Homemade Christmas gift ideas
Save money on Christmas shopping with our 15 edible gift recipes. From gingerbread biscuits to chocolate truffles, these tasty treats are also great for getting kids in the kitchen.
Enjoy a relaxed day baking some DIY treats with your kids during the Christmas holidays. These biscuit, chocolate and sweet recipes can all be created with the help of little hands and make the perfect festive gifts to give to family and friends. Wrap them up in pretty paper parcels, or place them in decorated boxes with a handwritten label for a personal touch.
The effort and special thought you put into customising each gift will be well appreciated. So whip out the festive baking aprons and prepare to get messy in the name of giving.
For more gift ideas, check out our reviews section or browse our selection of gifts for foodies. Looking for a personalised gift idea? Put together a customised My BBC Good Food cookbook to give a foodie friend, or treat a loved one to one of our online cookery courses.
1. Banoffee chocolate cups
These indulgent chocolate treats taste like bite-sized banoffee pies. Combine crushed biscuits, chopped banana chips and dulce de leche and coat in a mix of dark and milk chocolate. Top with chocolate curls, gold sprinkles or edible gold leaf for decoration.
2. Christmas jam
Stir up this vibrant, seasonal spread, bursting with tangy cranberries and zesty orange. This spiced Christmas jam pairs beautifully with turkey or ham, and will keep for up to a month in the fridge after opening. Make it extra-special with a sprinkling of edible glitter to impress your friends or family.
3. Chai teabags
These bespoke teabags are individually filled with a warming spice mix. Simply toast cardamom pods, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and cloves in a dry frying pan for 1 minute, then combine with black assam tea leaves and package in empty teabags.
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4. Manchego & chorizo melting biscuits
Our moreish cheesy biscuits make a perfect gift for those who prefer something savoury. Seasoned with sweet smoked paprika and fennel seeds, they're loaded with spicy chorizo and sharp manchego cheese.
Manchego & chorizo melting biscuits
5. Tiramisu truffles
Infuse luxurious chocolate truffles with the classic flavour of tiramisu. Coated in white chocolate, the truffles are filled with ganache made from double cream, dark chocolate, espresso and marsala.
6. Funfetti biscuits
These colourful cookies are sure to bring a smile to somebody's face and they're super simple to make. Just combine funfetti or rainbow sprinkles into a basic biscuit mixture for a stunning speckled effect.
7. Snowy chocolate crackle biscuits
Achieve a cool 'crackle' effect by rolling balls of chocolate biscuit dough in icing sugar to make them look like snow-topped pine cones when baked. These crunchy bitesize treats will keep for up to a week in an airtight container – just wrap the box in colourful paper for a pretty gift.
Snowy chocolate crackle biscuits
We've got plenty more festive biscuit recipes.
8. Gingerbread stained glass biscuits
It wouldn't be Christmas without gingerbread biscuits. The impressive stained glass effect here is easy to create by placing a hard-boiled sweet in the centre of each cut-out biscuit shape. This will melt and spread while in the oven to form a 'window'. Decorate them further by piping white icing around the edges, then display your edible ornaments by hanging them from the Christmas tree – that is, if you can resist eating them first!
Gingerbread stained glass biscuits
Check out more gorgeous gingerbread recipes.
9. Christmas truffles
A box of chocolates is the ultimate gourmet gift at Christmas. Kids can get creative by choosing what coating to roll them in. We've gone for cocoa powder, sprinkles, edible lustre, icing sugar, or chopped nuts, but you can have fun experimenting.
Special tip: Handling the truffles is less messy if you have cold hands, so rinse them under a cold tap first if you don't want chocolatey fingers.
Try more of our indulgent truffle recipes.
10. Bourbon biscuits
Add some festive hues to classic bourbon biscuits using a spot of food colouring. Little ones can get involved with piping the filling in pink, white and chocolate, or whatever colour takes their fancy. These Neapolitan-style biscuits take only 10 minutes to bake and can be finished off with a dusting of sugar. They will soften after a while so are best eaten the day they are iced.
11. Cheese & rosemary biscuits
Sweet treats are often in abundance during the Christmas holidays, so if you're craving something savoury, we have the perfect homemade snacks. These moreish cheddar and rosemary biscuits are likely to be gobbled up before you can even place them in gift boxes! With a simple, elegant design and satisfyingly tangy flavour, they'll also go down well as part of the cheese course at a dinner party.
12. Reindeer & snowman chocolate bark
Kids will love decorating chocolate bark with cute little reindeer and snowman faces. The swish swirled bark effect can be achieved by pouring melted milk chocolate over dark and stirring them slightly. For the toppings, we've used Smarties, marshmallows, pretzels, jelly laces, sprinkles and icing pens. Make an easy gift to give to classmates or family by snapping the bark into shards, popping in a bag and tying with a pretty ribbon.
Reindeer & snowman chocolate bark
13. Polar bear peppermint creams
Make these adorable minty treats using only four ingredients. The bear faces are shaped from a sweet dough made from icing sugar, egg white and a few drops of peppermint essence. A little chocolate button nose completes the look. You can have these cute bears bagged up in just half an hour, making them a super simple last-minute gift. Alternatively, if you want a more classic cream, just coat small pieces in melted dark chocolate.
Create more beautiful confectionary with our Christmas sweet recipes.
14. Chocolate stirrers
Give your favourite winter drink the gourmet treatment. Just as good or even better than you'd find in a shop, these hot chocolate stirrers make a quirky foodie gift. Let your kids experiment with adding different flavours and ingredients like nutmeg, pistachios, raspberries and orange – they will be mini chocolatiers in no time! Wrap up the lollipops gently and attach a label that reads: ‘Stir me into hot milk’. Store in a cool place until needed.
15. Apple pie cookie kit
Capturing the comforting flavours of apple pie in a jar, our festive biscuit mix is the ideal present for all cookie monsters! Layer the dry ingredients, topping with your loved one's favourite cookie fillings; for example, raisins, Smarties or chocolate chunks. Then, all they have to do is add the wet ingredients and bake, giving them an easy shortcut to something fresh, warm and delicious. Simply write out the instructions or attach our printable label outlining the final steps for their festive baking session.
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Have you made any edible gifts? Leave a comment below...
