I am getting into the Valentine’s Day spirit this month something fierce! I have found that things become immediately more romantic when shaped like a heart. I am highlighting some easy heart-shaped food items that you can make for any and all of your Valentine’s Day meals. For breakfast, try Pillsbury heart shaped cinnamon rolls (an awesome canned cinnamon roll hack), heart shaped bacon, heart shaped eggs, and the cutest heart shaped pancake idea. For lunch, heart shaped quesadillas are a really easy treat. For dinner, why not make some mini heart pizzas! If you’re looking for heart shaped dessert recipes, you’ll love the heart peanut butter cookies and brownie hearts ideas I’m sharing.
For more Valentine’s Day food and cooking inspiration, check out this post with Three Menu Ideas for a Romantic Valentine’s Dinner at Home, but today’s post is dedicated to #hearteverything. Just like #pumpkineverything in the fall, why not show the love with #hearteverything for Valentine’s Day?
Valentine’s Day breakfast ideas
Breakfast and dessert seem to be the easiest meals to incorporate heart shapes. Here are several ideas for heart-shaped breakfasts.
Canned cinnamon roll hack: Pillsbury heart-shaped cinnamon rolls
A can of ready-to-bake, store-bought cinnamon rolls can transform into heart cinnamon rolls with this canned cinnamon rolls hack. Just deconstruct them a bit by unrolling them, then rolling that piece into one of the mounds of a heart. Pinch the bottom to create a point, and place them into a baking pan with room to expand.
Heart-shaped bacon
Nothing says love like bacon shaped like a heart! To make heart-shaped bacon, it is easier to bake them than fry them. Baking is a slower process, but allows the shape to set better than pan-frying. Here’s how to make heart-shaped bacon:
First, I layer a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet. I twist each piece of bacon in the center (this becomes the bottom point of the heart), then fold the two ends up on top, meeting in the middle of the heart.
I place the pieces of bacon on top of the wire rack, and bake at 375-400 degrees, checking every 10 minutes until they have reached desired crispness.
In the photo above, I took the bacon a romantic step further by coating them in cinnamon and sugar before baking. The topping I used is this Cinnamon Bacon recipe from Allrecipes.
Heart-shaped eggs
For some other heart-shaped breakfast ideas, all you need is a decent heart-shaped cookie cutter. I particularly like these Wilton ones on Amazon (disclosure: this is an affiliate link, which means I receive commission from Amazon if you make a purchase using the link).
To make heart-shaped eggs, spray the inside of the cookie cutter with non-stick cooking spray, and crack an egg inside.
When the edges of the egg look solid, you can carefully remove the cookie cutter (please wear an oven mitt or protect your hands, as the metal cookie cutters will be hot!).
Then, continue to fry the eggs until they have reached your desired doneness.
How to make a heart-shaped pancake
You can use the same strategy from the heart-shaped eggs to make DIY heart shaped pancakes! I love this Fast and Easy Pancakes recipe from Allrecipes, but it will work with your favorite recipe (or with pancake mix) as well. Here’s how to make a heart shaped pancake.
Spray the inside of the cookie cutter with cooking spray before pouring in the batter, and use only a thin layer of batter, as they puff up. When the edges seem dry, you can carefully remove the cookie cutter, and flip the pancake. Flip gently to preserve the heart shape.
If you want to add a little more festivity to your heart shaped pancake, use red sugar sprinkles and butter instead of syrup and butter.
Heart egg-in-a-hole and toast
This one is soooo easy. Make an egg-in-a-hole, but make the hole with a heart cookie cutter. You can then toast up the part you cut out with a little butter to make some cute heart toast on the side.
You can also toast up the hearts you cut out of the bread with a little butter in your frying pan.
Valentine’s Day lunch ideas
Not just breakfast… you can make heart-shaped lunch for Valentine’s Day as well!
Heart-shaped quesadillas
This super simple lunch is equally as simple to turn into a heart. Make a quesadilla (with your favorite cheeses and fillings), and use a cookie cutter to cut it into hearts. Top your heart shaped quesadillas with some red pico de gallo salsa to make it even more festive.
Heart-shaped dinner ideas for Valentine’s Day
The festive Valentine’s Day fun continues for dinner with these easy heart-shaped Valentine’s Day dinner ideas.
Mini heart pizzas
If you can make heart-shaped quesadillas, you can easily make mini heart pizzas too! I made this BLT Pizza recipe from Allrecipes, then transformed it into an adorable Valentine’s Day-inspired dinner in just one extra step.
This Wilton comfort-grip heart cookie cutter is the perfect size for slicing a decent-sized heart slice of pizza (disclosure: this is an affiliate link, which means I receive commission from Amazon if you make a purchase using the link). No need to worry about waste; the leftover bits of pizza between the hearts are great for anyone in the family to snack on too!
The tomatoes and bacon in this recipe give the mini heart pizzas a festive red tone.
Heart-shaped dessert recipes
Just like breakfast, there are seemingly endless ideas for heart-shaped dessert recipes for Valentine’s Day! Cookies, brownies, and bars can all be cut into hearts with a cookie cutter.
Heart peanut butter cookies
For these heart peanut butter cookies, I tried something a little different instead of using a heart cookie cutter.
I made this Classic Peanut Butter Cookies recipe from Allrecipes, and shaped the balls of dough into heart-like balls.
I used a fork to smash them down a bit in a criss-cross pattern making the angles of the heart.
Tip: make sure to leave plenty of space between them on the cookie sheet, otherwise your hearts will run together.
Bake them according to the recipe.
The kid loved these ones too!
Brownie hearts
Heart-shaped brownie bites. Get the recipe and instructions for this easy, delicious Valentine’s Day dessert here: Easy Valentine’s Day Brownie Bites recipe.
Heart-shaped Cupcakes
Did you know you can shape cupcakes like Christmas tress, shamrocks, and more using foil to mold them while they bake? Here’s an example of how to make heart-shaped cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. Get the instructions in my article on Easy Valentine’s Day Cupcake Decorations.
I have a feeling these will not be the last heart-shaped things I make between now and Valentine’s Day… if you are feeling the spirit too, make sure to pin these ideas and share this post! These are all super easy ways to make your V. Day a little more fun and fabulous
Sue says
Thank you so much for the great ideas and details for making Valentine’s themed foods! I successfully made the heart shaped cinnamon rolls, bacon, and eggs today. So easy and delicious! I have brownies in the oven now and will leave a separate review on your brownie recipe.
I have one tip regarding the cinnamon rolls. I’m not a baker and am not sure, but I think that I needed to get Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls. As a fix to try to shape what I did purchase, I cut into/through the dough like a pinwheel type circle. That allowed me to be able to unwrap the dough, so to speak, and shape them. If you get the wrong cinnamon roll dough and have to do what I did, just keep a close eye on the rolls after 13 minutes to avoid overbaking them.
Ramona Cruz-Peters says
Thanks for the tip on the cinnamon rolls! I’m glad you had fun with the different heart-shaped breakfasts!