Sweet on Sunday - Valentine's Treats

We typically go "underboard" for Valentine's day - homemade cards and time together rather than big boxes of chocolate or expensive gifts . . . but still, there are bound to be a few treats sprinkled in along the way. This year, we planned two baking projects - heart-shaped cookies for an afternoon tea with Grandma and strawberry shortcake cupcakes for our Odyssey team.

The cookies are based on the lemon cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance - I just left out the lemon zest. It's what I always use for my basic sugar cookie recipe, and they are delicious! Little Sprout helped me roll out the dough and cut out the hearts, and both Sprouts handled the decorating.

The cupcakes are the basic Vanilla Cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I squirted some raspberry preserves into each one, then spread each one with frosting. Little Sprout added the "heart-like" strawberry halves.

The frosting required a little improvisation . . . usually I use the basic buttercream from Vegan Cupcakes, but it calls for 1/2 cup of each Earth Balance and vegan shortening, and I had no shortening. Instead, I used 1 cup of Earth Balance, left out the vanilla and replaced the soy milk with 1/4 cup of pureed strawberries. It wasn't as fluffy as usual, so I decided to spread it on rather than pipe it on . . . and ended up with just enough for the cupcakes and all the cookies.

I'm not going to post Sprout Ratings because . . . hey, they're cookies and cupcakes. Five Sprouts all around!