Christmas is almost here, folks! And I am ready to munch on some good food and to see my family. And yes, enjoy a little gift-giving too. Growing up, on Christmas Eve we would go to my Grandma’s house for dinner. It was always oyster stew, chili, sloppy joes and her famous green dessert. Oysters scare me, so I chowed down on everything else.
Not that I ate very much back then. I was too excited about the big guy coming to visit so I barely slept. Typically I woke up around 3 AM and would sneak out to see if Santa had paid me a visit, which, of course, he had because I was/am a very good girl. 🙂 I’d wake up my brother so we could wait by our presents until Mom and Dad got up. Eventually, he realized it would be hours until they were up, so he’d go back to bed. But not me. I was in it to win it!
After my parents got up (after a little nudging from me) and presents were opened, we’d prepare a big meal for Christmas. Since my cousins were there to keep me busy, I made it through the day, but I probably fell asleep as soon as they left. Now days, I look forward to giving more than receiving, especially when there are young kids around. I enjoy their excitement as I remember my own joy at introducing old Barbie to new Barbie.
I also view holidays treats a bit differently these days. I enjoyed them before but probably didn’t appreciate the hard work and tradition baked into those cookies. Now I do. I know many of you will be busy hitting the stores for last minute gifts and baking up a storm for Christmas festivities, so here are a few of my favorite holiday treats.
Caramel Corn
This is incredibly addictive. I had to watch myself, otherwise I might have eaten the entire batch in one setting.
White Chocolate Popcorn Mix with Fritos and M&Ms
The combination of sweet and salty is so, so good.
Creamy Caramels
One of my absolute favorites. I make these every year!
Peppermint Oreo Bark
Another great combo of peppermint and Oreos. A favorite among my friends!
Russian Snowballs
These are fantastic. Tender, sweet and perfect for the Holidays.
Special K Bars
My Mom makes these bars and I can’t keep my hands off them. So good!
Oreo Fudge
Ummm … Oreos. Do I really need to say more?
Peanut Butter Fudge
Creamy and full of peanut butter flavor, which helps them from being too sweet.
Bacon Peanut Clusters
Bacon? You bet. It lends a nice savory touch to the clusters. Delicious!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Saltine Toffee
OMG! Some call these candy crack and they are right. These were amazing!
So many yummy treats and most are quite simple to make, which I love! Happy Holidays and Happy baking!
Tanya, you are making the holidays very difficult for me – how do I choose between all of these yummy desserts??? The popcorn/fritos/m&ms one sounds absolutely yummy, as does the Oreo/peppermint bark!
Sorry, Laurie!! 😉 It’s my job to tempt you!! The popcorn frito mix is really good and it makes a great movie night snack too! The Oreo Peppermint Bark is one of my personal faves, of course, I love Oreos and peppermint and it’s actually quite simple to make.
Mmm, these look so delicious!! I’m going to add the caramels into rotation next year (or for Valentine’s!), as well as the Russian snowballs! The others might get jostled around during shipping, so I’ll just have to keep those for myself. lol Are you flying to your family? If so, have a safe trip and Merry Christmas! So thankful I “met” you this year. 🙂
The caramels are my absolute favorite, Anna. For a long time making them intimidated me but they are really not that hard and they are so tasty!! And they would ship beautifully too! I am flying back home to the frozen tundra of Minnesota, so no flip-flops for me! LOL! You have a very Merry Christmas too and I’m so grateful that we connected this year too!
Everything looks amazing Tanya! If I had to choose I would love the Oreo Peppermint Bark. Oreos are so addictive, as is chocolate.
Love your comment about old Barbie meeting new Barbie 😉 I had Barbie, Ken, Barbie’s little sister Skipper, and another talking barbie doll named PJ. They all wore hip 70’s clothes too.
Hope you are feeling better. Merry Christmas and enjoy your family time.
The Oreo Peppermint Bark is one of my favorites too. So yummy! I loved Barbies growing up. I didn’t have many because I combed their hair so often that I would eventually pull off their heads. Oops. 🙂 You have a very Merry Christmas too!
Thanks for sharing these, Tanya – I have to say, it’s the first two that have caught my eye, because I’m a sucker for popcorn.
You’ve brought back bitter memories of the fact that I NEVER got a Barbie doll – I always yearned for one but had to put up with Cindi, who wasn’t nearly as cool 🙁
Have a great Christmas 🙂
You picked two great ones, Sue. I loved both but I am huge fan of caramel, so that one was a bit more dangerous for me! No Barbie! That’s not right. I loved my Barbie, maybe a bit too much. 😉
OH those look so good. You got me with the caramels! I also love the snowball type cookies. Yum!
Merry Christmas, Tanya!
Caramels are my absolute favorite candies. I love, love, love them! So does my family so they go fast. 🙂 Russian Snowballs are so good too. And really the only kind of snowball I like!
Girl I gained weight just looking at all these yummy desserts!
The Russian Balls and Oreo Fudge are calling my name! :).
I had Barbie, Ken, and Skipper. I never got my Barbie Dreamhouse but I had a great imagination and made my own that was waaay better, 😉
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipes! Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!
I hear you! It’s the pain and joy of being a food blogger. It would be wrong of me not to tast-test, right?!?! I always wanted a Barbie Dream House too. Like you, I had to use my imagination, which is never a bad thing! Have a great weekend!
I’m addicted to your site Tanya and I swear girl, I’m going to gain another 10 pounds. I’ve really porked up this holiday season already with all these sweets.
Mom had some popcorn delivered the other day from her broker and it has caramel, potato chips, pretzels with dark and white chocolate poured all over it. OMG, it’s to die for and I definitely am.
All of these look so good but that chocolate peanut butter saltine toffee is definitely on my list to make. It’s calling my name girl and I will be taking that one for a test drive soon.
Thanks Tanya and Merry Christmas.
~Adrienne
Christmas is always tough on my waistline as there are just too many goodies to tempt me. 🙂 OMG – that popcorn sounds delicious. I’m pretty sure I would have dived in head first and
Ickes the container clean! The saltine toffee is amazing! You will love it and I’m making a batch for my family this weekend too! Merry Christmas!
Hi Tanya,
Your mouth watering dishes are going to land all of us in trouble for sure, and as Adrienne mentioned, this holiday season, we are just going to keep on gaining weight if we make all of these 🙂
My kids love popcorns, so that recipe surely will be made, and also the toffee and chocolate ones…yum…yum…I wish you were living somewhere closer so I would have just sent the kids over to your place!
Thanks for sharing, and wishing you and yours Happy Holidays 🙂
LOL! Yeah, these are definitely tempting and belt-busting treats! Your kids will really love the popcorn treats. I would certainly put your kids to work in my kitchen with the promise of lots of yummy treats to take home. Happy Holidays to you too!
hmmm … the Bacon Peanut Clusters sound like an option …mainly because of the bacon. I like the idea of having a savory and sweet desert… I had chocolate covered bacon at an event once and I was actually quite taken by it!
It’s one of my favorite treats. They were so good. I had to parcel them out, otherwise I might have attempted to eat them ALL in one sitting. Okay, I wouldn’t have gone THAT far … but it would have been close! I hope you had a great holiday season, Arelis!
…”candy crack”… LOL 🙂 One of my cousins makes toffee at Christmas, and that would definitely fall into this new-to-me category.
My mother is known for her doughnuts. They’re made from a recipe her great-grandmother used, and she’s the only one in the family who makes them. This season, she made about 30 dozen to appease and delight the masses.
For me, being vegan makes it a bit more challenging to come up with edible treats that won’t send people running in the opposite direction before they even try them. I do make a yummy Chocolate Snowball that’s no-bake and has been popular among my friends. 🙂
Happy New Year!
I have never made doughnuts – I love them but making them intimidates me. Your Mom is so sweet to make 30 dozen doughnuts for the family. I love that she’s carrying on a tradition and a treasured family recipe! Being vegan does make some of these candy recipes a bit tough, although a no-bake Chocolate snowball sounds pretty delicious to me! Happy New Year to you!