The holiday season is a wonderful time to create lasting memories, and there’s no better place to do that than in the kitchen. Making festive treats together is a fun way to get everyone into the holiday spirit, teach valuable skills, and enjoy some delicious results. You don’t need complicated recipes to make magic. These five easy holiday treats are perfect for little hands and are guaranteed to bring smiles and sweet scents to your home.
1. Reindeer Pretzels
This is a salty-sweet snack that requires no baking and is perfect for even the youngest helpers.
What You'll Need: Mini pretzels, chocolate candy melts, and small red candies (like M&Ms) for the nose, and candy eyes.
How to Make Them: Melt the chocolate candy melts according to the package directions. Let your kids dip the mini pretzels into the melted chocolate, covering them completely. Before the chocolate sets, place two candy eyes and one red candy nose onto the pretzel to create an adorable reindeer face. The pretzel's shape naturally forms the antlers. Let them cool on wax paper until firm.
2. Decorated Sugar Cookies
A timeless classic, decorating sugar cookies lets everyone's creativity shine.
What You'll Need: Your favorite sugar cookie dough (store-bought or homemade), holiday-themed cookie cutters, various colors of icing, sprinkles, and edible glitter.
How to Make Them: After baking the cookies and letting them cool, set up a decorating station. Squeeze bottles are great for little hands to control the icing. Let your kids go wild with colors, sprinkles, and designs. Imperfectly decorated cookies often have the most charm and are made with the most love.
3. Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallow Pops
Simple, fun, and incredibly tasty, these marshmallow pops are always a huge hit.
What You'll Need: Large marshmallows, lollipop sticks, chocolate candy melts, and festive sprinkles.
How to Make Them: Push a lollipop stick into the bottom of each marshmallow. Melt the chocolate, then let your kids dip each marshmallow pop into the melted chocolate, swirling to coat it evenly. Before the chocolate hardens, they can add their favorite holiday sprinkles. Stand them up in a block of foam or a heavy glass to set.
4. Festive Hot Cocoa Stirrers
Upgrade your hot chocolate with these delightful and easy-to-make stirrers.
What You'll Need: Peppermint sticks or plastic spoons, melted chocolate, and crushed peppermint or mini marshmallows.
How to Make Them: If using spoons, have your kids dip the bowl of the spoon into melted chocolate and sprinkle it with crushed peppermint or mini marshmallows. If using peppermint sticks, they can dip one end into the chocolate and add sprinkles. Let them harden on wax paper. Once set, they are ready to be stirred into a warm mug of cocoa for an extra burst of flavor.
5. Christmas Tree Rice Krispie Treats
This is a fun, no-bake twist on a beloved classic treat.
What You'll Need: A standard Rice Krispie treat recipe (butter, marshmallows, cereal), green food coloring, and various small candies for "ornaments."
How to Make Them: Prepare the Rice Krispie treat mixture as usual, adding green food coloring to the melted marshmallows before mixing in the cereal. Press the mixture into a greased baking sheet. Once cooled slightly, use a tree-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. Let your kids decorate their trees with candy ornaments and a sprinkle of powdered sugar for snow.