So Sweet Valentine Treats

Put down that messy piping bag! Here's an easier way: Glaze alphabet cookies with thin icing, then sprinkle with colored sugar. Perch atop frosted cupcakes.

Trader Joe's Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies

Create a visually stunning batch of Valentine's Day cupcakes by mixing and matching just two colors of icing and a few simple garnishes. Display them on a tiered stand for impact.

Sweeten up your favorite sugar cookies with inexpensive seasonal baking accessories, such as a heart-shape cookie cutter.

For added charm, sandwich jam between two of the cookies after they cool to room temperature. (Just make sure only the top cookies have holes through their middles!)

These cake-like confections are a little tart with citrus and slightly sweet from a pink glaze.

Pile these pretty Double Thumbprint Cookies on a plate and let guests fill them with assorted jams and preserves.

You can find edible flowers in many markets for these Lemon Rose Cookies. Be sure any flowers you use have never been sprayed or treated.

The addition of honey to these cinnamon-spiced cookies gives them great flavor and a slightly soft texture.

Vary the shape of these chocolate-dipped cookies depending on the season.

In the vernacular of French cooking and baking, a galette is simply a kind of cake. These little almond-infused "cakes" are the essence of simple sophistication.

All the rage in Paris a hundred years ago, these chewy coconut bites are still a popular treat to savor. For an extra special goody, drizzle the tops or dip the bottoms with melted chocolate.

Crushed wheat cereal coats these cherry-centered morsels. Bake them as much as three months ahead.

A dip in melted white chocolate then a roll in nonpareils and edible glitter give a colorful frill to these cookies.

These light-as-air sweet kisses are fat-free and guilt-free at less than 32 calories each. The cocoa and espresso powders provide phenolic compounds, which function as antioxidants.

Cornmeal adds crunch, lemon adds zip, and nuts add richness to Italy's ultimate dipping cookie in these Italian Nut Biscotti Sticks.

This basic recipe is tasty plain, or it can become the basis for many variations.

Fresh cranberries give these pleasingly soft cookies a tangy taste and bright color.

With a simple orange marmalade topping, these sweet little bites bring seasonal inspiration to the table.

For a super shortcut, start with bakery cupcakes or make them from a cake mix for these German Chocolate Cupcakes. Then top each cupcake with a circle of frosty ice cream and the embellishments of your choice.

Delectably light, these Toffee Almond Shortbread Bites have a buttery flavor with an unexpected hint of almond and toffee. Be sure to bake a few of these cookies for each guest.

What's better than one cookie? Three cookies, stacked on top of one another to form a multi-tiered, tasty masterpiece.

A single basic sugar cookie dough makes all four of the dainty heart designs.

These peppermint-flavored meringues are virtually fat-free and they're fun to eat, too, because they melt like magic on your tongue.

Purchased cookies or fresh fruit, such as grapes or pears, may be served instead of Cutout Cookies.

These delectable treats make exquisite decorations for cake, cheesecake, cream pies, and other special desserts.