Bring The Love To Valentine's Day Lunch With Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter Sandwiches

Let's face it — Valentine's Day is a food holiday. Sure, it's technically about love, but between the chocolate-covered strawberries, red velvet cupcakes, and sweetheart candy, February 14th is the perfect excuse to enjoy treats that are as cute as they are tasty. But while desserts are typically the gift of choice in this arena, you don't have to stop there. If you want to make lunch extra special for your kids (or yourself) on Valentine's Day, try using cookie cutters to make heart-shaped sandwiches. These creations are perfect for picky eaters, so you may even want to keep making them after the holiday has passed.

Cookie cutters eliminate what's arguably the least delicious part of the sandwich: the crusts. What you're left with, besides an adorable, heart-shaped meal, are pillowy soft slices on either side of your favorite sandwich ingredients. In today's world, you can find these cutters in all different sizes, so you can make tea sandwiches or full-sized, heart-shaped creations. And don't worry about wasting the crusts, because you can repurpose them for everything from homemade breadcrumbs to croutons.

The first step to making a heart-shaped sandwich is using the right cutter. You want one that's thick and tall enough to slice through your bread without smushing your sandwich. When it comes to choosing the bread, pick the freshest, fluffiest slices possible. White, wheat, or multigrain work beautifully here, but stay away from crusty or stale loaves, where it would be difficult to make a clean cut. That said, if your heart-shaped tool isn't enough to slice through your bread of choice, you can always a knife to help pull away the scraps.

Before you whip out your cookie cutter, you'll want to fully make your sandwiches. Try to keep your ingredient list small, since it will be tough to cut a towering creation into pretty shapes. Combinations for tea sandwiches will work perfectly here, including cucumber and cream cheese, ham and cheese, tomato and mayo, and even grilled cheese. You can also make a version of your favorite lunchtime sandwich, but keep veggies thin and omit ingredients that don't fit neatly onto your slices, like lettuce.

If you really want to get in the Valentine's Day spirit, whip up a PB&J or a sweet concoction with ingredients like Nutella, sliced strawberries, raspberry jam, cream cheese, brie, red and pink sprinkles, or chopped cherries. This holiday only comes around once a year, after all.