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7 Simple Holiday Treats That Are Sure To Please

Simple, easy recipe ideas to cozy up this year's holiday season!

By Darren CallewaertPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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Hello, once again! Welcome to my holiday treats post. If you followed along with my introductory post last time, then you have an idea of what kind of goodies we will be discussing today. These recipes are among some of my all time favourites. Holiday treats are a sure fire way to get me excited over just about any occasion. These could be whipped up, just about any time of year, but they just seem so much more special and delicious when you make them for a party, expected or unexpected guests, of just to have on hand in case you get a snack attack during the holiday bustle.

Now, I know that this year in particular will be hugely different compared to how most of us are used to doing the holidays, spending time with our close and extended families and loved ones. Fortunately, there is nothing stopping us from throwing together a batch of something made with thoughtfulness and kindness, putting it in a nice container or holiday tin, and leaving it on a loved ones door step. Contactless delivery of a special treat could ultimately lead to you seriously brightening up someone's day, or cheering up that person or people who are missing a little taste of the way things used to be celebrated. You could even invest some of your time in a phone call or video chat with them, and share the experience of that little treat together.

That said, let's get down to the goodies! Feel free to change and tinker with some of the ingredients to make each taste, truly your own. All of these recipes, I have found online over the years. My deepest appreciation goes out to their original creators...thank you for these exceptional treat ideas!

#1. Simple Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 Tsp baking soda

1/2 Tsp baking powder

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 Tsp vanilla extract (substitute you favourite flavour extract)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

3. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (I like to use parchment paper to help ease the clean up later on)

4. Bake 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden along the edges. Careful, it doesn't take them long to burn after that point. Let stand for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack for cooling.

All done! While cooling on the baking sheet, try topping them with crushed candy cane, sprinkles, or your favourite icing (you have to wait for them to completely cool for this topping).

#2. Sugar Cookie Icing

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp milk

2 tsp corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or any of your favourites)

Food colouring - optional

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and extract until the icing is smooth and glossy.

2. Divide into separate bowls and add food colouring until desired intensity of colour is reached.

3. Dip cookies, paint with brush, spoon on or pipe onto cookies. (piping may be tricky with this icing, but you could try it with a sandwich bag and snip the corner of the bag off)

You may need to experiment, as I did to find your preferred method of icing. I found just dipping them to be the easiest for me.

#3. Pizzelle Cookies with Cannoli Filling Dip

Ingredients:

1 package pizzelle cookies or waffle cones

2 cups ricotta cheese

1 (8)oz package cream cheese

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Beat ricotta and cream cheese together in a bowl until smooth. Add extract and powdered sugar. Continue to stir mixture until sugar is completely incorporated. Fold chocolate chips throughout mixture.

2. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 10 minutes.

3. Break up pizelles or waffle cones into chip size pieces and dip into mixture.

#4. White Chocolate Cheesecake Tarts (or pie)

Ingredients:

1 package (12) of prepared graham crust tart shells (or 1 prepared graham crust pie shell)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1 container frozen whipped topping (thawed)

1 (8)oz package cream cheese

Optional - fruit to top

Directions:

1. Stir white chocolate chips in sauce pan over medium heat until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in softened, room temp cream cheese until melted. Fold whipped topping into mixture.

2. Fill shells with mixture. Add any fruit toppings of your choice.

3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate approximately 1 hour or until completely chilled.

#5. Oreo Cookie Snowballs

Ingredients:

1 (8)oz package softened cream cheese

36 finely crushed Oreo cookies (regular, golden, mint, or any of your favourites work for this)

3 (4)oz packages white baking chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended.

2. Shape into about 48 (1)inch balls, and freeze for 10 minutes. Dip balls in melted chocolate, and place in a single layer on a wax paper lined pan.

3. Refrigerate approximately 1 hour or until firm.

Note: You can also add food colouring to the chocolate to turn these snowballs into tree ornament balls, pumpkins for Halloween, or even use decorative icing gel to give snowmen faces or jack-o-lantern faces... Be creative!

#6. Pudding Tarts

Ingredients:

1 package prepared tart shells

1 package instant pudding or mousse - your choice of flavour (I like to use Dr. Oetker french vanilla mousse or Hershey's white chocolate pudding)

1 carton Nutriwhip (regular whipping cream also works)

1 package chocolate chips (I like to use light colours for the darker tarts and darker chips for the lighter tarts)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven, and bake shells according to package directions. Allow to fully cool.

2. Prepare pudding or mousse as per package directions, but substitute half of the milk for the Nutriwhip. Blend well with a mixer, until fluffy and smooth.

3. Fill shells with mixture, and top as you like. Place in fridge to remain cool. Remove from fridge 10 minutes before serving.

#7. 4 Ingredient PB Fudge

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup butter (salted or unsalted depending on your tastes)

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil or parchment paper to make removing the fudge easier.

2. Microwave peanut butter and butter together in a large microwave safe mixing bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, then stir. Repeat until mixture is well blended and smooth.

3. Add sugar and extract to the PB mixture, stirring carefully with a plastic or rubber spoon/spatula. Mixture should resemble a cookie dough consistency.

4. Press fudge mixture into the pan until firm and solid. Smooth the top with the back of the spoon/spatula. Cover and let set in fridge approximately 4 hours.

Note: I like to stir in white chocolate or mint chips while stirring the sugar in. If done while the mixture is still slightly warm, it adds a chocolaty marble swirl to the finished product. 3/4 cup of these or nuts make a great optional add in.

Well, that's it for now. I hope that you give a few of these super simple favourites of mine a try, and enjoy them as much as I do... I mean as much as my friends and family do!

I look forward to doing another post soon. Thanks again for following along, and look for my posts again in the future.

Darren

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About the Creator

Darren Callewaert

I'm a 39 year old, stay at home dad with a passion for just about everything outdoors. My family means everything to me, and I would do just about anything for them.

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