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Edible Christmas gifts

November 18, 2013 by Katie Bryson

Katie Bryson food styling for the Good Food Channel's Christmas photoshoot

Katie Bryson food styling for the Good Food Channel’s Christmas photoshoot, photo by Sharron Gibson

I cooked, baked and styled for a massive 21 recipe festive photoshoot for the Good Food Channel website last week. It was a HUGE job that involved a lot of list making, shopping, recipe developing, and intense baking sessions.

Anna, Sharron and I had a huge amount of fun on shoot days though, so all the preparations paid off. Christmas tunes were blaring, icing sugar was dusted and brandy glugged into quite a few of the recipes…

So in the run-up to Christmas I’m going to be sharing everything I made in a series of blog posts that I hope will help inspire for the season to come.

We’ll start with…

Edible Christmas Gifts

Making your own Christmas presents is all the rage in this cash strapped climate.

The time and effort you spend preparing something for someone is a sure fire way to make them feel more special than if you’d just grabbed a bottle of shower gel from Boots.

These projects are also perfect to make with the children to give as end of term pressies to their teacher. Let me know what you think of them!

Christmas Biscuit Wreath by Katie Bryson for The Good Food Channel website

Photo by Sharron Gibson

Christmas biscuit wreath

Not something to hang on your door, unless you sprayed it with glue! No, this edible wreath made of snowflake shaped cinnamon flavoured cookies is something to pop in the centre of a party table, or package up in a nice box as a present. It’s actually much more achievable than it looks, so is definitely worth having a go at if you want a bit of a festive centre piece this year.

Get the recipe here>>>

Chocolate Dipped Ginger Biscuits by Katie Bryson for the Good Food Channel

Photo by Sharron Gibson

Chocolate dipped ginger biscuits

These little fellas are melting moment style biscuits flecked with warming crystallised ginger, then dipped in dark chocolate. Definitely a treat for grown-ups, with the possibility of being dunked in an Irish Coffee of a Christmas Eve!

Get the recipe here>>>

Oreo Fridge Cake by Katie Bryson for the Good Food Channel Website

Photo by Sharron Gibson

Oreo fridge cake

This is the ultimate make-with-kids recipe as it’s so simple. It’s only got four ingredients – popcorn, marshmallows, oreos and melted chocolate. It also looks fantastic once it’s sliced up, and most importantly tastes just as good as it is bad for you. What’s not to love?

Get the recipe here>>>

Cookie mix in a jar by Katie Bryson for the Good Food Channel Website

Photo by Sharron Gibson

Cookie mix in a jar

This will always be my absolute favourite home made gift idea. I remember seeing them for sale in the Selfridges Food Hall years ago for a ridiculously inflated price and promising myself I could do just as good a job at home for a fraction of the price. You have all your dry ingredients layered up in the jar, then you write out the instructions for the recipient along with a list of what else you need to add plus full instructions for baking.

The resulting cookies are those scrumptious crispy chewy ones with plenty of texture. Highly scoffable!

Get the recipe here>>>

Christmas Chocolate Bark by Katie Bryson for the Good Food Channel Website

Photo by Sharron Gibson

Chocolate bark

Another classic, another one to get the kids involved with, give them all pots of their favourite toppings and let them loose! It packages up well, just make sure it’s kept cool or it’ll melt everywhere!

Get the recipe here>>>

Chocolate and nut breadsticks by Katie Bryson for the Good Food Channel Website

Photo by Sharron Gibson

Chocolate and nut breadsticks

I love these festive chocolate wands, they look so striking and taste DIVINE. You can customise them with any toppings you fancy, but these ones have pistachios and cranberries on. The key is to get them setting in the fridge as soon as you’ve coated them, so they stay in tact! You could package them up three at a time in cellophane bags, or pop a handful in a festively decorated jar and serve them up at a party.

Get the recipe here>>>

Brownie mix in a jar by Katie Bryson for the Good Food Channel

Photo by Sharron Gibson

Brownie mix in a jar

And finally another creation in a jar, this time brownies. It makes a great gift for any chocolate-loving bakers in your life, or could be a welcome addition to any gift stalls at all the Christmas Fairs coming up.

Get the recipe here>>>

Don’t forget to style it up!

As well as having some great recipes up your sleeve, arm yourself with lots of pretty trimmings to give your packaging a professional finish. I scoured Amazon for a lot of the ribbons and twines you can see in these photos, and Lakeland are always a winner for packs of the clear cellophane bags.

Anna had this brilliant stamping kit she used for the labels that she’d got a while ago from Muji. The jars we used for the cookie and brownie mixes were kilner jars which are the right 1 litre capacity for both recipes. I customised the top of the lids with festive Scandinavian crafting paper from Amazon and stickers from Lakeland.

What are your favourite things to make as gifts? Let me know what you’ll be making this year!

Styling notes on Brownie Mix in Jar by Katie Bryson for The Good Food Channel Website

Photo by Sharron Gibson

 

Filed Under: 1 Featured Posts, Christmas, Fun, Gifts, Party Tagged With: Christmas, edible gifts

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Comments

  1. Ren Behan says

    November 18, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    Phenomenal Katie! I can’t believe you managed that many recipes! No wonder you are shattered! Hope you got to taste some of the lovely edible gifts and treats. I love them all and I’ll definitely be giving a few of them a go – particularly like the chocolate and nut bread sticks.

    • Katie Bryson says

      November 19, 2013 at 9:25 am

      Thanks Ren!! It was a recipe marathon! And yes, I got to try it all and my jeans are feeling a little tight this week as a result. The bread sticks are so yummy – let me know how you get on with them.

  2. Vohn says

    November 19, 2013 at 2:11 am

    I’ve made rose hip syrup, which is great for chasing away winter colds, and some jams. My favourite make so far though are these cute little Christmas Pudding Truffles…
    http://vohnmcg.com/2013/11/15/christmas-pudding-truffles/
    Vohn x

    • Katie Bryson says

      November 19, 2013 at 9:26 am

      What gorgeous looking truffles Vohn – perfect gifts!!!! Love the idea of rose hip syrup too… will be investigating.

  3. Jacqueline says

    November 19, 2013 at 7:41 am

    Great looking recipes and photos Katie. Good styling tips too, although Ican believe quite how much you got through.

    • Katie Bryson says

      November 19, 2013 at 9:27 am

      Thanks Jac! Yes it was a very busy two day shoot with a good few days of prepping and baking in advance. It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

  4. laura@howtocookgoodfood says

    November 19, 2013 at 9:14 pm

    Wow, that is an incredible amount of recipes to produce, and all wonderful too. I think you deserve a bit of a rest soon and hopefully someone to make you a few treats. I love your brownies in a jar and will be making as part of the teachers’ gifts this year, brilliant idea!

    • Katie Bryson says

      November 19, 2013 at 9:31 pm

      Thanks Laura, glad you like them. The brownies and cookies in jars are my faves for gifting. They remind me of those glass lighthouse shaped jars of different coloured sand you could get in sea side gift shops.

  5. laura@howtocookgoodfood says

    November 19, 2013 at 9:16 pm

    Wow, that is an incredible amount of recipes to produce, and all wonderful too. I think you deserve a bit of a rest soon and hopefully someone to make you a few treats. I love your brownies in a jar and will be making as part of the teachers’ gifts this year, such a good idea!

  6. Fish fingers for tea says

    November 20, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    Marathon or what! But loving the look of all of them, I’m leaning towards gifts in jars this year so the brownie one is looking pretty perfect for me!

    • Katie Bryson says

      November 21, 2013 at 10:45 am

      Thanks Sian. Yes brownie mix in jars… what’s not to love about that?!!!!

  7. Helene @Croque-Maman says

    November 23, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    Hi Katie. It was lovely getting to know you today. Your blog is amazing. I’m definitely going to try some of your recipes for our family very soon! Take care and see you soon! Helene

    • Katie Bryson says

      November 23, 2013 at 10:24 pm

      Aw thanks Helene!!! It was great to meet you too. Really excited about the course 🙂

Trackbacks

  1. November news and reviews | Fishfingers for tea says:
    November 29, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    […] The homemade gifts production line is in full swing. I’ve already shared some ideas over the years on the blog and have some more coming up, including some rather addictive but super simple sweet and spicy roast cashew nuts. If you’re looking for more inspiration then Katie also has some fantastic ideas including a stunning Christmas biscuit wreath! […]

  2. Why I swapped my KitchenAid for a KMix says:
    November 30, 2013 at 7:35 am

    […] Looking for some home made Christmas gift inspiration? Check out my post full of ideas>>> […]

  3. Stir-Up Sunday & a Nut-Free Christmas Pudding - Ren Behan says:
    December 11, 2013 at 10:32 am

    […] For more delectable Edible Christmas Gifts pop over and read Katie’s post here. […]

  4. Edible Gifts and Festive Highlights - Ren Behan says:
    December 18, 2013 at 10:33 am

    […] also a lovely round-up of edible gifts over on Katie’s site, created for the Good Food Channel, […]

  5. November 13 web favourites | Croque Maman says:
    March 10, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    […] Edible Christmas gifts ideas, by Feeding boys and a […]

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I’m Katie Bryson – Freelance Food Writer, wife of a strapping vegetarian and mum of two boisterous boys – keeping them all fuelled and trying to stay sane is a daily challenge so I thought I’d share my experiences. Read More...

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