My Personal Guide to Holiday Baking: Recipes that are Falalalicious

As the quarter draws to a close, it is easy to get swept up in the day to day bustle of studying for finals season. However, it is also important to reap the rewards of all that hard work, leave it behind you and give yourself a treat. After all, ‘tis the season. Make the most of it by trying out these holiday baking ideas!

I’d like to start off this guide by getting a little bit nostalgic. Growing up, my mom worked at a film production company. She had this one coworker who she never really liked– and who never really liked her. Yet, every year this coworker would give everyone in my mom’s office a box of fresh, homemade cookies as gifts. Despite my mother’s unfavorable stories of this person, I looked forward to that Treat Box every holiday season. Even to this day– when the holidays roll around I still enjoy every morsel of the cookies, toffees, chocolate bars and various other sweets that are crammed in that tiny tin box. 

So, let me start off with a more generalized baking idea: Treat Boxes. Whether you’re looking for a gift for someone who may hate you (like my mom’s coworker), or your friends and family, they will surely win someone’s heart! The key to a truly delectable box, however, is having an array of enticing holiday flavors. Let’s start with some of the simplest, yet exceptionally delicious recipes that I’ve come across this year. 

Firstly, let me introduce you to Christmas Blondie Bars: a simple, festive treat that will surely brighten up any Treat Box. But, what is a blondie? They are very similar to brownies, however, instead of using cocoa powder, they are made with brown sugar, which makes them both lighter in color and more buttery in flavor. To activate that holiday spirit these treats need, you add M&Ms, colorful sprinkles and chocolate chips. For the colors, I recommend ones that correlate with whatever holiday you’re celebrating! For example, Hanukkah can be blue and silver, for Christmas the colors are red and green, and so on and so forth. Now, spread out the dough evenly on a pan and bake until done! To see the full recipe please click here. 

Let’s move onto another popular dessert I’ve been seeing all over my tik tok feed: Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies! A trick to this recipe is to make sure to combine the ingredients until the mixture is light and fluffy, or forms stiff peaks! The crushed up candy canes, peppermint chips, and chocolate chips really tie the holiday flavors together. Pro tip: after rolling out the dough into balls, add some extra crushed candy cane on top to add some extra mint flavor! Pop them in the oven and enjoy these perfectly merry treats. For details on this recipe please click here.

Finally, a holiday classic that is a given for any Treat Box: gingerbread men! The trick with this recipe is to start mixing the butter and brown sugar together first, so that the batter can be light and airy. In order to achieve this texture, it is best to mix the ingredients with some sort of electric mixer. Once the dough has formed, roll it out into a disk-like shape, cover it in plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Make sure it is relatively thick so that when you roll it out the next day, it will be thinned out enough to perfectly cut out your gingerbread people. Before rolling, make sure to dust the surface with a generous amount of flour to prevent sticking. I also like to put some flour on the rolling pin in order to make doubly sure it won’t stick. Now cut out the cookies and bake! After cooling, it is finally time to decorate. Let me be clear, you don’t need fancy frosting tools to make a respectable gingerbread man. Just mix whatever frosting you have on hand with a spoon until it is fluffy, then fill some plastic baggies with frosting and cut holes in the corners to start decorating! Now, I highly recommend decorating with friends, because it’s a good opportunity to accessorize the gingerbread men based on inside jokes, make them look like each of your friends or stick to the classic gingerbread man design. Try it out for yourself! For more details on this recipe click here.

After all that baking, it is finally time to assemble the Treat Boxes. The holiday season is incredibly busy, and not everyone has the time to bake a hundred cookies and treats to put together into a gift. That being said, there will be some extra space in the boxes– a perfect opportunity to put some individualized extra goodies in order to fill the gaps. For example, I typically opt for some pretzels or peppermint bark to put in the little nooks and crannies. It would also be customary to put hershey’s kisses, M&Ms, toffee, or any other candy your gift-getter may enjoy. This way, your Treat Box is well-rounded and full in order to create a more aesthetically pleasing image. 

This brings me to the end of my tips and tricks for baking and gift-giving during the holidays. Who knows, maybe your Treat Box will be one of the highlights of someone’s winter break. Or, it could be the highlight of a quirky relationship with your own controversial coworker. Have a wonderful finals week and a wonderful break– I hope these recipes were truly falalalicious!

• baking
• christmas
• college
• food
• holiday
• recipes
• winter break