Easy Valentine's Brownie Pops

I'll be honest...when I set out to make simple treats for my children's Valentine's Day celebrations, I wanted to use Oreo Cakesters because I did not want to bother with baking. But for some reason, they are increasing difficult to find in my area and after searching a few stores, I came up empty handed. So I came up with Plan B, which was to use brownies instead. This did require a little baking, but a boxed brownie mix was still pretty easy. And really...who doesn't love a brownie...especially when it's covered in a yummy chocolate coating!

I baked the brownies according to package directions, using a 13 x 9 pan. Once cooled, I used a small heart shaped cutter to cut out the shapes. I placed them on a parchment lined tray and put them in the freezer while I prepared the candy melts. I found the frozen brownie were much easier to dip.

I melted candy melts according to the package directions, but added shortening to thin the candy to a better dipping consistency. I used a  tablespoon of shortening per bag. I tried to make these like you would make cake pops, putting the brownies on the sticks and dipping, but I could not get it to work. I don't know if the brownies were too heavy or if I was just having a bad night, but no fear...I came up with an alternate solution.

I dropped each brownie (one at a time) into the bowl of candy melts, using a spoon to cover it completely. I scooped it out with a fork, tapping on the edge of the bowl to remove the excess candy and then tapped them off onto a piece of parchment. Before they dried, I sprinkled them with some fun Valentine's sprinkles.

Once they were completely dry, I dipped the end of a lollipop stick into the remaining melted candy melts and inserted them into the bottom of the brownie hearts. Then I took a paper straw (which I trimmed to the same size of the lollipop stick beforehand) and used it to cover the stick. I made sure that a tiny bit of the straw went inside the brownie to keep it sturdy.

Place each pop inside of treat bags and tie off with a fun ribbon! I tucked each one inside of a Valentine's goody bag along with our homemade Valentine's cards.

I hope your Valentine's Day is SWEET and full of LOVE!