I love giving gifts of food!
Here’s my biggest tip and reason for giving food gifts!!! Let’s say you need to take something to a generic gift exchange. All gifts are expected to be around $20. But you don’t want to spend $20 on a gift exchange because…well…you don’t. $20 is a lot of money.
My solution? Make a gift of food. You can make it inexpensively…but a homemade food item is WORTH more than you spend on the ingredients. People pay big bucks for a homemade pie or loaf of bread or platter of cookies. Therefore, they are happy to receive a homemade food gift and will not feel slighted because you didn’t spend $20. Your gift costs less…but is WORTH $20, right?
So, if you:
- Have no idea what to give someone as a gift…
- Have someone on your gift list that has everything and needs nothing…
- Need a gender generic gift for a gift exchange…
- Want to do something nice for your friends and neighbors and coworkers…
Bake up something yummy. You can hardly go wrong with a homemade gift of food.
Here are a few food gift ideas with recipe links:
Orange Cream Cheese Cut Out Cookies
For friends who can’t have wheat or gluten (or even if they can!):
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies
Check out this post for additional food gift ideas of Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce, Kettle Corn, Applesauce Bread, Pretzel Wreaths, and Merry Christmas and a Hoppy New Year Candy Cane Card!!
What are your favorite food gifts to package up and share?
Ok, loving this post…except I really, REALLY (did I say REALLY??) need a fudge recipe that is easy, but has no peanut butter. Do you have one without the PB? Can you make up a recipe if you don’t have one? (It’s been a very long day, and Mama needs herself some FUDGE).
(And yes, I realize the point of the post was “gifts” for other people, but I promise it WILL be a gift to my family if I get some fudge…and soon)! :-)
I have a recipe for fudge – it makes 5LBS!!! Its so good, but it’s not so great on the natural ingredient department. Maybe you can substitute natural ingredients. Anyway – here is the recipe -I just made mine yesterday. Hope you enjoy!!!
5 lbs. of Fabulous Fudge:
12oz (3 bars) german chocolate baking squares
12 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips
7 oz of marshmallow creme
4 and 1/2 c sugar
12 oz (1 can) evaporated milk
6 Tbls. of butter or margarine
1 Tbls. of vanilla
2 cups of chopped walnuts
1/8 tsp. salt
Place all chocolate and marshmallow creme in large mixing bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan, combine sugar, evap. milk, butter and salt. Bring to a rolling boil on high heat -stirring constantly. Once boiling, turn heat to medium and set timer for exactly 6 miutes – stir constantly.
Pour over chocolate and marshmallow creme, stir in vanilla and walnuts.
Blend well – so as to have no white spots.
When blended, pour onto a jelly roll pan (or 9×13 for thicker)
Let set for 24hrs before cutting.
Enjoy and give as gifts!! You will have fudge running out your ears!
Shelly, THANKS! Fudge running out of my ears sounds like a good problem to have! :-)
Yum!!!!! That post made me HUNGRY!
I love giving food gifts too! I am in nursing school and I am giving little bags of homemade Christmas cookies to everyone in my cohort (and a bag of homemade gluten-free granola to the person who is allergic to pretty much everything). I also love receiving food gifts…hint hint ;-)
I like to package up different kinds of homemade Chex mix and give them to friends and families. I make the traditional mix, White Chex mix with caramels and white chocolate, sweet almond chex mix, and Muddy Buddies. And of course, I taste test every batch. Only with my gift recipients in mind. ;)
I have started giving homemade jams. They are a little more expensive, but you make them throughout the year so there’s no last-minute rush. And they can be low sugar and not so unhealthy. And it doesn’t spoil quickly. And for all our family friends, we go “Christmassing” just before Christmas and surprise our friends (unannounced) with a short visit homemade cinnamon rolls that they can bake on Christmas morning, or they can just stick them in the freezer. The cinnamon rolls have turned out to be so much simpler than making 10 different kinds of cookies & candy. Oh, I can’t wait to go Christmassing, my favorite holiday tradition!
Laura, your flourless peanut butter kiss recipe is almost the same as my peanut butter cookie recipe. Only difference is I use regular sugar instead of brown. I usually double the recipe and use 1 cup chunky peanut butter and 1 cup regular and about half as much sugar as called for. My hubby likes to garnish them with 1 little chocolate chip and calls them his Boobies Cookies and takes them to poker night.
Oh My GOODNESS!!! My kids would so love the reindeer! hehehhe! Those look so good…I love baking when it is cold outside…makes that house warm and coze and smell amazing!
Yum! I’m still in the mood for Christmas baking even though I’m done. I might have to try out those chocolate peanut butter cookies or the peanut butter fudge! Thanks :-)