15 Galentine's Day Dishes Perfect For Spoiling All Your Pals
This February 13th, we're remembering the important things in life: friends, waffles and work!
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The Ultimate Galentine's Day Spread
Whether you're a diehard fan of Parks and Recreation or you're just looking for an extra reason to spend some quality time with your closest gal pals this February, Galentine's Day is the perfect excuse to celebrate what's most important in life: friends, waffles and work. Though the holiday itself is made up (let's get on that calendar people!!!), we're big proponents of celebrating it nonetheless with a big brunch filled with sweet and savory treats, like the devilishly delicious hot fudge-topped Chocolate Waffles pictured above. From ultra fluffy frittatas to boozy beverages, here's how to make a swoon-worthy Galentine's Day spread that Leslie Knope herself would approve of.
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Waffles
Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies
If you've found yourself longing for all those sugar cookies you ate on Christmas Day, we're here to introduce you to an equally yummy way to end your heartbreak. Not only are these Valentine's Day-inspired cookies just as crispy and buttery as their holly jolly counterparts, but they're just as festive too thanks to their mesmerizing marbled icing. To really impress your friends, take the extra step and pipe each one of their names across the front of your cookies in white icing gel. They make an adorable edible place card.
Get the Recipe: Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies
Avocado Rose Eggs Benedict
Want to add a savory option to your Galentine's Day spread? This playful take on classic avocado toast is sure to be all you avo wanted. The recipe also includes a quick and easy hack for making traditional hollandaise sauce (hint: all you need is a blender!) Want to make sure your avocado rose looks just as professional as the one pictured above?! Be sure to check out our step-by-step knife skills guide. It's truly easier than you might think!
Get the Recipe: Avocado Rose Eggs Benedict
White Chocolate-Strawberry Snack Mix
Your squad is sure to experience love at first bite when they munch on a handful of this whimsically colored and flavored snack mix. It's made up of a tasty combination of freeze-dried strawberries, rice and oat cereal squares, chopped white chocolate, red and white sprinkles and M&Ms, though you can add in other things like lip-shaped gummy candies or ruby chocolate chips. Serve it alongside your other brunch items, or pack some up in cute Valentine's Day designed goodie bags as a portable party favor.
Get the Recipe: White Chocolate-Strawberry Snack Mix
Candied Strawberries
Roses might be red, but these candied strawberries make a wayyy better Valentine's and Galentine's Day gift. To give them their glistening, ruby-red sheen, you'll dip a dozen long stemmed strawberries into a sweet mixture of heated corn syrup and sugar. Place your bunch in a short bud vase and use it as a super chic centerpiece — trust us, absolutely everyone will want to get their hands on it!
Get the Recipe: Candied Strawberries
French Kiss 75
No brunch is complete without a boozy drink or two. Enter this bubbly French 75 recipe. Apart from its light pink hue — which makes it the ultimate Galentine's Day beverage — this lovely libation also contains refreshing notes of passionfruit tea-infused gin and champagne. To give it some extra razzle-dazzle, follow the recipe's suggestion and coat the rims of each of your cocktail glasses with strawberry popping candy.
Get the Recipe: French Kiss 75
Everything Doughnuts
Looking for a one-of-a-kind way to show your nearest and dearest that they are your everything?! These zesty doughnuts might just do the trick. You'll cover them in a homemade seasoning made from toasted poppy and sesame seeds, dried onion and garlic flakes and drizzle them with store-bought honey for a sweet-and-savory finish. For even more flavor, serve them alongside Katie Lee Biegel's Cinnamon Crunch Cream Cheese.
Get the Recipe: Everything Doughnuts
Strawberries and Cream Stuffed French Toast
While waffles are a must at any Galentine's Day celebration that doesn't mean you can't have some other carby options on your party table. This delectable French toast recipe from Girl Meets Farm star Molly Yeh is full of surprises. Not only is each slice stuffed with a luscious cream-cheese-and-strawberry-jam compote, but you'll also top them with luscious drizzles of sweetened condensed milk. It's a berry sweet way to spoil all your "special someones."
Get the Recipe: Strawberries and Cream Stuffed French Toast
Beet Carpaccio with Burrata
Fair warning: Your heart might just skip a beet (or two) when you take your first bite of this quick and easy beet carpaccio burrata dish from Food Network Magazine. To give the recipe some Cupid-worthy swoon, arrange your slices of roasted beets in the shape of a heart, then layer your toasted bread slices and burrata around it.
Get the Recipe: Beet Carpaccio with Burrata
Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
No party is complete without a slice of cake to enjoy at the end, and this striking strawberry layer cake makes a berry worthy final act. Though the cake's baby pink hue makes it the picture-perfect Galentine's Day dessert, it's the homemade strawberry puree that gets added to the cake's batter which truly makes it sensational. The cake itself takes 4 hours total to make from start to finish, so go ahead and make it the night before your Galentine's celebration, so you can have some more time to socialize with your crew.
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Strawberry Rose Bellini
Bellinis are a brunch staple, so give yours a romantic makeover by adding a sweet mixture of pureed strawberries and lemon juice into your favorite brand of sparkling chilled rośe like the Pioneer Woman does. We also love the idea of serving your bubbly creation in these adorable stemless flute glasses and garnishing them with a prosecco gummy bear (or twelve.)
Get the Recipe: Strawberry Rose Bellini
Mini Frittatas
One of Leslie Knope's most-celebrated Galentine's Day quotes goes as follows: "Ladies celebrating ladies. It's like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas." So naturally, we needed to include a frittata recipe in this gallery. These miniature ham, Parmesan cheese and parsley-stuffed ones from Giada De Laurentiis make the perfect bite-sized party treat, plus they can be made inside a mini muffin tin, so each one is guaranteed to get a beautifully golden-brown top. The recipe also yields 40 mini frittatas, so you can use whatever's left to make these flavor-packed Leftover Frittata Sandwiches for lunch the very next day.
Get the Recipe: Mini Frittatas
Black & Pink Cookies
Black & Whites are a time-honored treat, so give them the adoration they rightfully deserve by showering your besties with these unique variations from Molly Yeh. The 5-star recipe replaces the cookie's signature vanilla glaze with a bright pink, strawberry-flavored one that's made from staples like yogurt, corn syrup, powdered sugar, salt and freeze-dried berries. For some added allure, plate them on a tiered stand and sprinkle some real rose petals across your tabletop.
Get the Recipe: Black & Pink Cookies
Love Letter Cookies
Paper valentines are sooo 2002. If you really want to show all your besties just how much they mean to you this year, these love letter cookies are truly doughp. While they take quite a bit of elbow grease to put together — 8 hours and 45 minutes to be exact — you can break the entire process over a few days to give yourself a fun baking project. Though you can fill your cookie letters with the message of your choosing, we suggest throwing in some food puns like, "You're all that and dim sum" and "Olive you so much."
Get the Recipe: Love Letter Cookies
Flamin' Hot Cheeto Mozzarella Hearts
These ooey gooey mozzarella treats are sure to make your friends melt. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter will help you achieve their holiday-ready form while crushing up three bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos will create their red hot and crunchy outer coating. Pulling them apart is also a lot of fun for anyone in your friend group who might be experiencing a little heartbreak this February.
Get the Recipe: Flamin' Hot Cheeto Mozzarella Hearts