Date night desserts should be as delicious and tantalizing as, well, your date. With one of the most exciting, intimate, and nerve-wracking holidays on the horizon, we put together a guide to the best Valentine’s Day dessert ideas to help your romantic evening for two go off without a hitch. Or with a hitch if you eventually want to get hitched. (But for the love of god, please don’t propose on Valentine’s Day.) Whether you’re seeking out romantic desserts for V-Day or that one Friday a month when your kids go visit the grandparents, these are the best date night dessert ideas.
- Baker’s Real Milk Chocolate Dipping Chocolate (and Strawberries)
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Chocolate-dipped strawberries are the ultimate date night dessert, but they can be kind of pricey. How about sharing a bowl of melted chocolate and dipping those ruby red strawberries yourselves? Baker’s Dipping Chocolate tastes like rich, melted Hershey’s Kisses, only smoother. Yes, it comes with a microwaveable cup for ease—but please, do your relationship a favor and pour it in a nice bowl. Bonus: You’ll probably have enough melted chocolate left over to get a little freaky with it. —Ariana Losch
Read the full ranking of the best chocolate for dipping strawberries
- Ghirardelli Signature Collection Box of Chocolates
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Romantic desserts for two (or three, or one; not here to judge) should have elegance and class, and no one does that quite like Ghirardelli. You’d think heart-shaped chocolate cups might be cheesy, but not these. Ornately decorated and packaged in the glossy Ghirardelli box, this is a date night dessert idea that looks expensive. (But a box is just $14, so decidedly not expensive.) But it’s not all about looks; they even taste like handmade treats from a local chocolatier at a craft candy store. The chocolates come in a great variety, including chocolate hazelnut truffle with toffee bits, milk chocolate caramel truffle, chocolate almond truffle, and dark chocolate and cacao nib truffle. —Ariana Losch
Read the full ranking of the best box of Valentine’s Day chocolates
- Straus Organic Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
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For smooching purposes, consider ending your date night with some mint choco chip. Straus Organic Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream received 10/10 Sporks for its high quality, even distribution of chocolate chips, and pure mint flavor that isn’t toothpaste-y. Luckily, even without toothpaste, the ice cream can still refresh your breath a little. See? When it comes to big-brained date night dessert ideas, we’ve got you covered. —Ariana Losch
Read the full ranking of the best mint chip ice cream
- Trader Joe’s Raspberry Mousse Cakes
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TJ’s Raspberry Mousse Cakes make a great date night dessert for anyone who may be less of a chocolate person. In general, mousse cakes are so elegant and sweet, your partner is sure to be impressed by this romantic dessert idea. These look like fancy patisserie and taste like it, too. Light-bodied and filled with vanilla flavor, the tart raspberry coating cuts through the sweetness and contrasts beautifully with the rest of the cake. —Ariana Losch
Read the full ranking of the best Trader Joe’s Valentine’s day treats
- Choceur Dark Chocolate Covered Coconut Almonds
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Sometimes date night calls for good movie-watching snacks, and these addictive, poppable almonds from Aldi are perfect for the job. Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling described these chocolate-covered coconut almonds by noting that Aldi “has turned an Almond Joy into a bite-sized delight,” and I don’t know about you but that sounds like a perfect sweet counterpart to buttery microwavable popcorn. —Jessica Block
Read the full ranking of the best chocolate at Aldi
- Raspberry Cheesecake Talenti
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Does any dairy product make a more romantic dessert than gelato? That’s a question I ask myself every morning while I stare myself down the mirror and brush my teeth. And by the time I’ve spit and rinsed and brushed my hair, I always come to the same conclusion: perhaps not. But armchair foodlosophy aside, y’all really do need to add this gelato to your list of date night dessert ideas because, hoooo boi, is it decadent. It is beautifully balanced and as Justine put it, “The raspberry is tart and tangy and fresh. The cheesecake flavor is like genuine cheesecake.” It’s perfect, just like your significant other. So buy it for them already! —Jessica Block
Read the full ranking of the best ice cream
- Favorite Day Hot Chocolate Bombs
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Cozy up by the fireplace (or a TV screen playing a YouTube video of a fireplace) with a big blanket and two steaming cups of hot chocolate. We recommend this fancy pair of hot chocolate bombs by Favorite Day: Dark Chocolate with White Chocolate Drizzle & Milk Chocolate with Salted Caramel. These tempered spheres of chocolate are rich in flavor, beautifully decorated, and mesmerizing to watch dissolve. You’ve heard of dinner and a show? Well, this is a date night dessert and a show. —Ariana Losch
Read our full ranking of the best hot chocolate bombs
- Trader Joe’s Double Chocolate Croissants
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Assuming your date night desserts go over well (and the rest of your date, I guess), pick up some Trader Joe’s chocolate croissants for the morning after. Your significant other deserves croissants in bed, okay. Admittedly, these do have to sit out for nine hours after you bake them, so you should prepare ahead of time—but that’s where you get to brag about how much effort and prep you spent on your loved one! —Ariana Losch
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!