My daughter and I have been busy making Christmas goodies to give as gifts and to have available for guests to eat while they are here this Christmas.
My daughter made 24 of these chocolates by simply melting a one pound package of chocolate candy coating in the microwave. She then put the melted chocolate into some candy molds we found at a yard sale for a quarter. We did oil the molds first to make it easier for the candy to come out. We also put them in the freezer to speed up the process. She was so proud of herself. 
We tried something new this year by making some candy cane bark. I simply melted a package of almond bark candy coating and then added 1/4 cup of crushed candy canes. I spread the mixture onto waxed paper and then added a few more crushed candy canes to the top. When it was dry I broke it into pieces. Simple and tasty.
We made a batch of homemade marshmallows using the recipe we found at Make and Takes. It really wasn’t hard, but did take some time. I am not a fan of eating plain marshmallows out of a bag, but these were good plain. I think they would be even better in some hot chocolate. Yum!
I tried the toffee recipe I found at French Knots as well today. This toffee was easy to make and tasty, too. Boy, I am getting hungry looking at all of these goodies again.
On Sunday I made two batches of Amish Friendship Bread and froze the loaves in plastic wrap and zippered baggies. This is a yearly baking tradition for me. My grandma gave me one cup of starter in the early 1990′s and I have worked from it ever since. She said that if I froze the starter in one cup increments I could simply pull some out any time I wanted to bake a batch of bread. I do this every year and then follow the instructions for making more starter.
The recipe my grandma gave me is just like the one found here if you care to try it. (Here is a recipe for making the starter.) I know many people think that they will have starter coming out of their ears, but let me tell you that freezing the starter really works. Everyone always looks forward to having Amish Friendship Bread every Christmas and so do I.
I make Cashew Brittle every Christmas as well. My recipe can be found here.
Another yearly favorite is my Pretzel Brittle. You can find my recipe here.
We love making Christmas goodies. What are your favorite holiday treats?
