The holiday season is officially upon us—bringing potlucks and holiday parties with it. This is one of my favorite times of the year, but I’m always faced with the same dilemma. I never know what food to bring to these events! It’s a serious problem. Everything looks so good, so sometimes I get carried away and try to make something that’s WAY out of my range of skill. And where does that leave me? Running to Publix 10 minutes before the party starts to pick up whatever store-bought goods I can. It certainly beats the burnt mess that I concocted back home. This year, I’ve decided to end this holiday tradition of ruined food and actually follow through with a good recipe. I also want to be realistic regarding my ability to cook, so I dug up a couple of holiday recipes that sound easy and delicious!
Gingerbread Trifle
I’m not gonna lie—I may have picked this first one because it reminded me of Rachel’s classic holiday trifle in Friends (IYKYK). But more than that, this dish doesn’t need to be baked at all—just refrigerate it a while and you’re good to go. This would be so easy to make in a dorm! The hardest part might be finding a good bowl. The best way to do this might be to make it the night before and refrigerate it overnight since it recommends 4 hours of refrigerated time to let it set. Another plus to this dish? It’s kind of adorable. You can fool people into thinking you’re a total Pinterest champ without much effort.
S’mores Gingerbread Cookie Cups
This recipe looks delicious and you can use store-bought dough to make things easier. There are literally three ingredients to this one, so it’s wallet-friendly too! This would be an easy recipe to make for a large gathering because you could make multiple batches and add the marshmallow and chocolate chips to the first batch while the rest bake.
Grinch Kabobs
I’m not sure if the marshmallow plus fruit combination is for everyone, but these are really cute and require almost no work. The prep for this is simply cutting the fruit and putting them on the skewers. (Tip: If you cut the bananas and realize they’re becoming discolored, dipping them in pineapple or lemon juice helps.)
Santa Hat Cheesecake Bites
This is also a no-bake recipe. The only thing that might be tough about these is planning ahead to get the chocolate cups that each cake sits in. Apparently, they can be bought on Amazon. That means that if you’re going to make this dish you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to buy the items and have everything shipped. Another alternative to buying them would be making them yourself by melting chocolate in a baking tray and refrigerating it to let it set. The good news about this recipe is that once you have everything, you just add the ingredients together in the right order. You won’t need to freeze or bake this recipe. Once it’s done, it’s done!