75 Homemade Food Ideas For Year-Round Gift Giving

Dessert truffles are not only a chocolate lover's dream, but they're also completely customizable and so easy to make. Set them out at your holiday dinner, or make them for the sweetest homemade gift to give to loved ones and neighbors. Top these with even more chocolate, or even Christmas toppings like candy canes or festive sprinkles to add some holiday cheer to any celebration.

Get the Chocolate Truffles recipe.

Why spend all that money on packaged granola when it's so easy to make at home with all of your favorite ingredients? Follow this super-easy step-by-step recipe and you'll never buy it from the store again. Need something grain free? Try our paleo granola next!

Get the Homemade Granola recipe.

Why have just a classic banana bread when you can have one with caramelized sugar on top? This quick bread gets frosted with a simple cream cheese frosting to slightly mimic the custard of a crème brûlée, then topped with sugar so that it can be torched into a beautiful crackly top. It’s less temperamental than a custard, and it’s another fun use for your kitchen torch you bought when you thought you’d make crème brûlée all the time.

Get the Crème Brûlée Banana Bread recipe.

Puppy chow (aka muddy buddies) is one of the easiest and most delicious sweet snacks EVER, and it's super-kid-friendly to make and gift too.

Get the Puppy Chow recipe.

Making jam doesn't always involve cooking down seasonal fruit. Sometimes it involves caramelizing onions and shallots in bacon fat, maple syrup, and brown sugar for a sweet and savory spread that tastes incredible with cheese 🤤.

Get the Bacon Jam recipe.

Don’t get us wrong, we love Christmas cookies of all shapes and flavors, but when our sweet tooth is in overdrive, it’s creamy, chocolaty fudge we need. Fudge is super-versatile, and we’ll take it in any form, but crammed full of sweet and salty nuts and candies, it's next-level spectacular.As a no-bake treat, fudge can be an easy addition to your holiday dessert line-up, especially using this shortcut method that doesn’t require boiling sugar or a candy thermometer.

Get the Reindeer Tracks Fudge recipe.

These are essentially molds of chocolate filled with homemade hot cocoa mix and marshmallows that explode after being dropped into hot milk. The melted chocolate, along with the hot chocolate mix, makes the creamiest, best hot chocolate we've had in a long time.

Get the Hot Chocolate Bombs recipe.

Homemade limoncello is sweet and strong with a lasting, delightful lemon flavor. It's the basis for one of our favorite cocktails—the lemon drop martini—and is perfect for gifting during the holidays. Hot tip for gifting: Make sure you’re working at least 1 week in advance to allow the liquor to take on the lemon flavor.

Get the Limoncello recipe.

If you’re looking for the perfect holiday craft-meets-snack activity to do with the whole family, look no further. True to form, these Reese’s Rudolph bites are bringing home the holiday cheer this year. The only special ingredient you'll need is candy eyes to build these jolly reindeer, which can be purchased online, but the rest comes together in a snap and makes for an adorably edible gift.

Get the Reese's Rudolph Bites recipe.

Preserved lemons are commonly used in the cuisines of North African countries. There’s something bright and beautiful about the use of briny-salty lemons in rich stews like a Moroccan tagine, and they're especially nice for gifting! Hot tip: Start early—these take 3+ weeks to ferment.

Get the Preserved Lemons recipe.

Craving a sweet pick-me-up at the end of a meal? These tiramisu truffles are for you. Luscious espresso and mascarpone white chocolate ganache is coated in a crisp chocolate shell for a dreamy bite-sized dessert that’s sure to delight every coffee lover.

Get the Tiramisu Truffles recipe.

If you’re a gingerbread head like us, congratulations, you’ve stumbled upon the perfect recipe for your holiday season. This bark blends white chocolate with all your favorite holiday spices and is topped with gingerbread cookies to create a simple yet delightfully cute holiday treat.

Get the Gingerbread Cookie Bark recipe.

Fantasy fudge is a shortcut fudge that is just as good as the real thing. Our two favorite things about it are that 1) it's quick to make and 2) it's totally customizable! Not only can you use any chocolate you like, but you can also choose whatever mix-ins you want.

Get the Fantasy Fudge recipe.

Dipping pretzels in chocolate is nothing revolutionary, but boy, are they good. Here's how to do it perfectly every time. Full disclaimer: This recipe yields A LOT. Feel free to halve the recipe, but we've never had a problem eating and gifting them all.

Get the Chocolate-Covered Pretzels recipe.

Only requiring two ingredients, this is the finishing touch you should make when you really want your dessert to stand out. Plus, it's more than just a special garnish; this can also be a sweet, sugary snack to reach for anytime (trust us—it's better than candy). Make it for your next movie night, as a garnish for an easy dessert (cupcakes, anyone?), or to top of your showstopping holiday treat.

Get the Candied Orange Peel recipe.

For fans of Rice Krispies treats, meet snowflake crisp, a popular Taiwanese confection. Think of this as a lighter version of nougat, but much easier to make at home with just a few ingredients. For our take, we use crunchy Biscoff cookies, which lend subtle sweet notes of caramel and malt. The rest of the filings are a tried and true combination of roasted pistachios, dried cranberries, and white chocolate. The key ingredient here is milk powder, which provides chewiness and extra bounciness to the marshmallow base, plus it provides the “snowflake” topping.

Get the Cookie Butter Snowflake Crisp recipe.

This version is a smart cheat: 3 ingredients, 1 clean jar, and a few seconds of stirring, and you are done. A little tart, substantially spicy, and sufficiently sweet—just like honey should be.

Get the Hot Honey recipe.

Loaded with peanut butter and dipped in chocolate, these buckeyes are basically a homemade Reese’s peanut butter cup in truffle form. They’re easy to make and great for taking to parties—although if you do, you should probably attach a warning label to the plate. You won’t be able to have just one.

Get the Buckeyes recipe.

In India, where chutneys hail from, the word can refer to many different spiced dishes. This mango version, which is spiced with fennel, mustard, cumin, and coriander seeds, plus a kick from fresh ginger, is similar to a jam or jelly, and will add flavor to nearly anything you pair it with.

Get the Mango Chutney recipe.

While drinking the milk at the bottom of your own cereal bowl is definitely a one-person treat, we wanted to find a way to share the cereal milk magic with others. Enter the cereal milk truffle: a honeyed white chocolate treat rolled in crushed cereal that everyone will fight over.

Get the No-Bake Cereal Milk Truffles recipe.