Christmas dessert gift ideas??

[Deleted]

I want to do something for the groups I work with; about 12 people total. I can't afford to do gifts, but I figured I could do gift bags with homemade cookies, brownies, peppermint bark, maybe some cinnamon sugared pecans, fudge. What do you think? I love to cook, but I haven't really ever tried to bake.

Which do you think would be the safest bet? Should I do a mixture of a few or just stick to one? Any favorite recipes?

[CloudBee]

Honestly, if you can afford to bake but can't afford gifts, I would just spent the money you would spend on ingredients on a really simple pre-packaged edible instead. You can get 12 of those mini Lindt truffle bags from most CVS and Walgreen type drugstores. I think they're 99 cents or $1.50 per mini bag? The bags contain 3 or 4 truffles.

In my office, I think baked goods belong on the kitchen counter. Anything personally handed to someone is best given pre-wrapped.



I hope I don't sound grinchy.

[Deleted]

It depends on how much time you have. For 12 people, I'd probably bake a huge batch of one thing rather than baking a million small recipes.

Russian Tea Cakes (my family calls the Butterballs) are my favorite Christmas cookie.

smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/12/puff-and-shimmer/

Also, just keep in mind that baking is much more chemistry based than cooking--so if you haven't done much of it don't stray from recipes. DH learned this the hard way the first time he tried to bake me something.

[gardengal]

I'd do one of those cellophane bags with a ridiculously awesome brownie in it. You could make a cute tag out of old holiday cards.

[chia]

Dec 16, 2012 18:57:24 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Honestly, if you can afford to bake but can't afford gifts, I would just spent the money you would spend on ingredients on a really simple pre-packaged edible instead. You can get 12 of those mini Lindt truffle bags from most CVS and Walgreen type drugstores. I think they're 99 cents or $1.50 per mini bag? The bags contain 3 or 4 truffles.

In my office, I think baked goods belong on the kitchen counter. Anything personally handed to someone is best given pre-wrapped.




I hope I don't sound grinchy.

I totally agree with this... in fact, these bags are exactly what I ordered last year for my coworkers. You can get a multipack very reasonably through amazon prime (and, once you add up the cost of pecans, butter, candy melts, etc. - this is a much more economical route...)

www.amazon.com/dp/B005F3I9JG/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=krissfacepage-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B005F3I9JG&adid=1AB32P0B6GZR63NK0YY3

[limey]

I'm going to ditto CloudBee. I usually don't eat the homemade gifts people bring me and would feel badly you put a bunch of time and effort into it.

[Deleted]

I think the peppermint bark may be the easiest to do. Dark chocolate, white chocolate, and candy canes. All of the recipes seem to be pretty close and it seems hard to mess up. I can cook well, I just don't bake very often.

I want to do something homemade rather than buy pre-made. I feel like it's a little more special, even if they don't eat it.

[dexteroni]

I would also be unlikely to eat a homemade gift unless I knew the person who made it was really good at making that thing. And since you want to make things you've never made before, that's probably not going to be the case here. Sorry, just being honest.

I would rather have one piece of good store-bought chocolate than a whole box of homemade mystery food. It seems silly to intentionally to go all that effort and expense for something you know may very well be thrown away. It might be special for you, but if the recipient is throwing it away, I would say it's not very special for them.

Also, peppermint bark is not baked.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2012 20:01:45 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Also, peppermint bark is not baked.

Didn't say it was. That is why I chose it. We all usually bring stuff in that we cook over the weekend. I'm still making it even thought the majority says they wouldn't eat it. Maybe it's selfish; I want to make my presents. It means more to me personally.

[Deleted]

Ya'll are crazy. I love homemade sweets. My CW makes these lemon cookies every year and my husband and I fight over them. Sadly I don't have the recipe.

[Deleted]

MM people love to hate. I'd eat a coworker cookie, any time.

Bark is also good, but more expensive than cookies or brownies.

[dexteroni]

Today must be weird-Christmas-treat-related post day. I missed the memo or I would have come up with one.

[karinothing]

I hope DS daycare teachers aren't all germophobic weirdos since I spent all weekend baking cookies for them as part of their gift.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2012 20:48:33 GMT -5 karinothing said:

I hope DS daycare teachers aren't all germophobic weirdos since I spent all weekend baking cookies for them as part of their gift.

I am the biggest germaphobe, but as long as I have my own bag it's fine. I can't handle communal cookies, candy, snacks that everyone has had their hands on. Last year we got a huge bucket of caramel corn from a client and people would stand there talking, eating, licking their fingers and then grabbing more popcorn. I was freaking out at my desk. It was terrible.

[karinothing]

Ha, well everyone has their own box. The cookies are even compartmentalized so they don't touch other flavors

[dexteroni]

Dec 16, 2012 20:48:33 GMT -5 karinothing said:

I hope DS daycare teachers aren't all germophobic weirdos since I spent all weekend baking cookies for them as part of their gift.

For me it's not about sanitation, but about quality. So I'm not a germophone, I'm a snob. lol. If something looks really well made, or is getting rave reviews, or I can tell it was made with high quality ingredients, I'll usually at least try it. Maybe I've just been scarred by too many boxes of rock-hard, flavorless spritz cookies or candy made with those horrid waxy melting wafers from the craft store.

[Deleted]

I make lemon curd and merengue cookies (mainly because one uses egg whites and one used egg yolks.). Cheap, easy, and can be packaged beautifully.

[karinothing]

Dec 16, 2012 20:58:56 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Dec 16, 2012 20:48:33 GMT -5 karinothing said:

I hope DS daycare teachers aren't all germophobic weirdos since I spent all weekend baking cookies for them as part of their gift.

For me it's not about sanitation, but about quality. So I'm not a germophone, I'm a snob. lol. If something looks really well made, or is getting rave reviews, or I can tell it was made with high quality ingredients, I'll usually at least try it. Maybe I've just been scarred by too many boxes of rock-hard, flavorless spritz cookies or candy made with those horrid waxy melting wafers from the craft store.

Ha, I made these. No spritz and no waxy candy melts On that note, OP i highly recommend these boxes. They are from Martha Stewart. I got them at Michaels.

ETA: These are pinwheel rugelach, peanutbutter cup peanubutter cookies, andes mint chocolate cookies, and butterscotch cookies. (also sorry if it is huge)

[flatlan]

I think that chocolate covered pretzel rods are easy to make and look really cute packaged up in cellophane with a ribbon and tag.

www.recipe.com/chocolate-covered-pretzel-rods/

[Deleted]

I think baking is pretty easy most of the time, so you definitely can find something that will work.

I like making quick breads--pumpkin and strawberry bread are my favorite to make and super easy--you can just get the disposable mini-bread pans. You can probably still find the Christmasy ones on clearance at JoAnns, etc. they are pretty foolproof.

I would just go to All Recipes and pull the 5 star recipes and read the notes people leave--those are key to making a lot of recipes work since people add clarifications for the tricky parts or small adjustments.

And I like homemade treats. A lot of people in my office are definitely weird about food but there is no rhyme or reason to what most will eat and what they won't.

[mbcdefg]

For me, eating a homemade food gift would depend on who gave it to me. I would think twice about eating something from a coworker I didn't know fairly well.

Still, I think a homemade treat is a very nice gesture. If you want to make brownies, this recipe is excellent and my friends are always asking me to make it. Use the Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder, it makes them really rich and fudgey: www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=98&name=HERSHEY'S-BEST-BROWNIES

If you want to give a pre-packaged treat, the Lindt truffle suggestion is really good. You could buy some Hershey's Kisses and portion them into individual bags. Ritter Sport Chocolate bars are really yummy.

[Doggy Mommy]

I did homemade treats and a small gift and handed them out this morning. Everyone seemed to like it except one Scroogy co-worker who hasn't said a thing about it. I made almond toffee and caramel popcorn and put it in a cute cookie gift box (I think I got them at Target last year). I also gave a water tumbler (they were on sale at Hobby Lobby for $5 each) and packaged it all in a big bag that matched the cookie gift box (also from Target last year). I attached a tag that I made and it looked really cute. I guess I could have just given a $10 gift card instead, but they do look really cute and I think the gifts were appreciated by 4 out of 5 people.

[magdala9]

My office has two diabetics, one gluten free, one allergic to chocolate, one allergic to tree nuts and me allergic to almonds. People may be unable to enjoy your homemade treats for reason, you might not know. The coworker allergic to tree nuts and myself both cannot touch anything with our allergens because our skin will break out in a rash.

[karinothing]

Dec 17, 2012 13:39:20 GMT -5 magdala9 said:

My office has two diabetics, one gluten free, one allergic to chocolate, one allergic to tree nuts and me allergic to almonds. People may be unable to enjoy your homemade treats for reason, you might not know. The coworker allergic to tree nuts and myself both cannot touch anything with our allergens because our skin will break out in a rash.

Well, with these allergies coworkers could not enjoy store bought treats either.

I would hope with this many allergies peopel would make it well known so they aren't ambushed around the holidays.

OP - Apparently they should just get everyone a plastic visa gift card so that they can feel free to buy their own stuff.

[Deleted]

Dec 17, 2012 13:51:33 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 17, 2012 13:39:20 GMT -5 magdala9 said:

OP - Apparently they should just get everyone a plastic visa gift card so that they can feel free to buy their own stuff.

Seriously, it's just a nice gesture. If they don't like it or want to be Scrooges than screw them. I plan on having wine and making some damn peppermint bark tonight while blaring Christmas music. I'll feel good about making an effort either way. They can do what they want with it.

I really can't imagine someone being cranky about not being given a store bought gift. If someone dropped a can of peas on my desk I'd be thrilled that someone at least thought about me.

[winnied]

How about making a bunch of mini loaves of pumpkin/banana/etc. bread? I saw a recipe for egg nog chocolate bread. Culinary stores sell small paper molds you can bake them right in. Or you could just put each baked loaf in wax paper (wrapped like a gift) with some cute ribbon. It's one recipe, very easy, and fairly likeable, IMO.

If they don't like it? Screw them for being an ass at Christmas. It's the thought that counts.

[gt7301b]

I think it is a thoughtful gesture.

I'd make a couple of things and include at least one option without chocolate.