5 Easy & Delicious Holiday Treats

 

I love baking, from chocolate chips cookies to cute little cakepops, and everything in-between. The desserts I make are usually very sweet and devouring; my parents hate it, the ALWAYS criticize how much butter and sugar I use.  But honestly, in my humble opinion, as long as it tastes good it doesn’t matter how much calories it is in there.

The holidays are my favourite time of the year to make bake goods. It is all about sharing the love and sweets. For the month of December I usually bake a new treat during the week and bring them over to family, friends, co-workers. I spend the whole year prepping up for the month of December to show off some of my top and most successful treats for the year. I love dropping by Bulk-Barn (it’s baking goods supplies store in Canada, in case you don’t know) to pick up the green and red sprinkles and cute little adornments. Today’s blog post I will be showing you the top five holiday treats that are fairly easy and fun to make. And I promise you it is delicious and will get everyone loving them within seconds. They are cute and yummy!

1. Chocolate chips cookies

This might seem sooo cliché, because it’s chocolate chips cookies, but this one is definitely the easiest and you can’t go wrong with this recipe. I use this recipe throughout the year and these cookies never fail to disappoint me. I probably make these once a month and this batch works with anything, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, walnuts, peanuts, etc. In the spirit of the holidays however, I throw in some green and red chocolate chips! One thing I love about these cookies is that it will last for up to two weeks if you keep them in the fridge. (Image)

 

2. Sugar Cookies

This is a classic. Not going to lie, it is a bit more difficult to make than the chocolate chips cookies and it does take a bit longer. I usually make these once or twice a year. The last batch I made was back in April, I made cute dinosaur cut out cookies! This Christmas, I got these really cute snowman and reindeer cookie cutters. I can’t wait to try them out! Last year, I made these with a stocking cut out, my sister and I had SO much fun decorating – it was a blast! One of the trickier things about these cookies sis the waiting time, you have to wait for the cookie dough to harden a bit before rolling it out. Another thing is that I find it a lot easier to roll it out on a granite table with lots of flour to prevent it from sticking. It does take a few tries to get it right for sure. Don’t forget that making the royal sugar icing is also a whole other process that takes a bit of time too. But at the end of the day, it is the holiday and theses cookies looks so great when you are sharing them with friends! Feel free to grab a friend and spend the day decorating the cookies together; it is definitely a lot of holiday fun! The recipe below is one that never fails on me. Tip: if the dough is too dry, add small tsp of milk and mix. Repeat if needed, but only add one tsp each time, over adding will make the dough very sticky and hard to roll.

 

I love browsing through Pintrest to see all the cute holiday ideas others do for the holiday cookies! Believe me every time I start on these cookies I have wild imaginations that mine are going to turn out like there’s … I am still working on that. (Image, image, image)

 

Also, for the royal icing sugar, I use Martha Stewart’s recipe which can be found here: http://www.marthastewart.com/316888/royal-icing-for-sugar-cookies

 

3. Frosty on a Stick

This one is beyond easy and quick to make, but they are super cute to bring over to a party or even feature them at your very own Christmas party! You can even use these as hot chocolate stirrers. It is so simple all you need is a few wooden kabob sticks and marshmallows! Plus drop buy your local grocery store to pick up sprinkles, gummy candy, Oreos, junior mints, etc. And be creative! You can do so much with a few marshmallows on a stick. All it takes is a bit of an imagination. There really aren’t directions for this, aside from sticking the marshmallow on the stick. Here are a few examples and ideas to get you started for this cute project. (Image, image, image)

 

4. Holiday Popcorn

This one is also a easy one. My last holiday treat is going to be a tricky one for those who are up for a challenge. Christmas popcorn is a tradition in my house hold; everyone loves a Carmel, cheese, extra butter salted popcorn. The best part about the holiday popcorn is that it is so cute and tastes even better than the boring popcorn we have during the year. It is quick and easy to make, and when you wrap it in a cute plastic bag plus a bow, it makes cute gifts or take away gifts for holiday parties. Things to pick up: popcorn kernels, festive sprinkles, melting chocolate chips and iodized sea salt. You will also need a popcorn pooper around. If you don't have one, see if your grocery stores have microwave popcorn that is flavour free (otherwise the butter will take away from the flavour). Once your kernels are popped, melt the chocolate and pour over the popcorn, then generously coat them with sprinkles and salt. Let it cool of and eat when dry. Tip: to make it every more special, add M&Ms or pretzels for a mix of sweet and salty surprise. (Image)

 

 

5. Cakepops

This is definitely a tricky one and if it is your first time it is going to take lots of time, But, these are super-duper cute and it tastes absolutely delicious, I got to say, if you have ever tried the Starbucks cake pop, this is definitely in par. Follow the recipe here: http://divascancook.com/how-to-make-cake-pops-easy-best/

 

This Christmas I made a few batches of these, some I coated the pop with red and green icing, along with some festive coloured sprinkles. However, I was on Pintrest the other day and found these super cute holiday designs which I am planning to try out!

 

One of the hardest parts about these cake pops is having the ball stay on the stick, so when I saw the snowman idea I thought it was so smart – I mean it is easier to make and I don’t have to worry about the stick! This treat is definitely going to get everyone devouring for more. There is honestly so much you can do with a cake pop; the amount of designs that can be added on is endless. Here are a few of my favourites on Pintrest. (Image, image, image, image)