Fast and Easy Holiday Baking

Simple Recipes for Christmas Treats: Candy Cane Bark, Chocolate Dip

Dec 8, 2008 Julie Pirkle

Festive treats are a hallmark of the holidays, but amidst the hustle and bustle of shopping, decorating and the daily routine, it can be hard to find the time to bake.

But don't run to the market to pick up some store-bought desserts just yet. It's easy to whip up homemade, holiday delights in under an hour. Whether your baking for the family, a holiday party or gift giving, these delicious, timesaving recipes are guaranteed to result in holiday cheers!

Chocolate Dipped Treats

You can't go wrong with chocolate dipped treats during the holidays. All you need are some Christmas sprinkles, melting chocolate and the treat of your choice. Pretzels, marshmallows, Ritz peanut butter sandwiches and dried fruit are always good choices.

1. Pop the melting chocolate in your microwave per package instructions.
2. Use tongs to dip the treat of your choice in chocolate.
3. Shake off excess chocolate and place on wax paper-lined cookie sheets.
4. Immediately shake a few holiday sprinkles onto each treat.
5. Place in refrigerator to set, approximately 10 minutes.

Rice Krispie Treats with a Holiday Twist

Dress up Rice Krispie Treats for the holidays with red and green food coloring and holiday cookie cutters. If available, you can swap the food coloring for holiday Rice Krispies; i.e. Kelloggs makes a holiday version of the cereal with red and green Rice Krispies.

1. Prepare Rice Krispie Treats per package directions, stopping short of spreading the mixture in a pan.
2. Add a few drops of red or green food coloring to the Rice Krispie mixture and mix until evenly coated. If you prefer to have both red and green treats, divide the mixture into two parts before adding food coloring.
3. Flatten the Rice Krispie mixture on a large work surface (to about an inch thick) and "cut" into shapes with Christmas cookie cutters.

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

All you need are a packaged peanut butter cookie mix, peanut butter cups, holiday sprinkles and mini muffin pans to whip up this crowd pleaser.

1. Prepare peanut butter cookies per package directions.
2. Grease mini muffin pan.
3. Place about a tablespoon of cookie dough into each muffin section, shaping it to the pan with your thumb.
4. Bake cookies as directed on package.
5. Once done, immediately drop an unwrapped peanut butter cup into each cookie, pressing gently to set, and drizzle with holiday sprinkles.
6. Allow cookies to cool before removing from pans.

Candy Cane Bark

Nothing says Christmas like candy canes and chocolate. Making homemade candy cane bark is as easy as it gets. Purchase chocolate bark at your local market and a box of candy canes to make this sweet holiday treat.

1. Crush four or five candy canes into small bits. Placing unwrapped candy canes into a plastic bag and then "hammering" with a meat tenderizer is an easy - and clean - way to get this done.
2. Melt bark per package instructions.
3. Stir in candy cane pieces.
4. Grease small-medium baking pan.
5. Evenly spread chocolate mixture in baking pan.
6. Place in fridge to set.
7. Once firm, pop the bark out of the pan and break into pieces using your hands.

Making delicious, homemade baked goods during the holidays doesn't have to take a lot of time. With an hour and just a few ingredients, festive holiday desserts can be at your fingertips this Christmas season.

The copyright of the article Fast and Easy Holiday Baking in Recipes is owned by Julie Pirkle. Permission to republish Fast and Easy Holiday Baking in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Christmas Cookies

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