Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

We made Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cups at our Pillsbury Valentine’s Making Party. A party where the kids get to do the baking!

No matter what age kids are, they like to bake sweet treats! Having kids help in the kitchen is a great way to spend quality time with them while doing something fun together. Baking teaches kids life skill like patience, the importance of following directions and how to work together with others. Kids also get to use their math, reading and science skills in the kitchen without even realizing it! The main things I remember helping my mom bake are rolled sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Eventually, I started making both of those cookies on my own, following the recipe in the orange Betty Crocker cookbook. Remember that cookbook? I actually have a copy of it that I found at a garage sale!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it is the perfect time to host a “making party” where kids get to help make the treats. Last Saturday, 19 kids ranging from infants to teens were at my house for a Pillsbury Valentine’s Making Party! Three of the kids were too young to do any baking, but the rest of them were super excited and arrived at my house, ready to bake! Setting up for the party was super easy because all of the baking involved Pillsbury dough products. With each treat we baked, there was very little that needed to be done with the dough, making the party a breeze.

The first thing we made were Valentine Cookie Pops using Pillsbury Ready To Bake refrigerated  sugar cookies. I separated the 24 sugar cookie dough pieces.  Each child got a popsicle stick and a piece of the dough. They stuck the sticks into the side of the cookie dough and placed them on cookie sheets. We baked the cookie pops for 12-16 minutes at 350 degrees. Once the cookies had cooled, each child got a plate with a sugar cookie pop and a spoonful of pink Valentine frosting. They frosted their cookies and added sprinkles and sparkle gel icing.

The second thing we made were Sweetheart Cinnamon Rolls using Pillsbury refrigerated flaky cinnamon rolls. (It’s very important that you get the flaky cinnamon rolls or you won’t be able to unroll the dough to make the hearts.) Each child got one of the pieces of cinnamon roll dough to shape into a heart. To make the Sweetheart Cinnamon Rolls, carefully unroll the dough, leaving the center coiled. Make a coil of the opposite end and form a heart shape. Place all of the cinnamon roll hearts in a greased 9-in round cake pan with the points facing the center. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.