5 Simple Christmas Desserts For The Holiday Season
Is it just me or is there just a certain set of Christmas desserts that it feels wrong to make at any other time of the year other than Christmas? I know it’s not just me, peppermint is not nearly as good unless consumed around the holidays with a hot chocolate or warm coffee. Every year I look forward to baking Christmas desserts with my mom, it’s our tradition and we always make the same thing, every year–and every year there is always this one recipe she fails at three times before getting it right. It’s that time when my dad begins asking if he can have “those one things with icing on top”–sugar cookies, Dad. Maybe one of these Christmas desserts could turn into a tradition for you, or maybe it will just be something you make for Christmas party, or maybe it will just be something you make once when you were having a craving. No matter why you make it, or how often, they are my definition of the flavors of Christmas, and I would like to share them with you, so let’s get started.
1. Oreo Truffles
Ingredients:
1 box of Oreos
1 package of low-fat cream cheese
2 bars of semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 tbsp of coconut oil
Powdered sugar (decoration)
Red and green sprinkles (decoration)
Have some rage over a bad test score? This recipe is perfect for taking out those feelings on a bag of Oreos. Yes, a bag of Oreos. First, dump your box of Oreos into a gallon-sized bag, and, using a rolling pin, crush the Oreos into fine crumbs. Dump this into a bowl and add your package of cream cheese. Blend this together until it’s thoroughly combined. Roll the mixture into bite-sized, one-inch balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Allow these to freeze for at least 45 minutes. When there are about 10 minutes left on this timer, fill a pot a third of the way with water, place a glass bowl on top and allow the pot to boil. Break up the baking chocolate and place it in the glass bowl with the tablespoon of coconut oil. Do not reduce the heat, but allow this to melt. Only when the chocolate is completely melted should you take out the Oreo balls. Using two spoons, drop the balls one by one into the mixture, thoroughly coating them before placing them back on the sheet. Shake on your sprinkles and a light dusting of powdered sugar and place them back into the freezer to harden for thirty minutes.
Keep them refrigerated and enjoy often, they are my favorite out of all of these Christmas desserts!
2. Sugar cookies
Ingredients:
1 roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
Flour
4 tbsp powdered sugar
4 tsp of milk
4 different food colors
sprinkles
Alright, so these aren’t exactly homemade, but you’re making the shapes yourself, so that counts right? I’m just trying to cater to the people in dorms, everybody loves quick and easy recipes. Besides, I vaguely remember my stressed mother trying to keep her four- and six-year-old from throwing her homemade sugar cookie dough at each other and then deciding store-bought was the way to go.
Begin by taking a handful of flour and thoroughly coating your countertop. Roll out your cookie dough and knead the flour into it to reduce the stickiness of the dough. However, do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough. Add it slowly–you can always add more but you can’t take away, so my grandma always says. Once you have the right consistency, roll the dough out until it is half of an inch thick. Grab your cookie cutters in your cute Christmas shapes (bells, angels, Santa, stockings, stars) and dip them in flour to ensure the dough won’t stick when you cut out the shapes. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 9 to 11 minutes at 350 degrees, until golden brown. Allow them to cool before applying the icing.
The recipe for the icing is super simple. Take 4 bowls and place 1 tbsp of powdered sugar in each, then the milk. Stir this until it has a pasty consistency and add your food coloring. Three drops in each should do, but you can add more for a richer color.
Using the back of a spoon, decorate your cookies with the icing and add sprinkles. I know this sounds a little unprofessional but we aren’t on some fantastic baking show, so have fun making ugly snowman cookies. Post your designs and tag our social media page: society19_fsu
3. Peanut butter blossoms
Ingredients:
1 cup of peanut butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup of sugar (to roll them in)
Hershey kisses
Taking a large mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and egg. Mix this until thick and sticky. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven for 350 degrees. Then pour the other third of a cup of sugar on a plate. Collecting a spoonful of cookie dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and then coat them in the sugar on the plate. I’m honestly not sure what this does, but the texture is cool. Once you have coated them all, place them on the baking sheet, and bake them for 9 to 11 minutes. While they are in the oven, unwrap your Hershey kisses so they will be ready to place in the cookies. Baking tip: Keep your Hershey kisses in the fridge up until they are needed, this will prevent them from melting when they are placed on the hot cookies.
When they come out of the oven, place the kisses on top immediately since the cookie will be soft enough to create a dent that will hold the kisses. In order to make these holiday-themed, utilize holiday Hershey kisses with various fillings. Allow them to cool and enjoy–they are a close second favorite out of the Christmas desserts here.
4. Peppermint bark
Ingredients:
1 bar of dark chocolate
1 bar of white chocolate
2 candy canes
2 tbsp coconut oil
Consider this our no-fail recipe for this article. Like I said, you can’t have Christmas desserts without peppermint. With these simple ingredients and no stove or oven required, this is perfect to make in your dorm room too. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then, grab two microwave-safe bowls and break up your two types of chocolate into each, putting one tablespoon of coconut oil in each for thinning. Start by warming the dark chocolate 30 seconds to a minute at a time and stirring until it is melted completely. Then pour it onto the baking sheet and spread to the edges until it is evenly spread out. Allow this to harden for 15 minutes in the freezer.
While this is hardening, we can break up our candy canes. Unwrap them and place them in a bag and break them using a rolling pin. Next, melt your white chocolate in the same way before pouring it onto the dark chocolate in an even layer. Try to match up where their edges end. Before this melts sprinkle the broken bits of candy cane over the top and then replace in the freezer to harden. When it is finished and hardened completely (approximately fifteen to twenty minutes). Pull the sheet out of the freezer and use your hands to break the chocolate into jagged pieces. This may be difficult because you don’t want them too big, but you don’t want them to become too small. Once it is broken how you like, they can be stored in the fridge and brought out for your holiday party.
5. Buckeyes
Ingredients:
1 cup of peanut butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla
2 bars of semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 tbsp of coconut oil
I’m not sure if this counts in the world of Christmas desserts, but for some reason, my family only makes them at this time. If you have no idea what these are, here is my first and last lesson in plants: They are a type of tree nut native to Ohio and they basically look exactly like this sweet treat. Start with a large mixing bowl and combine the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until the peanut butter has resumed a slightly dry texture. For the third time today, collect spoonfuls of batter and form into balls–moving them to a parchment-lined baking sheet as you go. Place them into the freezer and allow them to sit for thirty minutes, or until solid.
While they are freezing, and when they have 10 minutes left, begin melting your bakers chocolate by placing a pot, filled a third of the way with water, on the stove to boil. Carefully put a glass bowl on top and break up your chocolate into the bowl and add your coconut oil. Allow the chocolate to melt and the water to boil. Remove your peanut butter balls from the freezer. Grab some toothpicks and begin putting them in the tops of the balls. One by one dunk them into the chocolate, leaving the area around the toothpick exposed like a buckeye.
Put them back into the freezer to harden and store them in the fridge until you are ready to eat.
