One of the popular traditions this time of the year that many of us feel the need — or desire — to participate in is holiday baking.
On the one hand there are a lot of really fun-looking and delicious-tasting treats out there designed specifically for the holidays, including many we only give ourselves permission to eat on this special occasion.
On the other hand, holiday baking can be time consuming, and getting those Santa cookies to look the way they do on Pinterest can be down right hard.
If you think about it, it takes a lot of effort just to make a batch of cookies to take to a party. Yet around the holidays, it’s easy to find five, six, or ten recipes we want not only to taste good, but to look good too.
If you haven’t finished, or even started, your holiday baking this season, the clock is definitely ticking for you. So today we’ve chosen five of our favorite yummy but easy recipes that can still make you look like you could hold your own as a contestant on Dessert Games.
Yes, you can scour the internet and come up with 25+ easy recipes, but we’ve specially chosen these because not only are they truly easy, but they require few ingredients, and your kids — who are likely already “bored” on their break — can easily pitch in or even make it themselves.
1. Christmas Kisses
What You’ll Need:
- A bag of round pretzels
- A bag of plain M&Ms, red and green
- 2-3 bags of Hershey’s Kisses, hugs variety
Directions:
- On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat mat, spread out the pretzels, fitting as many as you can on the sheet.
- Place a Hershey’s kiss into each pretzel.
- Bake on the lowest heat setting your oven has, with the door cracked open, for 5-6 minutes, or until the kiss begins to soften.
- Remove from oven and press an M&M (blank side up) into each kiss.
- Cool in the refrigerator or outside, and they pop right off the pan once chilled.
As these have become quite a popular treat, you may have trouble finding circle pretzels at this late date, as they do appear to be seasonal. You can also use the square pretzels that are available year round. They don’t look quite as pretty, but they still taste great.
Just get a couple bags of round pretzels on your Black Friday shopping list for next year!
2. Holiday Pretzel Rods
What You’ll Need:
- A container of pretzel rods
- Milk, dark, and/or white dipping chocolate
- Holiday sprinkles and/or frosting
Directions:
- Melt the chocolates over low heat and pour them into drinking cups.
- Dip half of the pretzel rod in the chocolate and lay it on a pan covered with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
- Shake sprinkles over the chocolate while it’s still warm, or put the icing in a pastry bag and drizzle it over the chocolate.
- Cool in the refrigerator or outside, and the festive pretzels will pop right off the pan once chilled.
It truly doesn’t get easier than this one, and they look great and are a big hit among kids and adults.
3. Puppy Chow
What You’ll Need:
- A 12 oz box of rice Chex cereal
- 12 oz of chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup of peanut butter
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 bag powdered sugar
Directions:
- Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter over low heat, stirring constantly.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Place cereal in a large bowl and pour mixture over it, stir slowly with a spatula until cereal is covered.
- Pour the powdered sugar over the mixture and stir slowly. Add as much powdered sugar as you want, you can use the whole bag or less according to your taste.
To add a holiday flare to this recipe, you can also stir in some red and green plain M&Ms.
4. Christmas Crackers
What You’ll Need:
- About 2 sleeves of saltine crackers
- 1 cup of butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 12 oz bag of chocolate chips
- About a cup of M&Ms
Directions:
- Line a large jelly roll pan with a Slipat mat or aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the saltines in a single layer in the pan, side by side.
- Heat the butter and brown sugar over medium-low heat, stirring until the butter is melted.
- When the butter has melted, bring the mixture to a boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture is a caramel color.
- Pour the mixture over the saltine crackers and spread with a spatula to even it out. Work quickly so the mixture doesn’t harden.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 8-9 minutes.
- While the toffee bakes, melt the chocolate chips until smooth.
- Remove pan from oven and pour chocolate chips over the toffee crackers, spreading with a spatula to even it out.
- Place M&Ms on top and freeze for 15 minutes, then break the hardened pieces off the pan and store in a container.
The key to making this recipe easy is letting go of any perfectionism you may suffer from. Don’t worry about spreading the toffee mixture evenly, it will even out as it bakes. The chocolate mixture doesn’t have to be perfectly distributed either.
And, part of the beauty of this recipe is the homemade look you’ll get when you break it apart after its hardened. (In addition to the fact that it’s sooo good no one will notice if it’s not exactly even!)
5. Oreo Truffles
What You’ll Need:
- A package of Oreo cookies
- 8 oz of cream cheese, softened
- melting chocolate of any flavor
Instructions:
- Finely crush the Oreos in a food processor or blender.
- Combine the Oreos crumbs with the cream cheese using a spoon, or your hands actually work best.
- Shape the cookie mixture into small balls and refrigerate them for 15-30 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.
- Melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.
- Dip the chilled cookie balls into the chocolate of your choice and lay them on a surface covered with parchment, wax paper, or a Silpat mat.
- Refrigerate to harden the chocolate and store in a container.
Tip for Oreo truffles: Give yourself permission to live a little and try these, even if the ingredients would usually be on your “off limits” list. You deserve something that tastes this great to celebrate the holidays!
Special Holiday Offer From Kids Party Characters
Hopefully we’ve relieved any stress you may have been having about your holiday baking, and maybe even given you some ideas for treats you could turn the older kids loose with on their own in the kitchen.
One of our main goals here at Kids Party Characters is to make life more fun for your kids, and for you.
When it comes to parties, our full-service packages allow you to unload most of the work on us while you sit back and enjoy with your child and her guests.
Visit us at KidsPartyCharacters.com to see our selection of over 200 characters, as well as all the kid favorites like cotton candy, face painting, balloon twisting, and — our newest addition — bouncy castles.
Because you’re a Kids Party Characters supporter, if you put a deposit down on your party in December, you’ll receive 15% off or a free upgrade to the next level package when it’s time to book the party.
So even if your child’s birthday doesn’t come around until next summer, simply place your deposit now at KidsPartyCharacters.com and you’ll lock in your 15% discount or free upgrade as our way of saying thanks for being a valued member of the community.
Also make sure we’re connected on Facebook, where we share daily updates about the magic we create at children’s parties, as well as our best tips for raising happy and healthy kids while successfully working from home.
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