The 3-ingredient heart-shaped dessert you should definitely make with the kids this Valentine's Day (and it includes their favourite chocolate spread)

Looking for a quick and easy Valentine’s Day dessert to rustle up for your loved ones? These Nutella heart-shaped pastries are sure to please.

So, you’ve got plenty of Valentine’s Day dinner ideas in mind for this year’s special day, but how about Valentine’s Day desserts? With just three ingredients; Puff pastry, Nutella, and fruit, these heart-shaped pastries are the perfect sweet treat - and are that simple, you could make them with the kids.

This delicious idea was shared on TikTok by Fleur aka @fleurvdschaaf who has over 118,000 followers and a whole range of nifty food hacks including heart-shaped pizzas, Biscoff swirls, doughnut ice cream sandwiches, and chocolate bark to name a few.

For her Nutella heart-shaped pastries, she tops readymade puff pastry cut into hearts with a generous helping of Nutella, a few slices of banana or strawberry, topped with more puff pastry, and baked in the oven until golden. We’d recommend serving with a drizzle of chocolate sauce, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream - yum. Here’s how to make your own…

How to make Nutella heart-shaped pastries

@fleurvdschaaf

♬ original sound - logan

Ingredients

• Readymade puff pastry
• Nutella
• Fruit of your choice (thin slices of strawberry, banana, etc.)

You will also need:

• 1x egg, whisked for glazing (you could use milk for this too)
• Icing sugar, for dusting (optional)
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter
• Fork, for sealing the pastry
• Greaseproof paper

Method

1. Roll out the readymade puff pastry and cut 12 x heart shapes using the cookie cutter.
2. Spoon Nutella on top of each pastry heart leaving a thin border around the edges of the pastry.
3. On a separate board, chop your chosen fruit into slices.
4. Place the fruit onto 6 of the 12 pastry hearts. Put the remaining 6 pastry hearts (without fruit) on top of the pastry hearts with fruit and gently press down. 
5. Seal the edges of the pastry hearts with a fork.
6. Glaze the pastry with egg wash.
7. Place onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the oven following the puff pastry instructions (this is usually for about 15 minutes at 180C but double check with the packet instructions)
8. Carefully take out of the oven and leave to cool before dusting with icing sugar and serving.

Jessica Dady

"I think my kids would love making these puff pastry hearts for Valentine's Day - they're obsessed with Nutella so that would certainly sway them. We love making puff pastry sweet treats using offcuts from when I make pie for dinner. Nutella and strawberry jam are the usual filling choices, however, jam does tend to ooze out so make sure you seal your puff pastry parcels by forking around the edges. You could even use a little egg wash as 'glue' to make sure they're secure before baking. Oh, and if you don't have egg to glaze pastry, use a drop of milk - it works just as well."

For those with dietary restrictions, swap regular puff pastry for gluten-free, or the Nutella could be swapped for a nut-free chocolate spread. If you’re feeling fancy, you could try Biscoff spread instead. 

You could also try cooking these pastries in an air fryer to halve the cooking time. However, do check with the puff pastry packet instructions, as you want to make sure the pastry is fully cooked before serving - no soggy bottoms thank you.

And for those of you without cookie cutters here are some of our recommended buys...

Tala 10A00990 3 Heart Cookie Cutters Red - View at Amazon

Choose from three different-sized cookie cutters to make your Nutella heart-shaped pastries, as this pack from Tala includes a small, medium, and large heart. These cookie cutters are perfect to use with pastry, dough, and making cookies of course.

Dinosaur Cookie Cutter Set, 8-Piece - View at Amazon 

For the dinosaur fans in your life, why not try using these roar-some cookie cutters? This 8-piece set includes classics like Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Pterodactylus along with plenty of others. As they are metal, they're great for using on frying pans to make pancake shapes too.

Amazon Basics Biscuit Cutter Set Pack of 25 - View at Amazon

For the avid baker, this set of 25 cookie cutters will be an endless amount of fun as well as options when it comes to cutting dough, biscuits, and pastry. Think hearts, flowers, gingerbread men, Halloween bats, Christmas trees - the list goes on.

Cookie cutters at the ready! Follow our Food Writers' super simple step-by-step guide to making pancakes using cookie cutters - the kids will certainly approve. We've also got some great ways to decorate cupcakes with kids too - for those of you looking for half-term activity inspiration. And if you've now got Nutella on the brain, you'll certainly want to try making our Nutella chocolate cake - made with just six ingredients.