat to make.
Sweet buttery linzer cookies are a classic cookie with flaky shortbread and fruit jam. The perfect festive holiday treat that melts in your mouth.
Funfetti shortbread cookie bites are little bites of buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread packed with festive sprinkles for a fun holiday treat.
How to Make Ahead and Store Valentine's Day Dessert
You can make or prepare most of these Valentine's Day dessert recipes ahead of time. You can store the cookies at room temperature for a few days and the cakes for about 1-2 days (depending on the recipe). You can also store them in the refrigerator for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Confirm storing instructions by checking each recipe.
To reheat any of these desserts and serve them warm as if they just came out of the oven, you can warm them up in a 300F preheated oven for about 5-15 minutes. I would check on it every 5 minutes until warmed through. If heating from frozen, let it thaw first and then reheat.
Did You Make Any of These Valentine's Day Dessert Recipes?
Please leave a comment and rating below, and let me know what you thought of this round up of Valentine's Day dessert recipes. Be sure to snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @aheadofthyme or share it on the Pinterest pin so that I can follow along.
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Don't forget to sign up for my email newsletter so that you don't miss any recipes. You can also follow along on Instagram and Pinterest for more recipe updates.
PrintRecipe
40 Best Valentine's Day Dessert Recipes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The 40 best and most popular Valentine's Day dessert recipes from romantic chocolatey fudgy treats to heart-shaped cookies to festive cakes.
Ingredients
Check each recipe for full ingredient list required. Depending on the recipe that you choose to make, you may need some of the following ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- butter
- eggs
- salt
- sugar
- milk
- fruit
Instructions
- Make ahead and store. You can make or prepare all of these Valentine's Day dessert recipes ahead of time. You can store most of them at room temperature for a few days, in the refrigerator for up to one week, and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Check each recipe for exact storage details.
- Reheat: If you would like to reheat any of these desserts and serve them warm, just place the in a 300F preheated oven for 5-10 minutes. If heating from frozen, let it thaw first and then reheat.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 400
Sharon says
I love all of these Valentine's Day desserts! I like that some unique desserts are added on this list too.
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
Thanks Sharon! Enjoy!
Candice says
Such a great collection of recipes, I don't know where to start! I'm excited to make a few of these for Valentines Day this year. Can't wait!
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
Hehe, yes it's a hard decision.
Ramona says
These are such cute and great ideas for Valentine's Day recipes that I will definitely be trying out! they all look super cute and delightful. Thank you for sharing this amazing variety of recipes!
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
Thank you Ramona!
Farrukh Aziz says
Great collection of recipes! The vanilla cupcakes are just what I need! I can't wait to make them!
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
Thank you so much!
Paula Montenegro says
Beautiful recipes for a special day! Those nutella cups and the chocolate truffles are calling my name. Can't wait to try them! Thanks for sharing.
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
Thank you! Those are good choices, enjoy!
FOODHEAL says
It's hard to choose from all these amazing recipes. You did a good job to bring these ideas together. I am hesitating between apple pie and Nutella mousse, lol.
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
Thank you! I hear ya, it's hard to choose. 🙂