GIFTING FOOD TO FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, Andy Williams was correct about that. I love everything about Christmas, but I especially love all the cookies, candies, and cakes that I get to sample. Because I love sampling all of that a little too much, I try to limit my baking to special occasions.

Food is the conduit that brings people together! Food is usually at the center of all our get-togethers with family and friends! I like to keep some festive snacks on hand for when friends and family come to visit during the holidays. This past Friday, my grandbabies came by to stay as they were on their way to see the Speedway in Lights. This is a fun Christmas time activity with lots of Christmas lights in one location, and the kids love going to it each year.

It didn’t take the kiddos very long to find my display of Christmas goodies set out on my table. I’m not sure how many Little Debbie cakes they ate since they kept going back for more. Lol! I think they might have left with a few stuffed into their coat pockets just in case they got hungry while watching the Christmas lights.

Most of my recipes are from family and friends. The handwritten cookbook is one that my step-grandmother wrote years ago, and I use it all of the time. These are tried and tested recipes that I know taste good, so they are the first ones that I select. Sometimes I can’t find what I’m looking for, so I will use another cookbook like the Pioneer Woman Dinnertime cookbook I just purchased.

I like that the Pioneer Woman’s cookbooks have excellent instructions and are simple to make. Everything that I’ve tried from one of her cookbooks has been good, which is huge in my book.

We are new to this area, and I’ve only met a few of my neighbors. I thought that creating a baked good Christmas gift would be great to give out for them. I don’t have a lot of time for cooking and baking, so I wanted to choose easy and simple recipes to make. Shortcuts are great for those who don’t have time, such as buying the premade peanut butter cookie dough instead of making it from scratch. Walmart makes it easy to create mouth-watering food without sacrificing time spent with your guests by carrying fantastic premade options that taste delicious.

I got out my mini muffin tin and gave it a quick spray with non-stick oil before inserting a square of peanut butter dough.

My thought was to put a square in each tiny cup and then put an indention in the middle where I would put a piece of chocolate. However, that plan soon went by the wayside when I thought about the size of the cookies that the dough would make.

Instead of using the mini muffin tin, I put the squares of peanut butter dough on my new Nordic Ware baking sheet. I bought a 3-pc Nordic Ware set the other day, and I never knew there could be such a difference when it came to baking sheets. I’m not sure if it is the brand or the textured surface of the pan, but these are my new favorite pans!

According to my son, the expert when it comes to making cookies, you want to bake them at 350 for 11 minutes. That is what I did, then I pulled them out and popped a Hershey Kiss and a Reece’s Peanut Butter Miniature Cup on each cookie.

The cookies are soft at this point, so putting the chocolate candy on them was easy.

I put them back into the warm oven for just a couple of minutes to warm up the chocolate. While the cookies were warming, I started on the chocolate-covered pretzels that I wanted to make.

My kids love chocolate-covered pretzels any time of the year. Usually, I will buy chocolate-covered pretzels that are already made, but I wanted to put a homemade touch on this gift, so I made my own.

I added some semi-sweet chocolate chips to my Pioneer Woman mixing bowl and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. I carefully stirred the chips every 30 seconds with my Pioneer Woma silicone spatula to ensure they didn’t clump.

Here is the link to my outfit.

When the chips were fully melted, I took them over to the counter where another Nordic Ware baking sheet was waiting.

I wasn’t sure if I should use the regular size pretzels or the mini one. I finally decided the large ones would not take as long to dip, so I went with those. Lol! I put in one pretzel at a time and took my Pioneer Silicone Tongs to make sure they were covered in the chocolate before transferring them to the baking sheet.

My DIL took a bunch of the candy canes that we bought for prepackaged gifts (below) and put them in ziplock bags. She used a freezer quart bag since they are thicker than the regular bags, and then she started breaking them into pieces with a hammer. Then, to add a little Christmas touch to the pretzels, she sprinkled the broken candy canes over the top of the melted chocolate before we put them in the fridge to cool.

I then put another package of chocolate chips in the microwave and repeated the process all over again. This time, instead of dipping pretzels, I dipped Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies. YUM!!! Yes, I know that you can buy chocolate-dipped Oreos at the store, but would they have crushed candy canes on them? Lol!

The chocolate Oreos looked so pretty that we also decided to make some white chocolate ones. My DIL heated a bag of them in my FAVORITE Pioneer Woman bowls while I dipped the others. I am not usually a fan of florals, especially for bowls for the kitchen. But, these bowls are so pretty that I bought another set for my Thanksgiving dinner.

We dipped the rest of the Oreos in the melted white chocolate and added the crushed candy canes to them. Then, the Oreos went to join the chocolate-covered pretzels in the refrigerator to cool.

While we were melting chocolate, we also decided to make Chocolate Bark Candy. This is one of my favorite candy spurges during the holidays, and it is so simple to make. I used the chocolate chips that I already had, but I’ll be using Hershey Chocolate Bars in the future.

The chips don’t get to a pourable consistency, so I had to spread it in the pan. I probably could have added a splash of milk, but I didn’t think of it at the time. The Hershey bars are pourable when melted, so from now on, that is what I will use.

After the chocolate was spread into a buttered Rachel Ray pan, I put it in the freezer while I melted the white chocolate. Once I started applying the hot white chocolate to the cold chocolate, the two combined. I didn’t mind the marbled look, but if the white chocolate had been pourable, then I don’t think the marbled look would have happened.

I added the broken candy canes to the hot chocolate mix and then put them back in the freezer to get hard. I’m not sure how long it was in the freezer because we got busy doing other things, but make sure that it is completely hard before taking it out. Then, break it into whatever size pieces that you want.

Now, it was time to make my homemade Christmas gifts for my neighbors. I think that presentation is part of the gift, so I purchased several treat containers in festive Christmas themes. I bought these at my local Walmart store, but these are online and look just as cute. I like that they are reusable, so my neighbors can gift treats to others if they wish.

I bought a pack of red tissue paper and a package that contained a red and white striped version. Then, I layered the different treats until the container was filled.

Each container looked different, but they were all packed with lots of goodies. I added Hershey Kisses and Reece’s Miniature Peanut Butter Cups to fill the empty spots in the container.

Once the containers were filled, I added a lid and placed them in the refrigerator until it was time to take the gifts to my neighbors.

Joe was thrilled that there were leftovers of everything! I bagged each treat into some baggies and then placed them into the refrigerator. He kept going back for seconds, thirds, and then I lost count of how many trips he made. Lol!

While I was putting together the gifts for the neighbors, I asked my DIL if she would like to make a couple of containers for the kid’s teachers. She said that the school’s policy was that all food had to be prepackaged and homemade items weren’t allowed.

So, we made a few containers with prepackaged Christmas treats for the teachers. I thought these looked so cute that I decided to make some for the mail lady and the UPS and FedEx delivery guys.

I put together a display on my wooden cake stand for when the grandbabies come to visit. You could easily make up several containers like this for unexpected guests. They also make great gifts for co-workers, Sunday School teachers, and anyone that you want to bring a smile to their face.

The stores are usually crowded at this time of the year, so I order the ingredients I need online. I use the Walmart app (you can read about that here) and get unlimited free delivery on my groceries, which are always fresh, for our daily meals and holiday gatherings. With a Walmart+ membership, you can get groceries and more delivered from the store to your home. You can check your address to see if the service is available where you live. ($35 order minimum. Restrictions apply.)

Even if the home delivery isn’t available in your area, you still get lots of benefits from becoming a Walmart+ member. Free next-day & two-day shipping on items from Walmart.com—no order minimum required, but some exclusions apply. With your Walmart+ membership, you might also get great member prices on gas and the in-store mobile scan & go benefit, too.

Do you like giving homemade cookies, cakes, and candies for Christmas?

This post is sponsored by Walmart, and I will receive compensation, but the opinions expressed are my own.

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