Shareable Food Gifts Guaranteed To Unwrap Some Smiles

The season of giving is officially here, and we’ve put together some delicious, handmade presents that truly come from the heart. Perfect for a classroom or office party, fun gift exchanges or to keep on-hand if a family member stops in as they pass through town, these food gifts are special, meaningful and always fit just right. Bonus: these crafty projects also double as interactive activities for the kids, with the promise of chocolate or candy as a reward for helping.

If you’re looking for fun ideas for food gifts, look no further! Here are some great ways to make a little holiday magic in your own kitchen:

Shareable Snacks

Mixing up a big batch of snack mix is one of the easiest DIY gifts! All you need to give these snack mixes away are seasonally themed baggies and ribbon to tie them up.

If you prefer a spicy, savory mix, try Easy Snack Mix, an extra-bold, pub-inspired combo of pretzels, rice and wheat cereal, rye chips and nuts. For a more kid-friendly version, Goldfish Cracker Snack Mix is a tasty blend of the loveable fish-shaped crackers, raisins, popcorn, chocolate chips and dried fruit.

On the sweeter side of things, Christmas Crunch Popcorn looks great with its green, white and red color scheme and couldn’t be simpler to make. Just stir up a bowl of homemade or packaged popcorn, chocolate candies, white chocolate chips and sprinkles!

Christmas Confections

If you think homemade candy is too labor-intensive to pull together at the last minute, think again! You don’t need to worry about special molds or tempering chocolate to make your own sweets.

Truffles are a helpful back-pocket recipe for whenever you need an elegant, edible gift in a flash. To make these decadent Red Wine Chocolate Truffles, just simmer a creamy chocolate and wine mix, pour it in a pan to let it cool, shape the mixture into spheres and toss them in cocoa powder. These will look like they came from a gourmet candy shop when tucked into a box with tissue paper!

Creamy, minty and chocolatey, Peppermint Patties are a favorite around the holidays. Would you believe it only takes five ingredients to make these from scratch? This is a perfect one for kids since all it requires is dipping slices of the chilled filling into melted chocolate — a messy and fun task!

Fudge is a homey, traditional dessert that everyone loves. You just need a handful of ingredients to prepare Easy Gingerbread Fudge, which is nicely spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Or, borrow the cozy flavors from hot cocoa for Hot Chocolate Fudge, which looks so charming topped with a layer of white chocolate and mini marshmallows.

Both of these fudge recipes are no-bake, which makes them ideal add-on projects if you’ve already got cookies in the oven.

Charming Cookies

Speaking of cookies: is there any homemade present that’s more of a holiday classic? All you need for an impressive presentation is heavy duty paper plates plus colorful tissue paper, cellophane and ribbon. Arrange the cookies on a plate on a square of tissue, wrap everything with cellophane and finish it off with a pretty bow!

For an adorable and delicious bite, try Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups. These fudgy cookies are filled with mini marshmallows, piped with chocolate squiggles and turned into “cups” with candy canes. They really do look like miniature cups of hot cocoa!

Snowman Sugar Cookies are another cute option. Using a sugar cookie mix saves time and coating the cookies with coconut flakes is a good job for little helpers. Adding festive snowman faces with black and orange decorating gel is a simple and effective way to transform the cookies into a wintry treat.

Pleasing Packages

Another clever way to give away cookies is to place the dry ingredients into a jar adorned with a bow or ribbon and a gift tag. Check out our technique for Santa’s Christmas Cookies in a Jar, which makes two dozen classic chocolate and oatmeal sugar cookies. The instructions explain how to helpfully layer the ingredients so they look nice and tidy; just be sure to print out the recipe to give with the jar so the recipient can make these whenever they’re in the mood.

There are other ways to use jars for DIY food gifts, too. Hot chocolate jars are a similar idea, with a ready-made mix of cocoa powder, sugar and marshmallows layered attractively inside. For a winning hostess present, pair a bottle of red wine with the ingredients and recipe for Cabernet Hot Chocolate! For kids (or kids at heart), s’mores kits are a surefire hit. In a larger jar, place squares of graham crackers, milk chocolate bars and marshmallows.

Delicious Decorations

These take a little more time and effort, but some of the most memorable edible food gifts are the ones that double as festive decorations.

Everyday snacks and candies arranged into Frosty Snowman Pretzels make a fun addition to a tray of cookies; or, wrap them in cellophane and use them as stocking stuffers.

These Peppermint Rice Krispies® Treat Ornaments are meant to be hooked over mugs of hot chocolate. Make a double batch so there are some to keep and some to give away and arrange them in a tin or bag.

Using graham crackers instead of homemade gingerbread is a clever hack in this recipe for Easy Honey Made Holiday Houses. Let your little ones go wild with the decorations, and then give them to aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents!

Feeling inspired? Head to your neighborhood Food Lion to shop our baking and candy aisles for everything you need to make cozy holiday memories, and these seasonal food gifts, together with your family.