Easy Christmas Treats

Festive Treats

• Gingerbread Man Cookies - super easy to make, and super delicious, little ones will have fun cutting gingerbread men shapes. The dough is very easy to work with, and it does not stick to the hands at all. They only need about 8 minutes in the oven, and ta-daaah, some seriously nice gingerbread men for all to enjoy. Best served with a nice cup of gingerbread hot chocolate.

• Cut-Out Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies - if you like the classic gingerbread men cookies, you will love these gingerbreads with a twist. They are incredibly chocolatey and spiced, and so delicious.

• Gingerbread Cupcakes - these are some seriously delicious cupcakes, and if you like the classic gingerbread cookies, you will absolutely love these cupcakes. And they are so easy to make too.

• Christmas Tree Cupcakes - wonderfully moist and incredibly delicious, these adorable Christmas cupcakes are a big hit with kids and grown ups alike.

• Christmas Iced Sugar Cookies - the second best loved cookies with my family after the gingerbread men. These star-shaped sweet treats go wonderfully well with a nice cup of hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. The icing is made with only 3 ingredients, and it hardly requires any effort. With or without the sprinkles, these cookies are just perfect.

• Scottish Shortbread - one of the most popular treats at Christmas, this shortbread recipe is as simple as can be, but so delicious!

• Ecclefechan Tarts - similar to the more popular mince pies, these Scottish tarts are wonderfully baked with a lovely dried fruit filling, and make a great Christmas treat for everyone.

• Lebkuchen Recipe- similar in taste with the gingerbread men, these German cookies are a big hit at Christmas. They are beautifully spices, and thin layer of icing on top gives them a spectacular look and taste. Do give them a go, and if you want to take them to the next level, serve them with a nice cup of White Hot Chocolate.

• Christmas Stamped Cookies Recipe - rich and buttery, with a texture similar to the shortbreads, these cookies not only taste amazing, but they look so festive too. Kids will love making the stamps, and eating them up too.

• Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies - for me, oranges and cranberries make the best combo, and these cookies taste like heaven. Rich, buttery, soft, they can be made in any other shape, they do not need to be round. Who can possibly resist having one too many?

• Gingersnap Cookies - crunchy and flavourful, these cookies have the same earthy touch as the gingerbread men. The ginger flavour brings heat, but is not too sharp. Taken out of the oven, the cookies are soft and chewy, but once they cool down, they harden, and you can get that snap and a good crunch. Worth a try!

• Mini Christmas Cakes - made in a muffin tin, these mini cakes are super quick and easy to make, and a fantastic alternative to the good old Christmas cake.

• Melt-in-Your-Mouth Linzer Cookies - with a hint of lemon and vanilla, so soft and full of flavour. Super easy to make, the kids will love cutting the round shapes and putting the cookies together. I must warn you, one batch will not be enough!

• Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream -  a rich and luxurious dessert for those special days. The kids will love helping decorate the cupcakes. I bet the buttercream will disappear in seconds.

• Chestnut Truffles - these bites are vegan, gluten free and low calorie, but so delicious, and full of festive flavours too.

• Snowman Cupcakes - with coconut and chocolate chips, the best festive sweet treats for kids and grown-ups alike. Super easy to make, ready in no time, and gone from the plate in seconds.

• Orange, White Chocolate Pistachio and Cranberry Fudge - the flavours of Christmas in one overly indulgent dessert. A great edible gift too. Quick and easy to make, and so delicious.

• Chocolate Salami-  a delicious eggless, no-bake dessert that is ready in about 20 minutes. Loaded with biscuits (crackers), turkish delight, raisins, almonds and cocoa powder, this is the perfect indulgent treat for the festive season.

• Mince Pie Pinwheels - a delicious twist on the classic Christmas dessert, mince pies. They are so quick and easy to make, and we only need two ingredients: puff pastry and mincemeat. The ingredients can be homemade, but the store-bought ones are just as good, and way quicker to use.

• Pasteis de Nata - or the famous Portuguese Custard Tarts, some heavenly delicious bites that are super easy to make at home using ready-made puff pastry and homemade custard. Beautifully flaky, with a silky filling, these tarts are great for any party or family gathering.

• Easy Christmas Cake Recipe - this cake might be a tad boozy, since the dried fruit is soaked up in rum, but the cake itself is ok to be enjoyed by the whole family. A tiny slice at least won't give anyone a hangover, I can promise you that!

• Chocolate-Dipped Orange Madeleines - these little beauties are absolutely delicious! Forget about the store-bought madeleines, these are so easy to make at home! The kids will love the orange kick, and of course, dipping the madeleines in chocolate. Yum!

• Christmas Yule Log Cake - a favourite cake at Christmas, this yule log is a chocoholic's dream: it's rich, it's chocolaty, and a lot easier to make that it looks.

• Snowman Truffles - a quick and delicious dessert that is ready in less than 5 minutes. You can be as creative as you wish with the decorating, anything goes. Coconut and condensed milk make a heavenly treat, that's for sure.

• Christmas Pudding Cake Pops - made with leftover madeira cake, condensed milk, white and milk chocolate and sprinkles, a fantastic way of using up any leftover cake, and a spectacular festive dessert for the whole family. Super easy to make, but so delicious and pretty too!

• Ginger Cookies with Crystallized Ginger -  a delicious Christmas cookie recipe that goes down really well during the festive season, but also all year around. They are really easy to make with a few simple ingredients, and they make great edible gifts too.

• Mincemeat Flapjacks - kids love flapjacks, but give them a festive touch by adding mincemeat to them, and everybody will be in for a treat.

• Frangipane Mince Pies - these are mince pies taken to a completely new level, they are as rich and indulgent, but with a delicious almond paste topping them - what a treat this is!

• 3-Ingredient Butter Cookies - these cookies couldn't be simpler to make, and yes, they are made with only 3 ingredients!

• Pecan Snowball Cookies - baked on my butter cookies, these snowball cookies have a nice crunch from the pecans, and a delicious buttery texture that can't be beaten!

• Oreo Snow Globe Cookies - these adorable cookies will be the star of your Christmas dessert menu. They are absolutely delicious and so easy to make with only a few ingredients.

• Banoffee Trifle - if you fancy a quick and easy dessert that is divinely delicious, you really need to give this no-bake banoffee trifle a try!

• Mince Pie Tart - it's basically a giant mince pie, but in the shape of a pie - how delicious is that?

Festive drinks

• Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows and Cream - this homemade version is so much better and more delicious too than any store-bought sachet. It only needs a few ingredients, and you can make you own hot chocolate from scratch.

• White Hot Chocolate Recipe -this recipe is so decadent, and it only uses 2 main ingredients, plus whatever sprinkles and cream you want to use. It's so delicious, kids will absolutely love it!