12 Baked Goods Our Editors Are Gifting This Holiday Season
Spread cheer with a treat straight from your kitchen.
We take our baked goods seriously at Southern Living, and there's no time like the holidays to show off our favorite family recipes and start new baking traditions on our own. Over the years, our editors have perfected recipes from our magazine pages. They bring us joy, so come holiday season, we spread the love. Gifting friends and family a pretty tin full of baked goods is in our DNA.
While you can't go wrong with any of our recipes, we have a few favorite holiday baked goods we gift year after year. The treats run the gamut from sweet to savory, traditional and not, with the likes of our Cracker Toffee and Cheese Straws all garnering recommendations. Preheat your oven, pull out your mixer, and tie on that trusty favorite apron. It's time to get ready for an afternoon (or several days, if you fancy it) of edible Christmas gift baking. And, while you're perusing these recipes, you might as well stock up on some of those essential Christmas cookie tins, too. Get ready to spread that holiday cheer, one cookie (or toffee, or Bourbon Ball) at a time.
Saltine Peppermint Bark
Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
Katie Rousso, Senior Special Projects Editor, recommends our Chocolate Peppermint Bark—you'll have a delicious Christmas treat in pretty much one easy step.
Honey-Chai Granola
Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
"I always love giving and receiving mason jars of homemade granola," says Assistant Homes Editor Cameron Beall. "It's the perfect gift during the holidays because it doesn't have to be consumed right away and will last for a while."
Bourbon Balls
"My mom always made them for her annual Christmas cocktail party," recalled Patricia Shannon, former Senior Digital Editor. "Now, they've become a tradition for me, too."
Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies
"In my opinion, you can never have enough chocolate chip cookies in your life. I love this recipe because they remind me of my Great Aunt's cookies–perfectly chewy in the middle and crisp on the outside. The best of both worlds," says Beall. Wrap these in a clear bag with a pretty bow and voila!
Cheese Straws
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
You'll find Grace Haynes, former Associate Homes Editor, making these acclaimed cheese straws each holiday season. Cheese straws have been deemed the ultimate party snack, so it's safe to assume that no one will be disappointed to find these savory treats in their cookie tin.
Cracker Toffee
Kaitlyn Yarborough, Digital Editor, likes to whip up a few batches of Cracker Toffee. "I usually make a few variations—some with milk chocolate, some with dark, different nuts, coconut flakes, etc." The sky's the limit when it comes to customization, so this is your recipe if you want to easily personalize your holiday baking gift.
Puppy Chow Snack Mix
Robby Lozano; Food Stylist: Caleb Clarke
All you need is a few pantry staples to make this crowd-favorite chocolate-and-peanut-butter sweet snack mix. "Puppy Chow, or Reindeer Chow as I like to call it, is a super yummy and an easy food gift around the holidays," says Editorial Fellow Abby Fribush.
Spiced Glazed Pecans
Former Editorial Fellow Emma Phelps enjoys sharing her aunt's highly-prized glazed pecans. We may not be privy to the family recipe, but you can make a batch of these Spiced Glazed Pecans and we're sure your recipients will still go nuts.
Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Pecan Cookies
"These things should come with a warning label," says Deputy Editor Lisa Cericola. "You should definitely eat one when it is still slightly warm from the oven, but be aware that you will then want to eat an entire dozen."
Santa's Kitchen-Sink Cookies
Mary Shannon Wells, Digital Editor, likes to bake these cookies and leave them in her neighbor's mailboxes. "If you drop off any baked goods this season, don't forget to leave a note that covers dietary concerns, as it can be hard to tell with some recipes," she advised.
Slow-Cooker Cranberry-Pear Butter
It might not be a baked good, but Rebecca Baer, Senior Digital Editor, makes the case for jars of this fruit butter. "Last year I made this for all my neighbors and it was a huge hit," she said. "Because it's made in the slow cooker, it's so easy to do and your home will smell fantastic."
Easy Royal Icing for Cookies
For years, former Editorial Fellow Marissa Wu would host holiday cookie decorating parties and invite friends and school clubs to help decorate them for a local women's shelter. "I love using royal icing to decorate because it looks beautiful and won't smudge. The decorating options are endless!"
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