A Valentine’s Treat for the Baking Inept

Nothing says, “I love you” like chocolate. Nothing says, “I love myself” like a crowd-pleasing confection even the baking inept can bang out in ten minutes with stuff you have in the house.

I needed to send in a treat for my twins’ Valentine’s Party at school, and since it was also Show ‘n Tell day for the letter “O”, Oreos immediately came to mind. I had Nestle morsels and a box of candy hearts left over from last Valentine’s Day (they never go stale) so I was off and running. Chocolate Covered Oreos. Sweet, simple, genius. Without really trying.

What you need:

• 2 cups of chocolate chips. Semi-sweet, dark, or whatever you’ve got in the cupboard.
• 2 tsp of vegetable oil (to keep the chocolate from hardening as you work)
• 2 dozen Oreos. Regular, Double stuff, golden. Again, whatever you can scrounge up.
• 2 dozen Necco Sweethearts or any Valentine candy or sprinkles

What you do:

Line a baking sheet with wax paper or tinfoil.

Mix the chips and oil in a glass bowl (I like a large measuring cup). Microwave for thirty seconds, then stir, and keep doing this you’ve got creamy, melted chocolate. Don’t walk away or overnuke or you’ll scorch the chocolate.

Plop an Oreo into the chocolate until covered, then retrieve with a fork. Tap the fork on the side of the bowl to shake off excess chocolate, then gently scooch the chocolate covered cookie onto your baking sheet.

Press a candy heart into the center of the cookie. (Or, if you have time to spare, let your kid do it). Alternately, add sprinkles. The only trick here is to do this before the chocolate hardens.

After all your Oreos have been dipped, pop the baking sheet in the fridge for thirty minutes to set the chocolate.

VARIATIONS:
This same simple magic can be applied to a variety of pantry staples: pretzels, potato chips, strawberries, nuts, marshmallows. Be creative. Some people like to drizzle melted white chocolate or gel icing onto their creations to really make them look pretty. Mine always get smudged, so I stick to decorative candies.

If you really want to wow the ones you love, spear a lollipop stick or popsicle stick into the cream part of the Oreo before dipping. Because the only thing better than a chocolate covered Oreo is a chocolate covered Oreo on a stick.

Happy Easy Valentine’s Day!

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