What is Your Favorite "Hip" Holiday Recipe/Treat?
With the Hip2Save Holiday Challenge in full swing, I have received quite a few emails from readers who are interested in learning more about favorite Holiday recipes, treats, snacks etc. Check out the email below from reader, LeeAnn…
With the upcoming holiday season upon us, and your frugal holiday ideas post yesterday, I would LOVE to see a post where everyone can submit their favorite yummy cookie/candy/treat recipe. I’m making gift baskets and would love to hear traditions other people create/bake during the holiday season. Thanks!
So….What are some of YOUR favorite holiday recipes? What fun treats do you make to bring to holiday parties and/or school events?
pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting or sweet potatoe cake…yum
Cinnamon rolls are a must for our Holiday celebrations! I use Pioneer Woman’s recipe…it is almost foolproof and SO GOOD! Yum!
Candy cane coffee cake . I only make this for one party a year now or as gifts as it is labor intensive and expensive . But oh so pretty and tasty lol.
I make reindeer out of candy canes and attach them to each gift. 🙂
Peanut Brittle!
I love to make chocolate “bark”. It is so festive when you use white chocolate and add bits of crushed up candy cane!
Peppermint bark!
NO Bake cookies are a MUST at our house!
Put in bowl and set aside…
3 cups oats
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
Boil 2 min. the following…
1 stk butter
2 tbs. cocoa
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
After boiling add to bowl of mix and spoon out on parchment paper to cool. Then eat! They are YUMMY!
My daughters favorite!
I don’t like these with cocoa so I make them with cinnamon instead of cocoa. Don’t ask how much I just use that ole try it til you like it method. I do make them with cocoa for my family 🙂
Really? Never heard of using cinnimon…I will have to try that! Thanks!! 🙂
Thank you!! I made these and they are addictive. My husband was using a recipe but the cookies wouldn’t set. These are much better!
Banana Nut Bread (made using cake mix…shhh…don’t tell and they can never tell)…I make this all the time…everyone loves it and taste like you spent hours making it…so easy and sooo yummy:
Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Mix it all together and bake @ 350 for 40-45 mins!
Enjoy!
I am all over this one and i promise to keep your secret! 😉
hehe…Hope you love it as much as we do 😉
Do you bake it in a 13×9 or a regualar bread pan?
I have baked this in all types of pans…I usually use a loaf pan or even buy those toss away ones…It’s turned out great either way!
I love the idea of ‘cheating’ with cake mix! Very cool!
i am so going to try this
YEA! Thanks for the s-e-c-r-e-t!
I went to my local movie theater before closing and asked if I could buy a large bag of popcorn. My nephew used to work there and would bring home trash bags full of popcorn because they throw it out each night. They charged me like $5.00 for a garbage bag full of popcorn and I made my own popcorn mix with milk and white chocolate covered popcorn, dried cranberries, almonds and pretzels and I put it in cellophane bags. I handed it out at my Christmas Eve party and people were calling me on New Year’s wanting more!
what a fantastic idea!
love this!
WOW! Thanks for the tip!
I always make cut out sugar cookies so the kids can decorate them. I also make toffee and gingersnaps.
I remember when I was a child my mom would make tons of sugar cookies and we’d decorate them – it was so fun. But, then we would have them away to anyone who’d take them because we had to many !! It was all about the fun of decorating. Man, what great memories holidays bring!
I know what you mean. I hardly eat any of them! I make them for the whole decorating experience. We always end up with way too many cookies and I get tired of them! But the holiday baking tradition is fun to keep up!
My favorite is candied yams. Traditional but there is something about it that is so good. And it always reminds me of the holidays.
I love to bake and decorate the sugar cookies with my kiddo’s, and of course make some Lemon Poppies Seed Cake mini bunts for the neighboor.
This year I am excited to try two new recipes I got this summer from a cousins wedding. Cream Cheese Cookies and Orange Cookies. Now the only trick is for them to come out at high altitude vs. sea level.
homemade truffles.
they take a little bit of time, but so good. i use martha stewart’s recipe
A favorite in our family is pretzels dipped in white chocolate – the perfect sweet n salty mix! Easy and cheap too because there are only two ingredients!
I always make cake balls. They are always a hit!
What are cake balls?
Check them out at http://www.bakerella.com
Thanks Brenda!
I always make Finger Rolls which was my Grandmother’s recipe during the holiday season.
They are so good! And I normally make a lot of them, and give them as presents. And they are very easy to make. And what helps keep the price down is that I have a pecan tree in my yard since pecans are so expensive in the stores.
I love to make sugar cookies! I love to make frosting, and decorate them with assorted candies and sprinkles.
thanks!! i’m going to try this tonight. my aunt just asked me to make her some banana nut bread for a party tomorrow. i was just going to look for something online. can’t wait to see how it turns out
Was just making some of our very favorites and they are so easy your kiddos can do it for you.
1 box of spice cake
1 small can of pumpkin
1 bag of cinnamon chips (next to chocolate chips)
Mix JUST these THREE ingredients together till the cake mix is completely mixed. Scoop into muffin pans and bake at 350!
Mini muffin pans 15 mins
Regular pans 20-30
This is also a Weight watchers recipe so eat up!
I may just have to try this. I love anything pumpkin and the recipe I currently have (dunkin donuts clone) is so full of calories that two of those and i’d be done for the day.
Thanks
I got the recipe for the pumkin and spice cake mix from a friend. Her’s didn’t have the cinnamon chips in it. I am going to have to try this and also pass the hint along back to my friend who gave me the recipe originally! Thanks for sharing your tip 🙂
My families favoriate treat I make is Monkey Munch:
it is Chex cereal
chocolate ,peanut butter and powered sugar. so yummy. the recipe make 2 gallon bag full but only last 2 minutes
9 cups of chex ceral
stick of butter
1 cup milk choc. chips
1 cup of powered sugar
melt butter and chocolate together and peanut butter
mix in large bowl once full coated place in 2 one gallon ziploc bag and split the power sugar in half and pour in bags and shake. Try it you will love it.
These things are VERY addictive lol..eat with caution. :P””””””’
i know love them that is why i only make it on the holidays because that are so yummy but not good for the figure but it is worth it
This is my FAVORITE treat ever!
I like to stock up on all the free/close to free cookie mix pouches when Acme has their sale and make them for the holidays. The guys at my husband’s work always look forward to tons of cookie in December…. they have no idea I get the mixes for free and usually the butter. All I need to buy is the eggs!!
Bananna chocolate chip mini muffins. I’m getting ready to make them now. Yum! Last year for my daughters day care teachers I made a whole lunch for them and desert and brought it in with salad and bread. I even went to the dollar store and picked up nice holiday plates and napkins and bundled them up with a thank you card for each teacher. I thought it would be nice since they can never to lunch together out. They waited until the kids went down for naptime and feasted.
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. Recipe found here:
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Cup-Cookies/Detail.aspx
We have a HUGE family and are always responsible for taking treats to multiple holiday gatherings. These candy treats are cheap to make, a snap to whip up, and everyone seems to really like them! I hope you all do too!
Fudgy Granola Clusters:
1 c chocolate chips
1 c butterscotch chips
1 1/4 c granola cereal (without raisins)
1 c chopped walnuts
In the microwave, melt the chips and stir until smooth. Stir in granola and walnuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm. Makes 2 1/2 doz.
My family and friends love my spicy chex mix and white chocolate peppermint popcorn! I don’t have the recipes with me, but if I can remember when I get home I will post them.
Super easy, no bake peanut clusters. Because of the combination of peanut butter and butterscotch chips, people just can’t quite figure out why they love them!
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
20-ounce jar Planter’s peanuts.
Melt butterscotch and chocolate chips together. Add peanut butter and stir until combined. Add peanuts and stir until well mixed. Drop by spoonfuls onto a piece of wax paper and let sit overnight.
Christmas Cake! It’s velvety and a cross between a cake and a bread–so great for Holiday morning with coffee!
CHRISTMAS CAKE
2 sticks butter
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teas baking powder
maraschino cherries (small jar)
pecans (like a cup and a 1/4)
Cream butter, cream cheese, vanilla and sugar. Add eggs one at a time Combine 2 cups flour with baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to butter, egg…mixture. Chop pecans and cherries and mix together with 1/4 cup flour. Grease bundt pan with butter. Line it with 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans. Gently stir batter and cherry/nut mixture together. Pour into bundt pan. Bake at 325 for about an hour. MERRY CHRISTMAS CAKE!!!
I have a few…
Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. SO yummy and made with a real pumpkin!
Suger cookies/cut-out cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 sticks margarine
Cut out, bake, frost and decorate!
so easy and yet SO delish!!
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins are my favorite! You can make them with raisins too! Yum!
These are so delicious. I make them in mini muffins. I think I actually eat more this way though ;). At least their is pumpkin in them.
Cranberry Broccoli Salad
1-1/4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
2 cups broccoli florets
4 cups shredded cabbage (1 bag of coleslaw mix works)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 small onion, finely minced
8 slice bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 sugar
2 TBS apple cider vinegar
*I usually use a whole bag of cabbage and a whole head of broccoli and end up doubling the sauce amount of cover it all* In a large bowl combine cranberries, broccoli, cabbage, walnuts, raisins, onion and bacon. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over salad. Toss well.
Our family makes a broccoi salad which is almost exact to your recipe (minus the slaw mix/cabbage) but made with raisins instead of the cranberries. I love the recipe that you shared! We are going to have to try your version! Love everything that is in it and am sure it will be just as delicious as our original version, if not better! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My mom has a recipe for a flat cookie called Jonhagel (not really sure that is how it is spelled but phonetically it is yon hague el) It is sooooo good and easy to make. Unfortunately I do not have the recipe with me right now. It is a tradition that she makes every Christmas, and I can never have enough of it. Someday, I will break down and make my own. She is getting on in years so I probably should start now in case mine do not turn out right LOL. If I get a chance later to get the recipe, I will come back and post it.
its Jan Hagel, and we made it too! Still one of my favorite holiday cookies-and they are easy cuz they are bars, but you can cut them into triangles so they look pretty 🙂
Our family has made mince meat pie for years. Every year for the holidays we made this with the kids. It is even great as a left over.
I do the no bake cookies, and different flavors of homemade fudge. I also make zucchine bread.
I make fudge ring wreaths. I make the fudge and let it start to cool. When it forms soft peaks I scoop it out in the share of a wreath. I then put walnut halves on the top. I but it in the fridge to cool over night. I buy plates Christmas plates on clearance the year before and but the fudge ring on them. Very festive and a huge hit for family and friends.
My friend makes some awesome sausage rolls that are super easy. Jimmy Dean spicy sausage, cream cheese, and crescent rolls. Cook the sausage, mix with cream cheese, spoon into cresents, roll up, and then cook as directed! They taste like they took forever to make!
This holiday season would not be complete without homemade cinnamon rolls!! My mom and I make them from scratch. They can be iced, frozen and thawed very well. They are so yummy!! Another MUST is our egg noodles. They are simple to make and we cut them by hand. We prefer that over the pasta machines.
Thank you ladies for the recipes. Marie, how much peanut butter?
one cup of peanut butter
I do dozens of cake cookies every year. So easy and yummy. 1 box of any cake mix you want, 1 cup shortening, and 2 eggs plus any add ins that you’d like. Roll into balls and bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes depending on your oven. Then you can top or drizzle them with anything you’d like. The possible combinations are endless! Big Bonus: I stock up on cake mixes all through the year when I can find them for a dollar or less, and each mix makes about 2 dozen cookies. People love these as gifts!
They sound great! Can you give some examples of what cake mix / topping combinations you use? Thx – I’m not so good at thinking outside the box!
I love cupcakes and cookies, last year I made some sugar cookies with a chocolate kiss in the center! yum! I also do like no bake cookies. Oh and for something not sweet I recently began making an awesome dip cream cheese and sausage in a slow cooker with rotel tomatoes and green chilies!!!
I like to make milk chocolate fudge, sugar cookies and pumpkin rolls. The pumpkin rolls are always a big hit with everyone and I make it with and without nuts.
Chex Puppy Chow!
We have always done sugar cookies but in the last two years I started to make a chex mix that uses pretzel sticks, goldfish, oyster crackers, chez-its, peanuts,oil, dill, garlic powder, and powdered ranch dressing mix. My grandma use to make it before she passed away a couple of years ago.
We love Chocolate Pecan Pie and for years my son Matt, 20, has made it because his is so much better than mine. He won’t be making them this year tho’ as he joined the Marines and will probably not be home for the holidays this year. Soooo it’s back to me – I’m gonna do my best and hope the filling is not runny!!
Carol . . . got a recipe? Hugs to you and your son Matt! We’ll say a prayer for your son and his safety.
My son joined the Marines also and will not be home this year 🙁 He actually graduates Nov. 5th from boot camp so he will be home for about 10 days before he leaves again. We are planning to put up our tree and have some of his favorites while he is here. May God Bless us all!
Praying for both of your sons ladies! My husband is in the Marine Corps. It’s a hard lifestyle to adjust to. I am used to being with my family for the Holidays as well. But the military changes all of that. However, I wouldn’t change my life for the world! God Bless you both, and your Marines.
Pumpkin Dip with Apples…
2 tbs of pumpkin butter mixed with 8oz whipped cream cheese..side of apples..
The Sunday School teachers chased me down for this recipe. They loved it. It is cheap for coupon princesses like us and it also makes a whole bunch.
1 jar dry roasted peanuts (Yeah, the one in the cabinet you got with a coupon!)
1 bag (12 oz) milk chocolate chips
Melt the chips in a bowl in the microwave and dump the jar of peanuts in the melted chocolate. Stir and drop spoonfuls on waxed paper, or aluminum foil, or whatever you got cheap with a coupon! haha!!
I love Hip2Save. It is the Fun site!!!
I don’t eat sugar, so finding treats that taste good that I can eat is a real task. My absolute fave is:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (see my comments below)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
2/3 cup whey protein powder, vanilla flavor, 2 scoops
Melt the butter and peanut butter together in the microwave on HIGH for 1-2 minutes; whisk well. Whisk in the cream cheese until well blended and smooth. Whisk in the Splenda then the whey protein powder and blend well. Line a 7 x 5″ baking dish with wax paper or nonstick foil. Spread the fudge mixture in the pan and chill or freeze until set. Cut into 20 squares. Store in the refrigerator or freeze.
Makes 20 pieces
Can be frozen
It’s so good that I serve it to my sugar-eating friends, and they love it.
Thank you for posting this! I am in a family with a LOT of diabetic/sugar issues so I need more of these recipes this year. Oh, and where do you find low or no sugar peanut butter? That’s the only problem I see with this recipe for me….Any other sugar free recipes are soooo appreciated.
Thanks!
Melody,
The Smucker’s all natural peanut butter has only peanuts and salt. It is our favorite! Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Also Trader Joe’s has excellent natural peanut butters, both smooth and chunky, and salted or unsalted. It’s delicious and very reasonably priced!
Thanks Melanie and Laura! I really appreciate the suggestions. We don’t have a Trader Joe’s around here (in FL) but maybe Whole Foods would have it if I can’t find Smuckers in the regular grocery store!
Christmas Crack….it is addicting! 🙂 I could eat a whole batch (or two) by myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Recipe:
1C butter (real stuff)
1C light brown sugar
40 saltines (one sleeve)
12oz chocolate chips
chopped nuts
boil butter & brown sugar. I’ve seen anywhere from 3 – 5 minutes. Pretty much until it is pulling away from the sides of the pan.
Line a jelly roll pan (15×10) with saltines (I line it with foil first & spray with Pam). Pour butter/sugar over & spread it out. Bake for ~5 minutes at 375 degrees. I watch it until the whole thing is a little bubbly. I think it took mine around 7 minutes last time. Just make sure the edges don’t burn.
Remove from oven & pour chocolate chips over the top. Let them melt (you may want to put the whole thing in the oven again for a minute or two). Spread them out & sprinkle with chopped nuts. (I take a handful or two of regular peanuts & crush them in a bowl with the bottom of a glass). I let it cool at room temp for about an hour, then stick it in the fridge for a half hour or so.
I love, love, love this stuff!!!!
I make the Mexican Wedding cookies..@ Christmas find the green marachino cherries and I use the red ones also…dice up about half a cup of each add it to your batter..with the powdered sugar on these and the red and green..very pretty and holiday thing
Melt white almond bark, mix with box of Fruit Loops…Yummy! Dump the mixture on wax paper, break apart to eat. Loved them as a child, still ask for them as adult!