Sometimes the best gifts are the ones you can eat! It’s easy to bake up a batch of treats, put them in a box, tie with a ribbon, and gift to whomever you like. Of course, if you’re already famous for your delicious spice cookies or peanut butter fudge or even homemade tomato sauce, you could certainly make and gift those goodies. But if you need ideas, we have a few recipes for some delicious gifts you can easily make in bulk, break into smaller batches, and hand out at your holiday gathering.
Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate truffles are easy to make as they are delicious and decadent! Once they’re formed, you can roll them in any topping you like. A few different kinds of truffles per gift box are the best! Make sure you clear some room in your fridge for a large bowl and a few baking sheets.
Makes 50-60 truffles
12 oz good semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped or in chips
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
Paper liners for candies (mini muffin liners would be fine)
Toppings: Finely-chopped nuts, ground peppermint candies, cocoa powder, shredded coconut, peanut pieces, sprinkles, edible glitter, snowflake sprinkles, lemon zest, melted white or dark chocolate, or whatever else you can thank of!
Heat about 2 cups of water in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and place a round-bottom heat-proof bowl on top of the saucepan to create a double boiler. Pour the chocolate pieces and whipping cream into the bowl, stirring with a rubber spatula or whisk to help them melt. When the chocolate is melted and smooth, remove the bowl from heat and let cool for about 15 minutes. Place in the fridge for three hours.
Before removing from the fridge again, place each topping into its own bowl and cover a few baking sheets with wax paper. Remove the bowl of chocolate from the fridge and thoroughly wash your hands. Use a teaspoon or melon baller to scoop out pieces of chocolate. Quickly roll them into circles with your hands (they don’t need to be perfect—they will begin to melt slightly from the heat of your hands!), then gently roll in a bowl of topping and place on the wax paper. As you fill baking sheets, put them in the refrigerator to re-set. Repeat until you’ve used up all the chocolate. If it gets soft, put back in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes.
For packaging, you could use small paper boxes or tins, mason jars with wax paper to separate layers, even Tupperware containers in wrapping paper. A simple box covered in brown packaging paper and tied with string or ribbon makes a great minimalist statement.
Peppermint Fudge Sauce
You can use this decadent sauce over pound cake, stirred into hot milk for cocoa, or drizzled over ice cream. It’s especially helpful to use smaller mason jars (around 16 oz) for this one! Tie each jar with some twine or ribbon and thread a labeled tag onto it.
Makes about 3 jars—more if you use smaller jars
32 oz good bittersweet chocolate chips
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tsp peppermint extract
Use the double boiler method (see Chocolate Truffle recipe above) to melt the chocolate and whipping cream together until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before stirring the extract into the mixture. Pour into separate mason jars, letting cool before sealing completely, and tie jars with a ribbon. Mark with a label that warns recipients to heat it in the microwave in 15-second bursts with stirring in between to get it to drizzling consistency, or to just take a spoonful of it straight from the fridge to stir into hot milk or water for cocoa. Will keep in the fridge for about two to three weeks.
Chocolately Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Jars
You could do this with any favorite cookie recipe, or just the one below! It’s an easy and beautiful gift, and as you’re using dry ingredients, you won’t need to refrigerate it and can make it plenty of days ahead. Use different colored M&Ms to personalize it. You’ll need a few large Mason jars or other tall, wide jars for this gift.
1 and ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup chocolate chips
3 cups oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup colorful M&Ms or other candied chocolates
Layer the ingredients in the jars, starting with the flour and baking soda. Gently bump the jar against your hand if the flour needs to settle into a flat surface. Follow up by gently layering with the chocolate chips, then oats, then sugar, spices, and M&Ms. Seal tightly with the jar’s lid, and tie with a ribbon. String a tag onto that ribbon that reads the following:
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Combine these ingredients with 1 cup soft butter, 1 egg, and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix everything together, then place small spoonfuls 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes. Yields about 3 dozen cookies. Enjoy!
What do you usually make to give away during the holidays? Tell us all about it on this week’s message board!
Dress Up a Plain Suit
