Top 5 Easy, Fun, Delicious, Holiday Treats

Holiday's are here and time is running out.  We've gotta make something nice for the holidays to share with friends and family. I still want to have that tradition of making something nice to eat yet with less time involved and that the kids can help me with. I like the fact that we get to build family memories through baking.  My dilemma this year, I need: Fast, Easy, Fun, and Delicious Holiday Treats.  I let everyone in our family pick their favorites and I made them yummy, easy, and delicious.

1.)  Easy Chocolate Fudge I usually don't make fudge for the holidays but this year I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.  My husbands pick was plain chocolate fudge.  See the plain guy there in the middle that's for my hubby.  This fudge was super fast and super easy.  My 6 year old helped me make it.  So you can involve your kids too.  I thought it would also be fun to add different toppings to my fudge.  The red and green M&M's give a festive look and the peanut butter chips added a nice surprise and extra flavor element without the work.  Check out Very Best Baking for the Recipe.  I excluded the nuts we're not big on nuts or I'm not I guess.  This fudge is very moist and with 3 main ingredients, you can't beat that.

2.) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge.  Okay, I know what you're thinking, "More Fudge!!" It takes more effort then the chocolate fudge but it is well worth it.  This was my pick, of course it had to be the most difficult one of them all, but not bad.  If you love cookie dough then this is the fudge for you.  It's a cookie dough part with a fudge part and then Wa LA.....Chocolate chip cookie dough fudge.  I found this recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.com, Excellent!!  I didn't have mini chips or semi sweet left after making a double batch of the Easy Chocolate Fudge so I crush up some regular sized milk chocolate chips and it worked well.

3.) Sugar Cookie Gingerbread Men.  When this was one of my daughters suggestions I filled with dread thinking of all the work ahead of me.  But alas a solution came to me...

• Buy some sugar cookie dough in a round log; I bought the super sized roll it worked great for the next steps
• Cut the rounds and give you a slice and your child a slice on a floured surface
• Press the round down with your hands and flatten with wax paper
• Take your gingerbread man cookie cutter and press
• Take a spatula and add them to your pan and bake as your dough instructs
• EASY EASY EASY, FUN FUN FUN I especially loved my daughter going cross eyed at the flour on her nose, "I can see it, I can see it."

Our Men got a little fat when they baked but we really enjoy decorating our chubby cute men.  Once again I bought frosting and anything else you would like to make your men with.

PS: Let your kids make a mess you can always clean it up later.

4.) Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies!! This isn't your average Peanut butter cookie, it is, once again 3 ingredients for the dough.

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1cup Peanut Butter
• 1 egg

Mix ingredients together then roll them into balls (if they are too sticky and hard to handle just add more sugar, can't hurt :) and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Don't over bake you can't see when the bottom burns.  It also works great as a double batch.  Who doesn't like peanut butter and chocolate?

• Kisses

When the cookies come directly out of the oven, press your already unwrapped kiss straight down in the center.  They won't fall and melt but the kisses get very soft so careful not to touch them when you take them off the pan.  Unwrapping the kisses is a great job for little ones.  Be prepared for them to eat a few.

5.)  One more daughter and one more pick...Muddy Buddies...
   This one is so quick and easy I'm saving it for a Christmas Day make.  So you will have to imagine that those Chex cereal pieces have chocolatey sugary goodness all over them.  There are also many many other great goodies you can make with Chex cereal.  The recipe's can be found on the back/side of your box but just in case you buy the non name brand cereal the recipe can be found here at Chex online.  It takes about 30 minutes to make and it is a crowd pleaser if you've never tried it you better get going.  Chex cereal with melted chocolate/peanut butter mixture and all shuck up with powdered sugar, you're missing out.  I sometimes forget about making these but the kids don't, they love them and they are so easy that I don't mind making a batch or even two.

Happy Baking and Happy Holidays!!!