Easy and Delicious Gifts from Your Kitchen

It’s always wonderful to get homemade gifts, and the holiday season is a great time to create a little culinary magic for family and friends.

Saltine Cracker Toffee (aka “Christmas Crack”)

24 saltine crackers (a little over half a sleeve)

1 cup butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

12 oz. bittersweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts

Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a 13- x 9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Arrange the crackers in a single layer on the pan.

Cook the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted and smooth, stirring slowly. When it begins to bubble, cook for 3 minutes while stirring.

Pour the butter and brown sugar mixture slowly and evenly over the crackers. The crackers might float a little, but that’s fine, just move them back in place with the tip of a knife and make sure all of the crackers are covered in the sugar mixture. Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove pan from the oven, and sprinkle chocolate morsels evenly over the top. Return the pan to the oven until the chips begin to melt and lose their shape, about 1 minute. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the surface and sprinkle with pecans.

Let stand until nearly set, and then chill in the fridge until firm, at least 2 hours. Break into pieces. Store refrigerated in an airtight container.

TIP: For firm toffee, the caramel needs to cook to what’s known as “hard crack” stage. If you pull the toffee out of the oven and it isn’t bubbling all over, leave it in for additional time. If using a thermometer, the temperature of the caramel should reach about 300°F.

Dipped Peanut Butter Pattie Cookies

48 Ritz crackers

1 jar creamy peanut butter

Milk chocolate candy discs for melting

White chocolate candy discs for melting

(Optional toppings: finely chopped peppermint candy; finely chopped nuts; sprinkles; crushed pretzels.)

Using separate saucepans, follow the directions on the package for melting the milk chocolate and white chocolate.

Spread 1 teaspoon of smooth peanut butter on a Ritz cracker, then top with another Ritz cracker to make a “sandwich.” Do this until all 48 crackers have been used and you have 24 peanut butter sandwiches.

Line a large baking sheet pan with parchment paper. Using tongs, dip a peanut butter sandwich in the melted milk chocolate, coating it thoroughly. Set the sandwich on the lined baking sheet pan. If needed, dip again to make sure the sandwich is completely coated. If you are adding toppings to the sandwiches, sprinkle those onto the sandwich while the chocolate is setting (otherwise they will not stick).

Repeat the process until you have a total of 12 milk chocolate peanut butter sandwiches. Now do the same with the melted white chocolate until you have 12 white chocolate peanut butter sandwiches.

Allow the cookies to set and completely cool before putting in storage containers. Store in a cool, dry place.

Variation: Use Oreo cookies instead of the peanut butter crackers!

Homemade Kahlua

4 cups sugar

2 ½ cups strong and hot fresh-brewed coffee

2 ¼ cups rum

1-inch vanilla bean (cut in half lengthwise for aged quality or 1 tablespoon of good quality vanilla extract for instant gratification)

Place the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add hot, freshly-brewed, strong coffee to the bowl with the sugar. Whisk or stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, then allow the mixture to cool.

Stir in rum and sliced vanilla bean. (If you are using vanilla extract instead, you’ll add this in the next step). Transfer the mixture to a jar or other lidded container. Seal tightly and allow the mixture to sit for 2 to 3 weeks in a cool, dry place.

Strain the kahlua mixture to remove the vanilla beans and pieces. (If you opted to use vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean, now is the time to stir it in! It won’t have quite the depth of flavor, but it is good.) Transfer your homemade kahlua into a bottle that is easy to pour from and store.

Tip: Using decorative bottles will up the “wow” factor on this gift!

Mulled (Spiced) Wine

1 (750 ml) bottle of dry red wine

1/4 cup brandy (or orange liqueur)

1 orange, sliced into rounds (if you would like a less-bitter drink, peel the oranges)

8 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

4 tablespoons sugar

Add the wine, brandy, orange slices, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, and sugar to a large saucepan.  Stir briefly to combine. Cook the mixture on medium-high heat until it just barely reaches a simmer.  (Avoid letting it bubble — you don’t want to boil off the alcohol.)  Immediately reduce the heat to low, cover, and let the wine simmer for at least 15 minutes or up to 3 hours.

Using a fine mesh strainer, remove and discard the orange slices, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and star anise.  Give the mulled wine a taste and stir in extra sugar if needed. Allow the mulled wine to cool completely. Use a funnel to transfer the mulled wine into decorative bottles with corks or airtight stoppers. If you recycle your wine bottles, that works wonderfully (either remove the label or create and print your own label to cover the old one).

Refrigerate the mulled wine (and let the recipient know it must be refrigerated until ready to warm and serve at a later time).

Mini Holiday Loaves

You will either need a pan that has mini loaf “wells” in it (usually 6), or you will need to purchase disposable aluminum mini loaf pans. These are so simple to make. It just takes:

Boxed cake mix (suggested flavors: carrot cake; spice cake; chocolate; red velvet; yellow cake mix)

Ingredients to make the cake

Add-in ingredients such as: nuts; chocolate or white chocolate chips; candied or dried fruit; fruit preserves/jam

Fill each loaf pan or well about half-to-three-quarters full of the cake mix. If using individual loaf pans, place them on a baking sheet for stability and ease. Bake according to the directions. Remove from the oven. If using a loaf pan with wells, let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes and then remove from the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely. If using individual loaf pans, allow them to cool completely and do not remove from their pans.

If desired, drizzle the completely cooled cakes with powdered sugar glaze, chocolate sauce, or caramel sauce. Top with additional chopped nuts, sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc. for more decoration.

Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Store in a cool, dry place until ready to gift (tie with ribbon or raffia, place in a gift bag, or wrap with decorative holiday paper).

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