help me pick.. what should I make for Xmas gifts?

[juliahenry]

Dh has about 15 people who work for him. Every December, they get a small gift from us of something yummy that I make. The past couple of years have included various types of "bark" (peppermint/white chocolate, almond/milk chocolate, dark chocolate/pecan/toffee, etc). packaged up in gift bags and a seasonal box.

I'm starting to plan for this year. WHich do you think would be best?

1) More bark. It's good and easy and fairly MM.

2) homemade truffles (chocolate, oreo etc)

or 3) several different types of gourmet cookies?

Which would you prefer to receive? I'll do 3 different types of whatever item I pick, and package them up in boxes to make them appropriately seasonal, they get given out in the last few days before the office closes for Christmas.

Oh, and if you have any other ideas orspecific flavor suggestions, please tell me! thanks.

[Deleted]

I love the idea of gourmet cookie selections. Or the truffle idea? but instead of oreo I'd do three types of more traditional chocolate truffles.

[Deleted]

I was thinking of making homemade chocolate covered caramel corn. I've done truffles before, their kind of a PITA. Cookies are great as long as they will get them quickly when they are still very fresh.

[steph96]

It depends on what you mean by truffles. When you say Oreo truffles, I think of those Oreo and cream cheese balls covered in chocolate. Those are a no go for me.

It also depends on what cookies you are considering and how difficult it would be to make them.

Can you not do one bark, one truffle, and one cookie? It seems like that would solve your problem.

[dexteroni]

Truffles but not the Oreo-cream cheese kind. Those are gross IMO, and "real" truffles using good chocolate and heavy cream aren't hard to make. I use this method and not only is it super easy, but the flavorings and add-ins you can use are endless. I have a list somewhere; I'll post it if I find it.

My second choice from the options you listed would be more bark. I find that candy works better as a gift than cookies.

An option you didn't list would be spiced / candied nuts. Delicious and a nice break from 100% sugar all season long.

[Balki.Bartokomous]

I vote for cookies. We get so much candy & other unhealthy food around the holidays, so I love anything that I can freeze & eat later.

[MixedBerryJam]

A couple of my favorite homemade treat type gifts are

- Plastic spoons dipped in chocolate and decorated, for making coffee into mocha. This gift generally includes a mug and some coffee.

- Chocolate dipped and decorated pretzels, either logs or pretzel-shaped ones. Those are actually always a huge hit, and sweet/salty is my favorite type of treat, personally.

This year people are getting a little bonus gift: a little squeeze bottle of homemade ice cream topping that gets hard and crackly when you put it on your ice cream. It was mentioned in a link in someone's post, but the recipe was also in this month's Cooks Illustrated. I'll link if I can find it.

[steph96]

Nov 17, 2012 16:23:07 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

This year people are getting a little bonus gift: a little squeeze bottle of homemade ice cream topping that gets hard and crackly when you put it on your ice cream. It was mentioned in a link in someone's post, but the recipe was also in this month's Cooks Illustrated. I'll link if I can find it.

Oh please do! What kind of squeeze bottle are you using?

[MixedBerryJam]

This isn't the post from here, but this recipe is the same. You can get coconut oil in the fancy oil section of Whole Foods. I couldn't find it in any of my normal grocery stores, though.

Here is my week's worth of wisdom: use the best quality chocolate you can find. White chocolate does not work. as it becomes hard at room temp. With semisweet chocolate the final result is somewhat softer than peanut butter, but definitely not liquid, like the store stuff. But it also doesn't separate, so it doesn't need to be shaken like the store stuff, either, which is why I think a squeeze bottle will work. I added some flavorings to some, but not water-soluable liquid ones like extracts or juices. I pulverized some candy canes for a mint chocolate (which I actually wanted to do with white chocolate, but it was a total failure) and I added espresso powder to some for a more mocha-y result. I bet a tiny about of flavored oil, like cinnamon or peppermint oil, would work, but I haven't tried it yet.

I'm going to check out the Wilton section of Michaels for clear squeeze bottles (I'm hoping they have something that could be used for cake decorating) but the only squeeze bottles I can think of off the top of my head are red and yellow ketchup and mustard ones you see at Walmart, which would be real klassy for my gift.

[Deleted]

Bark is freaking delicious. My MIL used to make it for us and ship it to our house - she's gone the cookie route for the past few years, and while they are delicious...oh man the bark is sooooo good!

[flannelandlattes]

Nov 17, 2012 15:40:27 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Truffles but not the Oreo-cream cheese kind. Those are gross IMO, and "real" truffles using good chocolate and heavy cream aren't hard to make. I use this method and not only is it super easy, but the flavorings and add-ins you can use are endless. I have a list somewhere; I'll post it if I find it.

My second choice from the options you listed would be more bark. I find that candy works better as a gift than cookies.

An option you didn't list would be spiced / candied nuts. Delicious and a nice break from 100% sugar all season long.

Probably in the minority here, but I agree with dexteroni. During the holiday season, sweets are everywhere. I would much rather receive nuts done 2 or 3 ways- a sweet version, a spicy version and another recipe that looks good. Maybe you can get big bags of nuts from Costco to spice and season. The truffles wouldn't be great unless you use a really high quality chocolate which is going to get expensive. Nuts are something a little different and even if the recipient isn't a huge fan, it's so nice to have on hand for guests.

[Deleted]

I would love to get toffee.

[whitepicketfence]

I get pretty cookied out over the holidays so I'd actually prefer anything but more cookies. I love bark and I think the truffles would be nice, but not the oreo version that other posters were talking about. I also like the idea of chocolate covered spoons with the coffee mug or chocolate covered pretzels. Yum!

[MixedBerryJam]

Speaking of toffee, I have done the toffee bars where it's a layer of saltine crackers, then the toffee, then the chocolate, which sounds digusting but is actually both really easy to make and even easier to eat (because it's so yummy).

[cricketwife]

I would do 3 types of biscotti. They last at least 2 weeks after you make them, so you don't have to worry about doing it at the last minute. You can do some with and some without chocolate (I LOVE chocolate, but not everybody's a fan)

[starburst]

Last year I did tins of peppermint bark, toffee, and salted caramels (some plain, some covered in chocolate). This year I'm planning on trying this recipe for nuts:

smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/12/sugar-and-spice-candied-nuts/

[chia]

I'd stick with bark... It's yummy, and it lasts a while.

[bronxgirl]

Bark sounds rather yummy

[jackie011]

I have no idea what it's called but there's some party mix that a mom at my school makes and it disappears as soon as someone opens the bag! I think you use Crispix or Chex cereal, M&Ms, pretzels, maybe nuts and some sort of sweet coating? (I know that's not very helpful)

She always buys some sort of useful container (we're teachers, so it's usually some sort of desk organizer thing) and fills it with the mix.

[jewel]

I'd love to get a variety of fudge.

[juliahenry]

Thanks, everyone! I like the spiced nuts idea and I might do a combination of nuts and bark.

I love making Christmas treats!

[Deleted]

Sounds like an awesome plan, love the nuts too yum. Agree with the pp that gets cookied out. We don't like cookies so often end up just bringing them in to work and putting them out for the coffee bar vultures. Always makes me fell sad for the giver

[dexteroni]

Yay! Glad to be of help. If you're looking for recipes, Ina Garten's Rosemary Cashews are faaaaabulous. Seriously. One of my friends makes them every year and omg.

And I haven't tried these Vanilla and Cinnamon Candied Almonds, but they look good and sound easy.

[Deleted]

I love bark--my SIL always makes some, and I would be sad if she made something else instead. Cookies are everywhere this time of year, so I'd be much less excited about them.

[Deleted]

Whichever is easiest.

[juliahenry]

Nov 18, 2012 11:40:40 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Yay! Glad to be of help. If you're looking for recipes, Ina Garten's Rosemary Cashews are faaaaabulous. Seriously. One of my friends makes them every year and omg.

And I haven't tried these Vanilla and Cinnamon Candied Almonds, but they look good and sound easy.

those look fantastic!

thank you