Give Homemade Gifts from the Kitchen
Featured Recipes:
Peppermint Cookies
Homemade Crisco Fudge Brownie Mix
Homemade Crisco Cookie Mix
Cream Cheese Mints
Sweet and Spicy Nuts
Peanut Brittle
Hidden Treasures
Coconut Pound Cake
Whether indulging your creative side or saving money on a gift list gone wild, it's as gratifying to make homemade gifts as it is to receive them. After all, a handmade gift is a gift of time—your time, spent away from the maddening mall crowds creating something sensational for family and friends. Best of all, gifts from the kitchen really are one-size-fits-all!
Family, friends and neighbors would all appreciate a gift of homemade Peppermint Cookies! If your cookies need to be mailed, fit them snugly inside tins, with crumpled waxed paper filling any air spaces, then wrap the tin in bubble wrap and place it in a box. Put that box inside a larger one, filling the spaces with packing peanuts or more bubble wrap. Your homemade cookies will arrive intact!
An equally appreciated gift is a mix that makes holiday baking an easy task for those on your gift list. Try our Homemade Crisco Fudge Brownie Mix or Homemade Crisco Cookie Mix. Pack them in glass jars and tie on a colorful recipe card showing them how to prepare their own homemade treats.
Local cake and candy supply shops offer a wide variety of boxes, papers and other finishing touches that will make homemade holiday sweets look like a professional did them! Try tucking our rich Cream Cheese Mints into tiny pleated paper cups and then nestling them into a round candy box tied with festive ribbon.
Find a pretty snack bowl and load it up with a cellophane bag of Sweet and Spicy Nuts for a holiday gift that's sure to be a big hit! Or layer large pieces of old-fashioned Peanut Brittle in a holiday tin, separating the layers with parchment or waxed paper to avoid sticking.
Part cookie, part candy—even part cake—our Hidden Treasures look like they take a lot of work, but are so simple to make! These are the perfect fit for the chocolate lover on your list. Don't forget to make a few extra for yourself, too!
For those with a sweet tooth, bake a Coconut Pound Cake. You can box it up whole or cut it into thick slices to distribute. Wrap pieces in colored cellophane and tie with ribbon.
Homemade gifts can get glamorous with satin ribbon, faux pearls, jewels or glittery tulle. For an earthy, natural look, tie on raffia and dried flowers. If just making your gifts sapped all your creative juices, you can always fall back on the classic colors of Christmas, Hanukah or Kwanzaa. Any gift becomes instantly more elaborate when the packaging is yet another element of it. And never underestimate the power of one. Sometimes one really gorgeous, palm-sized cookie in a ribbon-tied cellophane bag has far more impact than a whole plate full of cookies. Whatever you chose, your homemade gift will be truly enjoyed by its recipient!