Just 15 minutes of prep and these fun little shortbread bites will supply you with a mouthful of Valentine’s Day munchies! Pack up these Cupid Bites for a sweet teachers’ treat!
Here we are again with yet another variation of these fun little festive shortbread bites. You saw them first as “BOO! Bites” during Halloween, then “Jingle Bell Bites” for Christmas. I absolutely love making these because they are super quick and totally fun to gift when you bag them up and stuff them into a cute mug. This is what we’ll be gifting to Judah and Simon’s teachers on Thursday. (Try to picture the cookies in clear baggies inside the mugs.)
On another note, we haven’t talked much about life lately. Last week, my Facebook newsfeed blew up with statuses about the Parenthood finale. I’m now intrigued. A few years ago, I watched the first few episodes but when others mentioned how much they cried over what seemed every episode, I decided the depressing show just wasn’t for me. Fast forward a couple of years and now I’m hearing about how redeeming and wonderful the show is/was!
I can get super emotional when I start relating a sad TV show or a movie to real life. There was a movie I watched when Judah was about 2 1/2 years old that had me sitting in my theater seat BAWLING my eyes out because I was relating the main child to my own real life son. Although the movie wasn’t super scary, it was one I vowed never to see again because I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach during the whole darn thing from thinking “what if this happened to my son!?”. The funny thing is? It was more of a sci-fi movie with a plot that could NEVER happen! NOTHING like real life! It would NEVER happen to my kid.
So, if Parenthood is really like real life…like really. (Couldn’t help myself, there.) Then, I can’t even imagine how much the emotions of the show will affect me. Do you think this emotional sob-slurby soul of mine should pass on it? Or, should I do what the rest of America is doing right now and go binge on Netflix (or is it Amazon Prime)? Tell me!
Don’t think I can’t take watching some good nail-biting flicks. We’re watching The Blacklist right now. Talk about INTENSE! We just finished season one last night — wow. I thoroughly recommend this show to all.of.you. 😉
Other “Bites”:
BOO! Bites
Jingle Bell Bites
Leprechaun Bites
Now, here’s what you came here for: The Cupid Bites recipe…
Cupid Bites
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (plus more to butter the pan)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons Valentines colored nonpareils
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch pan, then line with parchment paper, pressing the sides and corners to stick.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and extract at medium speed until creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the flour and salt. Mix on low speed until a dough forms. It will be crumbly at first, but keep beating. Stir in the nonpareils until evenly distributed.
- Transfer the dough to the lined pan and press evenly into the bottom. Use the parchment paper to lift the dough from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut the dough into 1/2-inch square pieces (a pizza cutter works well). Place the squares 1/2-inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet; discard parchment paper. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until bottoms just begin to brown.
- Recipe Source: Adapted from Land O Lakes
Notes
These are so cute!! I thought they were little chocolates at first but am even more thrilled with little shortbread.
Cute and delicious!
I am not so sure I would be up for binging on Parenthood. I watched a couple times and could not get into it….there I said it. I feel like such a freak. Now Downton Abbey on the other hand, I live for that show. That and American Idol. LOL!
haha! Thanks for being honest, Sheila! xoxo
These are so sweet! Love the way you put them in the cute mugs too.
Hi!! Thought I would make these for Easter using spring colored sprinkles. I followed the recipe exactly, but the dough remained powdery…it never solidified. I’m not sure what to do…..
Hi Amanda, It takes a while for the dough to combine but if it just never did for you, add just a drop of vanilla or milk and keep mixing until it comes together. 🙂