I Heart Muffins: Happy Valentine's Day!

I <3 Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is the perfect time to celebrate with sweet, pink treats full of love and deliciousness. As it turns out, you can make just about anything heart-shaped, and muffins are no exception. 

Instant yum

While I originally just intended to make some of my favorite go to muffins as part of a low-key brunch, inspiration and timing got the better of me and made for a fun, new creation.

Think outside the box...

By following the "What if" recipe option listed on the back of the box, you can transform these already tasty muffins into allegedly "guilt free baked donuts." The only main difference in the process involved putting the batter into a plastic bag and piping it out onto a pan.

The shape of my heart

Since it was <3 day anyway, I decided to take it one step further and make Valentine's Day themed, heart-shaped donut muffins. 

Circles, hearts and triforces, oh my!

Along with the fun heart muffins, I made a few traditional round and bar donuts, as well. I even went so far as to make a triforce because that's just who I am.

Think pink!

The icing for these special Valentine's Day donuts was as simple as it was tasty, made from just powdered sugar and the remaining juice saved from the boxed mix's enclosed cranberry tin.

Love at first taste

The naturally pink hue of the resulting icing was perfect for the Valentine's Day theme of the heart-shaped donut muffins and made for a wonderfully sweet addition to our special brunch. 

Cranberry orange donut muffins - yum!

While this neat muffin transforming technique is perfect for hearts on Valentine's Day, you can just as easily make traditional donuts or other shapes for any time of the year. Muffins will never be the same again!

For other Valentine's Day fun, check out the series of nerdy valentines in all your favorite fandoms: Love is in the Cards.
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA

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