Easy Holiday Treats

   You can still have fun homemade holiday treats even though you may be pressed for time. All it takes is your microwave, stovetop and a quick trip to the grocery. You can make easy snacks and goodies for your parties, gifts or just as a special reward for getting through the holidays. Anyone can make these even a novice cook, baker or candy maker.

 1) Cereal Shapes make fun holidays wreathes snowmen and ornaments just by using Rice Krispies, Cheerios and marshmallows. Melt three to four tablespoons butter in a saucepan or microwave and then add a 10 oz package of marshmallows. Stir until the marshmallows are completely melted. Add four cups of the cereal and pour onto greased cooked sheets. Lightly roll flat. let cool. Using a greased butter knife or greased cookie cutters cu tout shapes. Decorate with icing, sprinkles, red hots and silver dragees. You can make ornaments by poking a hole through the shapes and then threading a four inch length of ribbon through it.

   2)Logs of fun. There’s nothing like dipped pretzels logs for that fun taste of salty and sweet. . Dip pretzel logs first into melted caramel then let cool. At this time you can melt white dark or milk chocolate or all three separately. Dip the pretzels into these and roll in red and green sprinkles. A tin of double dipped pretzel logs always makes a nice holiday gift too.

   3)Best brittle. This is the season for homemade brittles. You can make the traditional peanut butter or add other nuts such as cashews and walnuts, For a more interesting flavor , sub in smoked almonds. For an even decadent treat dip the pieces in dark chocolate. Brittle is easy to make Take corn syrup , sugar and water and melt together in a saucepan until it hit’s the soft candy stage. Then add nuts and put onto a greased cookie sheet

    4)Holiday haystacks. This is a quick and easy favorite. Melt dark chocolate chips with two to three tablespoons of butter. Add a 16 oz bag of coconut and stir. Use a tablespoon to drop into heaping mounds on a greased cookie sheet or waxed paper. Cool and then put into tins or on a fancy holiday plate to go with plain butter cookies.

5) Popular popcorn. You can make this treat a variety of ways sweet, cheesy or hot. Start by microwaving plain popcorn. Then you can either add melted caramel and nuts into a bowls and mix it all together. When it cools, break into bite size pieces. For cheesy corn make popcorn as instructed. Sprinkle in cheddar, Parmesan or you can do a mix. Another fun snack is hot corn where you mix the corn with dried hot pepper and then add paprika for more color. Serve both the cheesy and hot corn at your holiday parties in festive bowls.  

6) Quick Snicks. Make the classic snickerdoodle the easiest way possible. Brush melted butter or margarine on slice and bake cookies, , then sprinkle on a mix of sugar and cinnamon or cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake according to directions. Makes a nice dessert with hot cocoa during a tree trimming party.

7) Corn-y fun Nothing says the holiday like popcorn balls. These are easy to make , using already made popcorn, corn syrup and sugar. Mix together 2/3 cup light corn syrup with 2/3 cup granulated sugar and ½ teaspoons salt in in a saucepan. Stir until dissolved. Add popcorn and mix in until the corn is completely coated. Cook for an additional three to four minutes , then remove from heat. Grease hands with butter and shape the mixture into balls. You can also shape into small, medium and large balls and then put together with toothpicks to form snowmen. Have the kids decorate them with chocolate chips, gumdrops and icing.

 Treat family , friends and yourself to these fun and easy holiday goodies. They’re so simple to make you can try all seven recipes and still have time to shop . Better yet – just make them and have your own little feast!