It’s Christmas time again, and the spirit of giving is once more upon us. This Christmas season, why not skip the usual shopping for gifts, and instead, cook or bake something easy to give away. There are many easy Christmas food gifts that you could give to friends and relatives. Easy homemade Christmas food gifts in fact are more meaningful in a way, since they come from your efforts in the kitchen. Easy food gifts for Christmas are plentiful; you just have to set aside some time to create the ideal Christmas food gift. The food should be easy and it shouldn’t trouble you at all. To get you started, here are some easy Christmas food gifts to make.
Granola Pecan and Butter
Granola pecan and butter is the ideal topping for your ice-cream, fruit or simply on its own as a snack or desert. This easy Christmas food makes enough so your friends can share it around.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup of honey
2 tbsp of light brown sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
3 cups of uncooked regular oats
1 1/2 cups of pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup of toasted wheat germ
2 tbsp of sesame seeds
1 (8-oz.) package of chopped dates
Directions:
First preheat your oven to 325°. Mix together honey, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and salt in a generous bowl. Bring in wheat germ, oats, pecans, and sesame seeds, and mix until it turns evenly coated. Now, sprinkle oat mixture on a slightly greased jelly roll pan measuring 15- x 10-inches. You will bake this for 25 to 30 minutes or until toasted, mixing it every 10 minutes. Now spread granola onto wax paper, and allow cooling totally for around 30 minutes. Mix in chopped dates. Keep in an airtight container at room temp up to 3 days, or you may freeze this food for as long as 6 months.
Pecan Bites Delights
Mix in all the great flavors of pecan pie into these bite-sized snacks that are ideal for parties and as gifts. This Christmas food is easy as it is delicious.
Ingredients:
3 cups of chopped pecans
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of dark corn syrup
3 lightly beaten large whole eggs
2 tbsp of melted butter
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 (2.1-oz.) packages of frozen mini-phyllo pastry shells
Directions:
First preheat your oven to 350º. After that, bake pecans in a single layer using a shallow pan for 8 to 10 minutes or to the point that they toast and smell fragrant. Now mix sugar and corn syrup in a medium bowl, and stir in pecans, eggs, and the next 3 ingredients listed. Place around one heaping teaspoonful of pecan mixture into every pastry shell, and put on 2 large baking sheets. You will bake at 350º for about 20 to 22 minutes or until set. Place to wire racks, and allow cooling totally for around 30 minutes. Keep in an airtight container for as long as 3 days.
Christmas Cookies
These easy luscious Christmas chocolate cookies are without effort some of the best ever to come out of any kitchen. You can never go wrong with this easy Christmas treat.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of softened unsalted butter
1/3 cup butter-flavored shortening
1 cup of granulated sugar
2/3 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large whole eggs
2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 cups of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups of coarsely chopped cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
3 (1.75-oz.) chilled and chopped Mounds bars
1 to 2 cups of semisweet chocolate morsels
Directions:
First beat and mix butter and shortening at medium speed using an electric mixer until it turns creamy and slowly add sugars, beating it until it turns light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, also beating until fully mixed. Now combine the flour and the next 3 ingredients, and slowly add this to butter mixture, beating everything until blended. Mix in candy bars, cookies, and desired amount of chocolate morsels. Now chill the dough 30 minutes. Next, drop the dough by 1/4 cupfuls 2″ spread onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Now bake this at 350° for approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until barely set. Allow to cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool totally. You are now done with this easy recipe.
Muffins of Lemon and Raspberry
Mix up the dry components as well as the streusel topping for these as long as two days prior to baking them, and keep in sealed plastic bags. This easy Christmas food should be easy for you to do.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups of divided all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of sugar (plus set aside 3 more tablespoons)
2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1 (8-ounce) container of lemon yogurt
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 large whole eggs
1 tsp of grated lemon rind
1 (6-ounce) package of raspberries or 1 (6-ounce) package of unthawed frozen raspberries
1 tbsp of cold butter or margarine
Directions:
Blend and mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a generous bowl and make a well in the middle of the of mixture. Mix the yogurt and the next 3 ingredients adding to dry ingredients, stirring it until slightly moistened. Now toss together 2 tablespoons of flour and raspberries and fold into batter. Mix gently into lightly greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full. Next mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Slice the butter into mixture with a pastry blender or fork until it becomes crumbly. Spoon this in even parts over batter in muffin pans. Finally, bake at 375° for 20 to 25 mins. or until you get a golden color. Take out muffins from pans right away and allow cooling on wire racks.
There you go! Some delightful food ideas for easy Christmas food gifts that you could give away for a change. Give it a try, and see how people will want to come back for more of your food. You won’t believe how easy to make food gifts are until you try them.