5 Pinterest-worthy Holiday Treats to Make

by Olivia Bowden

If you’ve been scrolling through Pinterest looking for the perfect holiday treats to make this season, we’ve got you covered. These tasty treats are photo ready and are sure to be delicious for you, your family or for guests. They are even easier to make, so it’s a no-stress day of baking. Take a look at these delightful dessert options and get ready to have a sweet holiday.

  1. Christmas Peppermint Patties 

These colourful and tasty Christmas treats are great for any events you’re hosting and could even work as gifts. You can decorate them the way you like, or keep them simple. It’s up to you.

These patties are great as they have a thick chocolate coating and a soft and creamy peppermint taste. If you use legitimate dipping chocolate, found in the baking aisle, it will be easier to make the patties.

Melting chocolate the best way possible can be tricky, so it’s best to use a glass or ceramic bowl and microwave it for one minute. Leave it for a bit, and then microwave it again if you need to. A fork can work well for dipping.

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup softened butter
  • 1/3 cup light corn syrup
  • 2 tsp peppermint extract
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 drops green food colouring
  • 2 cups dipping chocolate
  • Holiday sprinkles, if you want

Instructions:

  1. Combine butter, corn syrup, extract and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer for three minutes until everything is combined well. Make sure all the ingredients are holding together. Add green colouring mix and stir to ensure colour is even.
  2. Remove the dough from the bowl and break off 2 teaspoon-sized sections. Roll into a ball and flatten it with your hands. Repeat and put the patties down on a pan lined with wax or parchment paper. Once you’ve made all your patties, put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minutes and 20 seconds. Let it sit for an additional minute in the microwave. Remove the bowl and gently stir. Remove the peppermint patties from the freezer. Then, use a fork to dip each patty in the chocolate. Flip to coat the other side, and gently tap to remove excess chocolate.
  4. Transfer the chocolate coated patties to wax paper to cool. Drizzle with contrasting chocolate and holiday sprinkles if you wish.
  5. Store in an airtight container, refrigerate the patties (which is better, but not required). This should yield 40 patties.
Save_Holiday Treats_Christmas-Peppermint-Patties.BSB_
Recipe and photo from Butter with a side of Bread
  1. Peppermint Oreo Truffles 

This dessert is so pretty to look at- so you might think it’s complicated. But it’s actually simple and easy to make. You’ll only need five ingredients to put together these tasty truffles.  If you love Oreos, and peppermint, then this is the perfect combination of the two. Get baking!

Ingredients:

  • One 16 oz package regular Oreo cookies
  • One 8 oz package cream cheese
  • 1 ½ teas. Peppermint extract
  • 8 oz. melting chocolate, candy coat OR almond bark (melted)

Instructions:

  1. Crush the Oreos into fine crumbs and place them in a medium bowl.
  2. Add cream cheese and peppermint extract to the crushed Oreos and mix until well blended.
  3. Refrigerate mixture until firm, so about one hour.
  4. Roll cookie mixture into balls that are about 1-inch in diameter
  5. Dip balls in chocolate/candy melt/almond bark and place on wax paper
  6. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes immediately after placing on wax paper
  7. Refrigerate until firm, which will take about an hour
  8. Store truffles, covered, in refrigerator
  9. This will yield about 20-30 truffles
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Recipe and photo from Two Twenty One
  1. Caramel Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

A salty and sweet treat for the holidays is always going to be a crowd-pleaser. There’s so many ways to dress these up with your favourite toppings, so it’s a chance to be creative. For this recipe, you can use store-bought caramel, or make your own.

Ingredients

  • Caramel bits or hard wrapped candy caramels
  • ½ cup salted butter (1 stick)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup light karo syrup
  • 12 oz can evaporated milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 40 Pretzel Rods
  • 16 oz. Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate baking bars (four 4 oz. bars)

Instructions:

  1. Prepare two large baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
  2. Add butter, sugar, and karo syrup to a large heavy- bottom saucepan over medium heat. Stir over medium heat until mixture begins to boil, about 5-10 minutes.
  3. Very slowly add the evaporated milk, taking about 12-15 minutes to slowly add it, while stirring constantly. You want to make sure the mixture maintains a constant boil, otherwise your caramel can curdle.
  4. Keep stirring the mixture, scraping the sides occasionally until it reaches the soft ball stage (about 234 degrees, if using a candy thermometer).
  5. Drop a spoonful of hot caramel sauce into a cup of ice water and mold it with your fingers into a ball. When ready it will feel pliable and should be sturdy enough to mold in your hands, in the ice water. If you’re not sure it’s too soft, err on the side of cooking a few extra minutes.
  6. Once you reach 235 degrees F/ or the soft ball stage, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.
  7. Dip pretzel rods in caramel. I use a spoon to scoop the sauce onto the pretzel and turn them as you go. Allow excess sauce to drip off and place the dipped pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  8. After the caramel sets and cools some of it may pool at the base of the pretzel, causing the bottom to be flat. Use your hands to mold the caramel back around the rod (or just roll the rod gently on the parchment paper to smooth it around).
  9. Melt chocolate in microwave-safe bowl, on half power, stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth.
  10. Pour the chocolate into a tall glass. Dip the caramel- coated pretzels in melted chocolate. You can use a spoon or spatula to help
  11. Lay the dipped pretzels on a parchment lined sheet. At this point you could add other toppings like mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, crushed heath bar etc.
  12. If any chocolate pools at the base of the pretzels as they set you could easily cut it off with a knife, if you want it to look prettier.
  13. You can store the pretzels in the fridge in a covered container, if you want. Let the pretzels sit at room temperature 5-10 minutes before eating.
Save_Holiday Treats_Chocolate-Caramel-Dipped-Pretzel-Rods-1
Recipe and photo from Tastes Better From Scratch
  1. Gingerbread Bars with Cream Cheese Icing

Loving gingerbread everything at this time of year is pretty common. It’s time to step up your gingerbread game with these tasty, sweet and chewy bars. The cream cheese frosting is what makes these bars take the gingerbread trend to the next level. Try them and see for yourself!

Ingredients:

Bars

  • 2 cups + 2 Tbsp (300g) all-purpose flour (scoop and level to measure)
  • 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼  tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup (169g) unsalted butter, diced into 1 Tbsp pieces, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1 cup (220 g) packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (60ml) unsulphured molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting

  • ½ cup butter, nearly at room temperature
  • 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 ½ cups (325g) powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda and salt for 20 seconds. Set this aside.
  3. Blend together butter, brown sugar, and molasses until it’s combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
  4. Set your mixer on a low speed and gradually add in your flour mixture, and mix until it’s combined.
  5. Fold batter with a spatula as needed until your batter appears to be even.
  6. Pour the dough into a prepared baking dish and spread and press into an even layer. Bake in the pre-heated oven until the bars have been baked through. This takes about 14-17 minutes (do not over-bake).
  7. Transfer baking dish to a wire rack and let the bars cool completely.
  8. For the cream cheese frosting, blend together butter and cream cheese until it’s smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until it’s light and fluffy.
  9. Freeze the frosting in three minute intervals and mix in between (this takes about nine minutes).
  10. Spread the frosting over the bars. Cut them into squares. Cover them with a lid or store them in the fridge.
Save_HolidayTreats_gingerbread-bars-cream-cheese-frosting-1
Recipe and photo from Cooking Classy
  1. M&M Christmas Cookie Bars

These easy-to-bake cookie bars are a sure way to have your guests pleased this Christmas. Filled with chocolate and texture, they are a holiday-spin on a cookie-classic. You can wrap them for gifts or enjoy them in front of a great holiday movie.

Ingredients:

  • 2 sticks of butter, at room temperatures
  • 1 cup of granulated sugar
  • 1 cup of firmly packed golden-brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
  • 3 cups of all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon of baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon of salt
  • 1 ½ cups of Christmas M&Ms, plus more for topping
  • 1 cup of mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping
  • ½ cup of white chocolate chips

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line a 9×13 baking dish with foil, leave some overhang to make removal easier
  3. Spray foil generously with nonstick cooking spray
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until fluffy
  5. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and continue to beat
  6. Lower speed of mixer and add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined
  7. Add M&M’s and mini chocolate chips and give a final stir, reserving some M&M’s, mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chips for topping cookie bars
  8. Transfer cookie dough to prepared baking dish
  9. Press additional M&M’s, mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chips into top of cookie dough.
  10. Bake 35 to 40 minutes on oven rack in lower third of over to prevent over browning.
  11. Let cool completely and cut.
Save_Holiday Treats_MM-Christmas-Cookie-Bars-10
Recipe and photo from No. 2 Pencil
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