These Adorable Macarons At Costco Are Perfect For Valentine's Day

Sure, you could be like every other gift-giver on Valentine's Day and give your beloved a box of chocolates. Boring and predictable can be cute, after all. But for Costco shoppers who want to think outside the box, or inside a different box, the store now offers 25 macarons from Belgium (via Delish). They're from Le Chic Patissier and they come in raspberry and vanilla. These sophisticated confections are under also just under $13, but you don't have to tell your significant other that.

For the uninitiated, macarons are kind of like high-end Oreos: two almond-biscuit meringues sandwiching a creamy filling. The dessert is seductively simple: almond flour, egg, sugar, and whatever flavorings are added (via The Atlantic). The Costco version adds cream, chocolate, and butter to either the vanilla or raspberry versions. Macarons even have a romantic history. They were invented in Italy but settled in France and were secretly baked and sold by nuns who had to go into hiding after the French revolution (via The New York Times).

Macarons have its fans at the highest levels of the culinary world, too. "I believe it to be the perfect treat," the dean of baking and pastry arts at the Culinary Institute of America told The Atlantic. "It offers great texture when you eat it; it's crunchy and chewy at the same time."