The holiday season is full of nostalgia for childhood: the sensation of waking up early on Christmas to open presents, the claymation movies on TV and the blissful lack of responsibility when it came to reciprocal gifts. Now that we’re all a little older, it’s nice to be the one giving the awesome gift… except when it comes to, well, the funds to get all those gifts. There is a solution though! Nothing says, “I love you and I worked hard!” than a handmade gift. Keep reading for recipes that you can give as delicious gifts this year! 


Peppermint Bark

Nothing’s easier to make than peppermint bark! I started making this for a Christmas snack a few years ago, but because it was so easy to make, I started giving it as gifts to far away family members.

Ingredients and supplies

  • 1 bag of bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 1 bag of white chocolate chips
  • 2 tsp of peppermint extract
  • 1 box of candy canes, unwrapped and crushed in a plastic bag
  • 1 large cookie sheet lined with wax paper
  • 2 glass bowls
  • 1 medium sauce pan full of boiling water 

Over the sauce pan of boiling water, place one of the glass bowls — it should be big enough to sit comfortably on top of the sauce pan, but the bottom shouldn’t touch the water. This makes a homemade double boiler. Empty the chocolate chips into the bowl and stir. They’ll take about five to 10 minutes to melt. As they are melting, add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Once the chips are melted, pour onto the lined cookie sheet and spread as evenly as you can. Put the cookie sheet in the fridge (or better, the freezer). 

Using the other glass bowl, start melting the white chocolate chips in the same way. As they are melting, add the other tsp of peppermint extract and about 1 handful of the crushed candy canes. Once the chips are almost melted, remove the cookie sheet from the fridge and top with the white chocolate. Spread as evenly as you can. Top with the rest of the crushed candy canes and return to the fridge or freezer to allow to harden completely.

Once the chocolate has hardened, break into chunks using your hands. To wrap these, I buy decorative Chinese food boxes (they used to only be available at craft stores, but now places like Target carry them around the holidays) and line them with red and white tissue paper. Then, I add a ribbon on the outside and add a tag to identify what’s inside!  

One batch makes about four gifts. If you plan to do multiple batches, it’s easiest to melt all the dark chocolate first (in batches) and allow that to harden slightly while you melt all of the white chocolate in batches. 


Nutella Sandwich Cookies

This is one of those “cheater” recipes. It’s almost too easy. 

Ingredients and supplies

  • 1 package of ready-to-bake sugar cookies (plain or with designs — you can of course make your own round or shaped sugar cookies, or bake your own from the dry packages in the baking aisle, it’s up to you AND what you have time for!) 
  • 1 jar of Nutella 
  • 1 cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
  • Christmas sprinkles poured onto a plate or shallow dish (I find pie plates work great for this!) 
Yep, that’s all you need! Start by baking the sugar cookies and letting them cool. Once they are cool, put about one to two teaspoons of Nutella on one cookie, spread it out with a butter knife, and stick onto another cookie, forming a delicious sandwich. Roll the edges in sprinkles to seal it and place back on the cookie sheet. Repeat until you’re done. Put the cookies in the fridge or freezer to harden slightly. 

I like to package these gifts in clear, cellophane bags tied with ribbon and a tag. I usually do a stack of four to five cookies for each bag. You can find cellophane bags at most craft or baking stores.  





Mini Cookie Jar

Every year, there’s one person I want to go all for when it comes to gifts. OK, it’s usually my mom, because she totally deserves it. I reserve these gifts for the people I really want to know I care about them. 

Ingredients and supplies

  • 1 batch of your favorite chocolate chip cookies, baked to be about 1/4 to 1/2 their normal size (instead of using a tablespoon of drop dough, use a tsp or smaller!) 
  • 1 batch of your favorite sugar cookies (feel free to use store bought mix or dough) (again, baked to be small) 
  • 1 batch of your favorite gingerbread cookies (again, baked to be small) 
  • 4 large mason jars
  • 4 squares of cloth that fit over the top of the mason jars
The time consuming part of this gift really comes in the baking all the cookies. But, hey, you’ll get dough to snack on and what’s more relaxing than baking? Once you’ve got all the cookies baked and they’ve cooled, start putting them in the mason jars. I usually do about four jars with three types of cookies, but if you feel like your jars are too empty, feel free to do only two jars! Once they are filled, I top the jars with a piece of cute cloth and put on the lid. Add a ribbon and tag! 

What do you think? What kind of homemade gifts do you like to give during the holidays?