Baked in the name of love, Valentine’s Day cookies should sweep your honey off his diet and sprinkle him with affection. In addition to taste, the best types of cookies for Valentine’s Day allow for expressive decoration. This is not a time to hold back. Part of the fun on February 14th is going over the top to show someone special that they’re not only appreciated but adored every day of the year.

These top ten Valentine’s Day cookies are like a great date; they’re sweet, sentimental, fun, and will leave you wanting more.

10. Cookie Bouquet

The cookie bouquet is as much about the presentation as the cookies themselves. Choose your love’s favorite hard cookie whether it’s chocolate chip, oatmeal, or snickerdoodle, and press a lollipop stick through the bottom half of the dough before sliding the cookies in the oven.

Decorate them with a variety of colorful designs and powdered sugar, and arrange them in a basket with a hot cocoa mix or a bottle of wine for a surprise floor picnic.

9. Raspberry Shortbreads

A raspberry spread sandwiched between two shortbread cookies is a Valentine’s Day classic also known as Linzer cookies. Shaped like a heart with the red jam showing through on one side, raspberry shortbreads take the prize for the most romantic decoration.

The contrast of the savory shortbread and sweet raspberries shows that opposites not only attract, they stay together.

8. Meringue Hearts

Meringue heart cookies bring out the softer, simpler side of the Valentine’s Day cookie table. Color them pink or red with food coloring, or use brown sugar to add a warm hue. Shave orange zest in your mix for added flavor, and use a zip-locked baggie to draw the mix into hearts.

7. Dark Chocolate with White Chocolate Chunks

Making a romantic dinner for two? Follow it up with an espresso and some aphrodisiac, I mean chocolate. Dark chocolate cookies with chunks of white chocolate are a cookie lover’s dream. You’ll get a mix of textures and familiar flavors that will add a sweet, warm finish to any meal.

6. Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Woopie pies have taken the U.S. by storm in the last few years, and they’re not difficult to make. Some consider them a cookie while others call them pies or cakes. Does it matter when you have rich creamy frosting between two mounds of cake? Red velvet is a colorful choice for Valentine’s Day, but you can go with any kind of cake you like. The trick is to make the cake mounds small and uniform so the finished cookie isn’t too overwhelming.

5. Chocolate Conversation Heart Cookies

Like them or not, conversation hearts will likely make their way into your candy bowl. Chuck those tasteless candies once and for all and make your conversations on chocolate cookies. Use a bright, solid icing as your base color, and a clean white icing to write with. Decorate your cookies with personal jokes, references or classics like “Luv u” and “Kiss me”.

4. French Macaroons

French macaroons add elegance to Valentine’s Day. The little sandwich rounds are light and creamy. They’ll satisfy that sweet tooth without weighing you down. For Valentine’s Day, Epicurious suggests a raspberry chocolate macaroon, but other flavors include chocolate ganache, cappuccino, chocolate coconut, passion fruit, and rose.

3. Thumb Print Cookies

Don’t you know the best way to share the love is to stick your thumb in some cookies? Fill thumb print cookies with jams, sprinkles, or chocolates, or leave them hollow so your loved ones will think of you every time they sneak a treat.

2. Kiss Cookies

Kiss cookies are rich round cookies, like peanut butter, almond, or oatmeal, with a Hershey’s Kiss pressed in the center. The kisses maintain their basic shape, adding a little something extra to any year-round favorite. These require very few ingredients and no extra decorating. They’re the perfect solution for anyone wanting to shower a loved one with kisses.

1. Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are a buttery staple for Valentine’s Day. For families, the holiday has a colorful and nostalgic side that kids love. Sugar cookies are simple and help make kids feel included in the fun. All you need are a few basic cookie cutters, like hearts and cherubs, sprinkles, chocolate chip icing and patience when half the decorations end up on the table. Just remember: the messier the yummier.

If you don’t have time or the oven is not your friend, don’t despair. You can mail order beautiful decorated tins of valentine’s cookies to satisfy your sweet one’s sweet tooth.

Contributed by Aurora LaJambre, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru