Do you want to wow your family with homemade Christmas treats, but lack either the time or the skill? These five no bake Christmas recipes can help you solve both of those problems. In just one afternoon, you can create several trays of delicious Christmas treats that you can either bring to a Christmas party, serve your holiday guests, or divide up to give as gifts. All without having to turn on your oven.
No Bake Christmas: Five Quick & Easy Recipes For The Holidays
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My daughter and I made all the recipes below to bring to our church’s annual Thanksgiving feast.
When all the work was done, we had two heaping trays full of goodies to share with our church friends. While filling the plates, I realized something–I had not turned on the oven at all. I also realized we had made them all in just over an hour. I had a ton of yummy holiday delights that could easily be given as gifts that required minimal baking skills.
If you can run a microwave and stir a pot, you can make everything in this No Bake Christmas recipe series.
These recipes all use simple ingredients that you can find in any grocery store–most of the ingredients might be in your cupboard right now. Yep, chances are you can make at least one of these recipes, if not more, without even having to run out to the grocery store for the ingredients. That makes these recipes great for those “Oh no, I forgot we had to bring a plate of goodies to the Christmas party tonight!” emergencies. You might just want to take a second to pin them to your Pinterest boards for such occasions.
The ingredients you need to make all five No Bake Christmas recipes
The links to all five of the simple recipes are near the end of this post. You can use them to find out exactly what you need for each recipe, but I thought it might be handy for you to see what you would need if you wanted to make all five.
- semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 cups at around 2 cups per average size bag works out to 3 bags)
- butter(3 sticks of butter)
- cocoa powder (1/2 a cup)
- starlight peppermint candies (1 1/2 cups crushed)
- powdered sugar (or whatever you call it) (1 1/2 cups)
- sweetened condensed milk (one 14 ounce can)
- popcorn (8 cups popped)
- Chex cereal (1 box, I use this type of cereal most often to make the recipe a bit more healthy)
- brown sugar( 1 1/2 cups)
- light corn syrup (1 cup plus six tablespoons)
- baking soda (1 1/2 teaspoons)
- peanuts (2 cups, I use unsalted)
- holiday colored M&M’s (1 to 2 cups)
- all-natural peanut butter (1/2 a cup)
- honey (1/3 of a cup)
- powdered milk (1 cup)
- coconut oil (3 tablespoons)
- granulated sugar (1 cup)
- pure vanilla extract (1 tsp)
- Oreos (1 row)
The tools you need to make the Five No Bake Christmas recipes
- A large glass bowl (this one comes with a locking lid:a great feature for storing Christmas Crunch)
- A spatula (I bought this set recently and love that I no longer have to worry about the head of the spatula falling off)
- Wax paper or parchment paper (this is the kind comes pre-cut to the size of a cookie sheet)
- A cookie sheet (preferably one with edges like this one)
- An 8 by 8 baking dish (this one with a lid would be great for making and transporting the treats)
- A shallow bowl for dipping and rolling (I use a pasta bowl like this one)
- Potholders
And a microwave (although I think most recipes that require one could be adapted with a bit of experimentation to use the stovetop only if you prefer.
What you don’t need is a candy thermometer. Remember–these recipes are no-fuss!
The Five No Bake Christmas Recipes In This Series
Chocolate Truffles—Roll these in whatever you wish. My family likes them rolled in sprinkles, coconut flakes, or dipped in chocolate (use the dip recipe found in the post here for peanut butter balls).
3 Minute Chocolate Peppermint Fudge—If you are not a fan of peppermint, you can follow this recipe for a plain chocolate fudge that is super simple to make.
Peppermint Cookie Bark–You can change up the stir-ins for this recipe to better suit your family or the person you are gifting it to. For a slightly healthier treat, I like adding walnuts and cranberries instead of cookies and peppermints. If you are not a fan of refined sugars or are a vegan, try this recipe that will create something similar without the need to use chocolate chips.
Christmas Crunch–The festive colored M&Ms are what give this popcorn crunch recipe its Christmas look, but you can change it up for any season.
Healthier Peanut Butter Balls–These are not your average sugar-filled Buckeyes; these are the peanut butter balls that I grew up with. They make a great afternoon protein snack that gets their hint of sweetness from the honey in the recipe. If you have a health nut coming over for your Christmas event, this recipe should be a hit with them.
Microwavable Peanut Brittle—I was always afraid to attempt to make peanut brittle until I found this microwave-friendly recipe. It is so simple to make and was quickly gobbled up by my son and me.
These treats also make excellent Christmas gifts
Ideas for Packaging Homemade Christmas Treats Inexpensively–When I first started making these recipes as Christmas gifts, I was shocked at how expensive Christmas tins and Christmas-themed plastic storage containers can be. I began to look for economical alternatives to keep my desire to give within our budget and found plenty–I hope my ideas help you and your wallet too.
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