The Best Homemade Food Gifts For The Holidays: 55 Recipes

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This is the year to make really special holiday presents for everyone on your list, and what better way to do so than with homemade food gifts? While this certainly includes classics like gingerbread men and Christmas cookies, there are dozens and dozens of other edible treats that you can make this year. There's a recipe here for everyone, even if you don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen — many of them are even durable enough to ship to far-off friends and family.

Snack mixes, like Chex Mix, flavored popcorn, and Reindeer Food, are a great gift option. For folks who love to cook and grill, make a special spice blend that tastes far better than store-bought. There are plenty of sweets you can make as well, like brownies, granola, rich truffles, and silky fudge. Other ideas include jams, spreads, and even a homemade liqueur.

Rather than ordinary, resealable baggies, stock up on special packaging for your food treats, like decorative glass jars, clear cellophane bags, and cookie tins. Paired with tissue paper and some ribbon, they make a beautiful presentation. Start planning now for the perfect homemade food gift and your holiday season will be that much sweeter.

Those big mail-order popcorn companies were onto something: Popcorn is a fantastic food to give for the holidays. It's easy to package, ships well, and is a snack everyone enjoys digging into. Make this sticky-sweet caramel corn with a maple syrup-based caramel sauce that's easy to cook up on the stovetop. (No thermometer needed.) Toss popped corn in the caramel and bake. Package your caramel corn in holiday tins or bags, or set it out in a big bowl for holiday guests.

Recipe: Caramel Corn

This vibrant liqueur with the intense flavor of lemon is surprisingly easy to make at home, and it makes a really unique holiday gift. The process is as simple as steeping lemon peels in vodka, and the recipe is easy to double or triple if you have a lot of people on your gift list. Allow the vodka and lemons to cure for at least a week. Then, pick up some glass liqueur bottles to hold your beautiful limoncello. Add an eye-catching gift tag with recipes for limoncello cocktails for an extra-thoughtful touch.

Recipe: Homemade Limoncello

Here's another candy that's a favorite to give to friends and family for the holidays. Think fudge has to be complicated? Not with this recipe. Put all the ingredients, including cream, butter, and sugar, into a saucepan, then heat and stir. Chopped walnuts, orange zest, and festive sprinkles are added just before the fudge sets in a pan. We like to package squares of fudge in clear cellophane bags to show off the beautiful color of this homemade candy.

Recipe: Christmas Fudge

How cute are these Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer brownie treats? Make them as food gifts for neighbors, a secret Santa, or to give along with a holiday tip. This is a also great recipe for kids because it's so easy — all you need is boxed brownie mix, red M&M's, pretzels, and candy eyes. (You can also try it with your favorite from-scratch brownie recipe.) The recipe makes eight reindeer brownies in about an hour from start to finish.

Recipe: Reindeer Brownies

Savory, salty Chex mix is a favorite for movie nights, game days, and late-night noshing — and it also makes a tasty holiday gift. The snack is easy to make at home using three kinds of Chex cereal, pretzels, and cheese crackers. Add more mix-ins too, like nuts, little bagel chips, or Goldfish crackers. The mixture is baked with butter and ranch seasoning. Once cool, pour Chex mix into tins, glass jars, or clear bags along with ribbon and wrapping. Everyone will love this crunchy, yummy gift.

Recipe: Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix

Here's a beautiful cookie to give as a gift this year. A simple, homemade sugar cookie dough gets a little color and spice from cinnamon and nutmeg before it's rolled out and cut into stars. The cookies bake up in only 15 minutes, and once cool can be frosted with a two-ingredient icing. White icing on these cookies is classic and gorgeous, but feel free to try other decor too, like a sprinkle of sparkling sugar or edible glitter. The crisp cookies hold up well to packing and shipping.

Recipe: Christmas Star Cookies

It only takes 20 minutes to make homemade caramel sauce for gifts this year. Ingredients like maple syrup, brown sugar, and cream are simmered on the stovetop until they become golden brown and thick. This sauce looks so beautiful poured into a pretty glass jar, and it can be used for anything from to topping desserts to sweetening coffee. Add a tasty twist to your sauce with complementary flavors like cinnamon, rum, bourbon, and almond. Does your loved one love spice? Try adding a pinch of chili powder for some sweet heat. 

Recipe: Caramel Sauce

This spicy fajita seasoning blend includes chili powder, ground coriander, garlic, and paprika. It gives incredible flavor to chicken or steak for fajitas, and can also be used to amp up the flavor of potatoes, salmon, or Bloody Mary drinks. The recipe makes about ⅓ cup of seasoning, but it's easy to scale up so you have enough for several small jars. Wrap the seasoning with your favorite recipe, or include it alongside a bigger gift like a cast iron skillet (for making fajitas!) 

Recipe: Fajita Seasoning

Here's an unusual, homemade snack that makes an awesome food gift. Plain ol' saltine crackers are transformed into spicy, zesty, no-bake bites when they're tossed with a blend of ranch dressing, Old Bay seasoning, avocado oil, and cayenne pepper. Give the crackers time to soak up all the spice and oil, and then they're ready. Portion the crackers into clear cellophane bags or tins and finish them with ribbon and wrapping paper. 

Recipe: Cajun Firecracker Crackers

Sometimes the classics are the best: like homemade, Christmas sugar cookies. They're fun to make and look so festive inside gift bags or tins. The cookie dough is a cinch to make, and you can even make it ahead of time to stash in your fridge. Use cookie cutters to make trees, stars, or any shape you like. Finish them with red and green tinted icing and your favorite holiday sprinkles. Let the icing set completely before layering the cookies between sheets of waxed paper to gift or to ship.

Recipe: Christmas Cookies

Not only is this a wonderful recipe to make with kids, Reindeer food is a great choice when you want a no-bake holiday food gift that comes together fast. Crispy Chex cereal, pretzels, and candies like holiday M&M's and miniature peanut butter cups are tossed with melted chocolate and powdered sugar. The snack mix is ready in only 15 minutes. Pour it into mason jars, a Christmas coffee mug, or small boxes to wrap and give as gifts. The recipe makes a big batch, so you'll have plenty to share.

Recipe: Reindeer Food

Fresh persimmons are in season from September through January, and they can be used to make a unique food present. According to Eater, persimmons have a delicate flavor with notes of honey. This Mashed recipe shows you how to make persimmon jam, with tips for finding ripe fruit and how to peel them. Persimmons are cooked with a just little sugar and lemon until thick, then poured into a mason jar or decorative glass jar. Keep the jam in the fridge until you're ready to give it to a friend.

Recipe: Persimmon Jam

Give an edible gift that looks like sunshine in a jar. Lemon curd is a type of spread that's thick with the intense flavor of lemons. It can be cooked on the stovetop, but our recipe speeds things up by using the microwave, which means it's finished in just six minutes. Meyer lemons are the traditional choice for lemon curd, so use these if you can find them. However, the curd is still zingy and delicious made with regular lemons. Lemon curd can be spread on toast or scones, or added to desserts like pavlovas. 

Recipe: Lemon Curd

It may be an old-fashioned treat, but it's also a really delicious one. Plus, you can have a batch of candied walnuts finished and cooling on a sheet pan in only 20 minutes. The nuts have crunch from the caramel-like coating plus a tasty combination of sweetness and saltiness. This is an excellent choice to give as a gift: The candied walnuts are sturdy enough to survive shipping and they last at room temperature for up to two weeks. Best of all, it's a three-ingredient recipe. What's not to like?

Recipe: Candied Walnuts

Chocolate crinkle cookies coated with snow-white sugar look festive for the holidays, plus they're rich and chocolaty. Bake them with your family to give to the neighbors, or bake a batch to mail to kids at college and other far-away loved ones. The dough needs to chill for an hour before shaping, and you can even prepare it few days in advance. Balls of dough coated in confectioners' sugar transform in the oven, becoming puffed with a crackled surface that lets the chocolate cookie peek through.

Recipe: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Holiday food gifts tend to be indulgent and sugary, but here's an idea for a healthy, homemade gift that folks on your list will love. Raspberry jam is a flavorful spread for toast or scones, or to add flavor to overnight oats. Chia seeds in the mix add texture and are packed with nutrients like calcium and B vitamins. Simmer the jam on the stovetop and spoon it into small jam jars. Add ribbon or a piece of cloth over the lid, plus a tag with serving ideas. Keep the jam cold.

Recipe: Chia Seed Jam

Give the gift of quick bread that boasts a flavor pairing that everyone loves during the holidays: Chocolate and orange. The rich, chocolate loaf made with cocoa powder and sour cream is almost good enough to eat on its own. However, it's really heavenly when topped with a thick layer of icing flavored with orange juice and orange zest. Make one large loaf as a gift, which has 10 servings, or split the batter between three mini loaf pans for several gifts.

Recipe: Orange Chocolate Loaf Cake

Homemade popcorn is an easy way to create edible holiday gifts. Package it along with gift cards for community helper gifts, as part of a tray of holiday treats for neighbors, or fill little bags to add to Christmas stockings. Our recipe shows you how to make a simple, sweet kettle corn on the stove in just ten minutes. The recipe, using ⅓ cup of popping corn, creates 10 cups of kettle corn, and it's easy to make several batches for lots of gifts.

Recipe: Kettle Corn

If you have someone on your shopping list who loves sweet-spicy foods, give them a special gift made by you. Pepper jelly is exactly what it sounds like: A sweet, jelly base full of diced red and green bell peppers, plus diced jalapeños (or other spicy peppers) to add a hot kick. It can be enjoyed as a condiment or with cream cheese and crackers as an appetizer. Store pepper jelly in the fridge, or preserve it in mason jars with a water bath canning method.

Recipe: Sweet And Spicy Pepper Jelly

Looking for a edible holiday gift idea that's easy to make, especially with kids? We found it! Oreo Truffles need only three ingredients, and the mixture comes together really fast. Roll the truffle balls by hand and give them time to chill before coating them in melted white chocolate. Add stripes of holiday color by melting red, green, or blue Candy Melts and drizzling them with a fork. Edible glitter would also be beautiful on these truffles. 

Recipe: Oreo Truffles

Made in the traditional way, apple butter takes hours or more by slowly simmering and stirring apples and sugar until they're reduced to a thick, sweet spread. Luckily you can take some of the work out of the process by making apple butter in your slow cooker. Sliced apples, brown sugar, and spices transform into an rich, fruity spread that you can spoon into little bottles or jars to give as gifts. 

Recipe: Crock Pot Apple Butter

This homemade granola has a wonderful fall flavor that is delicious for breakfast or as part of a midday snack. Made with oats, hemp seeds, and cinnamon, the granola mixture goes in the oven to bake up and develop its crunchy, toasty flavors. Freeze-dried apples give the cereal extra sweetness and texture. You can add other dried fruits too, like raisins, cranberries, or cherries. The recipe makes a big batch that can be divided into several smaller food gifts packed into jars or waxed paper bags.

Recipe: Apple Cinnamon Granola

When you want to deliver a taste of the holidays to friends near or far away, you just can't go wrong with a batch of old-fashioned molasses cookies. The cookie dough is full of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, a classic Christmas blend. Though the dough does need some chilling, the rest of the steps go very quickly. You'll be boxing up your cooled cookies in no time! Make round cookies, or use cookie cutters for fun, shaped cookies.

Recipe: Molasses Spice Cookies 

The color of red velvet brownies makes them perfect to give during the holiday season. The sweet bars have just a hint of chocolate flavor, along with caramel notes from brown sugar and sweetness from miniature white chocolate chips. The recipe makes nine brownies that take about 30 minutes to bake. Use foil gift pans to give the whole batch to someone special, or slice the brownies and stack them in a gift bag or box. 

Recipe: Red Velvet Brownies

A moist and flavorful quick bread brimming with cranberries is a lovely holiday gift for folks to enjoy with their morning coffee or as a simple dessert. The sweet loaf has chopped cranberries, orange zest, and orange juice, and bakes up in just under an hour. The recipe makes enough batter for one large loaf or three mini loaves. Look for disposable aluminum or paper bread pans, or for someone really special, buy a beautiful metal or ceramic bread pan to give along with the bread.  

Recipe: Cranberry Bread

Anyone with a sweet tooth will swoon for these toffee bars, so why not wrap them up in a bag or box for a delicious gift? The bars begin with a homemade cookie base that develops a toffee flavor while baking, thanks to butter and brown sugar in the mixture. When the base comes out of the oven, add chocolate chips and toasted, chopped pecans to make a chocolaty, nutty top layer. Once cool, the toffee bars are ready to be sliced and packaged.

Recipe: Chocolate Toffee Bars

Make a food gift this season that's easy to do with your kids or while watching a Hallmark holiday movie marathon. No-bake oatmeal cookies are a classic, and this recipe takes them up a notch by using Nutella instead of regular chocolate. The hazelnut flavor of the spread goes wonderfully with the oats. The cookies are ready to pack up or wrap after only 30 minutes of resting time. For an extra festive touch, add holiday sprinkles to the cookies while they're still wet. 

Recipe: No Bake Nutella Cookies