Christmas! The most wonderful time of the year. Filled with approximately 1,000 parties. Lol. I love basically every holiday. I usually go overboard on treats, decorations and traditions. Christmas though, that’s the holy grail for me. I could probably make a blog based on all things Christmas, but I digress.
I’ll focus a bit here and show you how to make a Christmas treat board for your next holiday gathering that will wow the crowd. To make the board, all you need is a large platter and a few Christmas treats. You can have them homemade or even store bought, it really depends on your desired investment of time. It’ll obviously take longer to make them all, but it’ll taste better as well. I suppose there’s a time and a place for both options though.
Ideas to put on a Christmas Treat Board
Sugar Cookie
Sugar cookies are one of the easiest treats to customize to your theme or holiday. Check out my Tutorials page for a videos on some frosting techniques. The really handy thing about sugar cookies is that they freeze so well. Whenever I make a batch of sugar cookies, I double it. You never know when someone will have a craving for your sugar cookies. The cookies can freeze, unfrosted, in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Whenever I need to make a treat, I can just pull out the frozen cookies and whip up a quick batch of my famous Sugar Cookie Frosting.
Simple Swiss Macarons
Macarons are such a fancy and fun cookie! They are so unique with their light crunch, but melt-in-your-mouth texture. This recipe is pretty much fail proof. Swiss meringue is more stable than French, so that means it will be hard to mess up when you macaronage (which is when you fold all the ingredients together). See, if you make these, you even get to use fancy words so you seem super legit. To shape a Macaron cookie you can put a paper with the design under the silicone baking mat. Just make sure to remove the paper before you bake the cookie or else the heat will not conduct properly.
S’more Cookie
This cookie is easily one of the top 5 most requested cookies I make. My family and friends can’t get enough of them. They’re really pretty simple, but so addicting. It’s a chocolate chip cookie with a s’more wrapped in the middle. Even if you don’t like s’more, the texture and flavor combination is unbeatable. The perfect chocolate chip cookie with a little extra chunk of chocolate, a crunch of graham cracker and a squish of marshmallow in the middle.
White Chocolate Gingerbread Men
Imagine a yummy gingerbread cookie, but make it soft. Now dip that perfect chewy cookie in decadent white chocolate. This treat practically screams Merry Christmas.
Caramel Apples
A very fun treat to customize. I have to admit, I probably have too much fun finding cute holiday silicone molds to pour chocolate into and design the apples. My cupboards are full of them! Once the apples are dipped in this delicious homemade Caramel, dip them in some rich chocolate and get decorating.
White Chocolate dipped Gingerbread
This is pretty much the same as the gingerbread cookies I mentioned above, except they are a drop cookie AND they are rolled in cinnamon & sugar before baking. Imagine a snickerdoodle and a gingerbread had a baby. A match made in heaven. After these cookies get out of the oven and cool down, they’re half dipped in some creamy white chocolate. Incredible!
Chocolate Suckers
One of the easiest treats to make! All you need is a holiday sucker mold, sucker sticks and some chocolate to melt. This is an activity that I really enjoy doing with kids. It’s perfect for little hands, and it’s quickly finished so no one will feel impatient for the end result. You can use fun molds, like the reindeer mold in the picture below. Such an easy way to help the kids be creative as well. I let my kids pick the mold and they basically think they’re little Picasso’s. It’s the simple things that keep them happy.
Shaped Scotcharoos
A soft scotcharoo in the shape of any holiday or theme you desire. These treats are too fun and actually super quick to make. Peanut butter, chocolate and butterscotch are the famous flavors that help make up this treat. If you haven’t tried a scotcharoo before, you need to change that, like today!
Mini M&M’s
Candy is the perfect filler for a treat board. You can do any candy you want. When doing a holiday board though, it’s fun to do candies that have a holiday color or shape. Candy is a great way to fill up an extra space you don’t know what to do with. It’s actually a good contrast on a board with homemade baked goods. It’ll make your board look more full and presentable.
What type of board should I use?
You can really use any large platter, but I LOVE my Harvest Boards. These are so well made and really beautiful boards. They come in a lot of different designs and sizes, so you are sure to find one that meets your needs. It’s all about presentation in my book, so I opt for these boards and I love how the final product turns out.
