How to Make Edible Wreaths for Christmas

Instead of putting your annual Christmas wreath on the front door, why not try relocating it to the most important spot in the house? Of course, I’m referring to the kitchen table.

Before you do a double take, let me assure you this is not a hoax. Edible wreaths are a necessary part of the festivities, and no holiday dinner or dessert is complete without one. What makes the treat oh-so delightful is the fact that the contents are up to you. Craving some cookies? Want to put your sweet tooth to good use with a bite of candy? An edible wreath can include anything you want, so make Buddy the Elf proud and include the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.

Sugar Hero

If you’re ready to whip up a wreath of your own, here are a few options to inspire your kitchen adventures.

Marshmallow Wreaths

Kelly Senyei / Just a Taste

“The holidays don’t officially begin in our house until marshmallow Christmas wreaths make their annual debut,” Kelly Senyei, the blogger behind Just A Taste tells Chowhound. “My family and I have been making the chewy treats for more than 20 years, and shaping the wreaths alongside my mom is one of my earliest childhood memories.”

Calphalon Nonstick Bakeware 10-pc. Bakeware Set, $79.99 on Amazon

For all your holiday baking needs!

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Grab 30 large marshmallows (you’ve gotten my attention already), green food coloring, vanilla extract, and cornflakes. These are the main ingredients you’ll need to begin. Once the final product is ready to make a splash at the table, top it off with some cinnamon red-hot candies (the perfect garnish). Get the recipe.

Candy Wreaths

Alexandra Wolf

Okay, so this might be one option that’s better suited for the front door. But don’t stress—you’ll still be able to munch.

Florist Christy Doramus, founder of Crowns by Christy, knows her way around beautiful botanicals…but she is also a fan of candy (particularly these peppermint bark squares). That’s why she decided to add some sweets to her holiday wreaths.

“Hot glue wrapped candies to your wreath so you can unwrap and enjoy one every day leading up to Christmas,” she says.

What a terrific idea! You can reward yourself with a snack every time you walk through the door. I’m 100 percent on board with this plan.

“Attach candy canes to your wreath with hot glue (keep them wrapped if you plan to [eat] them,” Dormus adds. “Twist wire around wrapped candy, cookies or snacks of your choice, and wire them to your wreath so they are removable and ready to enjoy.”

Beautiful and tasty—what’s better than that?

Spritz Cookie Brownie Wreaths

Jack Volpi / 100 Cookies

The ever-hilarious and ever-talented mastermind behind the blog 100 Cookies, Jack Volpi, knows a thing or two about getting into the holiday spirit—just check out his lovely take on edible wreaths with spritz cookies and brownies.

“I don’t know about y’all, but spritz cookies are quintessential Christmas cookies,” Volpi says. “They’re easy to make, and you can eat handfuls of them watching Hallmark movies in your soft clothes.”

Say no more!

For the spritz trees, you’ll need two sticks of room-temperature butter, one cup of granulated sugar, one egg, 2 ½ teaspoons of vanilla, ½ teaspoon of salt, and 2 ½ cups of flour.

Volpi’s approach to the dessert is definitely low-key. “Mix this and add in green food color. Chill for like a half hour. Find a spritz gun and use the tree attachment,” he tells us. “Blop out trees on a parchy-paper-lined tray and bake for 10 min at 350 degrees. Pro tip: check for doneness at 8:30 to avoid over browning.”

Top it all off with frosty smiley faces and put these bad boys on a ring of brownies. “Countdown to Christmas,” here we come. Get the recipe.

Pretzel Wreaths

Diane Schmidt / Created by Diane

“This is a really fun craft to do around the holidays,” Diane Schmidt, the blogger behind Created by Diane, tells Chowhound. “Kids can even do them, no baking required. And they are great to bring to neighbors and for a host for holiday parties.”

Minimal hassle and great taste is a dream combination for bakers everywhere, so this wreath is a must for your ugly sweater party. Get your hands on some pretzels, white chocolate, and Christmas-colored sprinkles, and you’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll. Get the recipe.

Chocolate Wreaths

Diane Schmidt / Created by Diane

Schmidt, the expert on all-things wreaths, also describes another perfect Christmas treat: chocolate wreaths.

“These are simple to make and really kick up the holidays with a smaller-sized dessert,” she says.

Personally, I’d have about six of them, so there goes the idea of smaller portions.

Head to the store for a box of chocolate cake mix, buttercream, some food coloring, and voila! Get the recipe.

For more tips, hacks, and recipes, check out our Ultimate Guide to Christmas and Holiday Entertaining Headquarters.

Related Video: Delicious and Indulgent Christmas Treats

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11 Easy Holiday Starters to Impress Your Friends

Entertaining is not easy, and entertaining on a weeknight is even harder. Racing out of work to get to the grocery store and then hurry home to pick up the clothes off the floor and give the bathroom a once-over can make a casual holiday get-together a stressful affair where you dread the doorbell ring of the first guest.

Any experienced hostess will remind you that the key to it all is planning, but HAHAHA this article is not for you. You well-organized planners can just stay in your lane. If you invited a few friends over for a cocktail before the symphony plays the score to Home Alone live, then you clearly don’t have time to cook up complicated apps, and this is the list for you.

These recipes are all easy, quick, and a level above the ball of mozzarella and a tomato on a toothpick. Some have a distinct late-’80s yuppie vibe, which is precisely where I like my appetizers. Add endive cups and Ritz Crackers to complete the picture.

Root Wood Serving Dish, $13.99 -$29.99 on Amazon

The perfect eye-catching trays for apps.

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1. Mulled Hard Cider

The first key to a great last-minute, no-fuss get-together is handing everyone a drink the moment they walk into your castle. This hot mulled cider takes the chill off and says “Welcome to my home!” better than Brenda Dickson. Get our Mulled Hard Pear Cider recipe.
Photo from Chowhound

2. Green Goddess Grilled Cheese

You’ll soon discover that hot cheese is the secret to entertaining. This recipe is so easy that you simply make a sandwich, heat it up in a pan, and cut it into lovely pesto-green bite-size pieces. Bonus: It’s vaguely healthy for your friends who came straight from Bar Method.
Photo and recipe from TasteSpotting

3. Baked Ricotta

As previously mentioned, hot cheese is key. It cannot get easier than putting cheese in the oven, sprinkling more cheese on top, then scooping out the cheese with a vegetable or the perfect alternating combination of a cracked pepper Triscuit and then a Wheat Thin and back again. Get our Baked Ricotta recipe.
Photo from Chowhound

4. Honeyed Cashews with Kosher Salt

Often your spiced nuts recipe involves chopping rosemary (which can be a pain) or whipping egg whites, but this recipe simply requires heating up three ingredients, pouring them on nuts, and tossing in the oven. Just set a timer so you don’t forget about the nuts after a few mulled wines. Get our Honeyed Cashews with Kosher Salt recipe.
Photo from Chowhound

5. Fig Jam and Goat Cheese Crostini

The other key to insta-entertaining is toast. That’s it. The big secret is calling it different things. For instance, here we shall anoint this toast recipe “crostini,” when really this is no more difficult to make than toasting a bagel. Get our Fig Jam and Goat Cheese Crostini recipe.
Photo from Chowhound 

6. Sautéed Radicchio and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

To reiterate: Toast! This time we call it “bruschetta.” Just don’t pronounce it like they do at your hometown Olive Garden in the strip mall between the karate studio and the nail salon. They’re raddicculous. Get our Sautéed Radicchio and Goat Cheese Bruschetta recipe.
Photo from Chowhound

7. Welsh Rarebit Bites

In this one, I give you toast, hot cheese, and BEER! Another easy mix-and-heat recipe, this is comforting British pub food that comes off as extra-fancy because of the name. Get our Welsh Rarebit Bites recipe.
Photo from Chowhound

8. Baked Oysters

Baked oysters look impressive and feel festive while still being incredibly simple. Pop open the oysters, sprinkle in some breadcrumbs and butter, and roast. You can even have the oysters opened for you at the grocery store.
Photo and recipe from Martha Stewart

9. Easy Baked Brie

To summarize: Hot cheese. Croissant dough, some jam, and a wheel of Brie—yup, those are all of the ingredients. This recipe sounds dated and basic, but even your most post-meta hipster can’t help but dig into this gooey, toasty treat.
Photo and recipe from She Wears Many Hats

10. No-Cook Chickpeas and Mint

You can make this dish with just a bodega run, it requires no cooking, and it’s vegetarian/vegan.
Photo and recipe from Real Simple

11. Warm Olives and Marcona Almonds

This is not a recipe. It’s a last-minute shopping list for the really, really last-minute soiree. Hit the olive bar at the local Italian market (read: Safeway), mix ’em up, and heat them over low heat in a pan—and remember a bowl for the pits. Serve with Marcona almonds because they taste like tiny luxuries.
Header photo and recipe from Feasting at Home

Related video: How to Make Easy Holiday-Party Appetizers

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Christmas Crack: The Easiest and Most Addictive Holiday Gift

Want some crack? I mean, crackle? People who have had it love it and it takes less than an hour to make. I mean, really, who can say no to salt, chocolate, toffee, and seasonal garnishes? Not I, say the wise.

Christmas Crack is the gift that the Martha-Stewart-of-my-college-clique used to give us wrapped in foil and red ribbon. It was a gift that we swore to share with housemates, but we actually just locked it in our rooms to selfishly snack on it for 24-48 hours. There literally is no way to prevent yourself from eating as much of it as you can.

So, just what is it? Christmas Crack is a sweet toffee sandwiched in between crackers (hence, Crackle), and chocolate. It is basically a life hack method of making a salty sweet treat. Fancier and similar treats exist like Bark, Brittle, Brickle, etc, but Crackle is easier because you don’t have to make everything from scratch.

Here is what you need:

1. Crackers (preferably salty and square)
2. Toffee (made from equal parts sugar and butter)
3. Chocolate
4. Seasonal toppings: nuts, dried fruit, mint, and more chocolate

What on earth could be simpler to make? I was so shocked when I looked up the ingredients, I didn’t believe that the recipe was correct. To put it to the test, I tried a recipe that I found with one hour to spare.

French Bull 19

Serve your homemade treats on the perfect platter.

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To make it easier to dish out the Crackle, I used parchment paper to keep the toffee from sticking. Apparently, you could also grease the dish and/or just cook it in a non-stick pan, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Then, I lined the pan with crackers and started work on the toffee.

Caramelizing the sugar was actually very easy. I don’t have a baking thermometer, so I just heated the sugar and butter on low in a non-stick frying pan and whisked the sugar and butter until it started to boil and caramelize. This only took three minutes. Then I removed it from the heat and poured it over the crackers. The mixture was very runny, so it spread evenly. From there, I melted the chocolate for a couple minutes then spooned this out because the chocolate in the recipe didn’t yield as much as I had hoped. (I would definitely recommend two cups of chocolate instead of one and half). Finally, I put the entire thing in the oven for nine minutes. Then, I took it out to cool and added my choice of topping, toasted cashews, and put the entire thing in the fridge to speed up the cooling process. This didn’t work as well, so I ended up moving it to the freezer while I went to take a shower. Twenty minutes later, I cut the pieces and voila: Crackle!

Walking into the room with a baking dish full of crack was a weird but fabulous feeling. Crack looks much more involved than it actually is, so everyone was very impressed and the pan only lasted 15 minutes. Crazy, I know, but the name exists for a reason.

Here are some recipes to get you started:

Christmas Crack

Gonna Want Seconds

This is a basic recipe that covers everything you need to make the traditional version with saltine crackers. The salt in the crackers help to bring more flavor in the chocolate and toffee. Get the recipe.

Graham Cracker Crack

Averie Cooks

Nothing says childhood memories like graham crackers. I get happy just thinking about them. So, why not try them with Crackle? This recipe will be sweeter than the original. Get the recipe.

Gluten Free Christmas Crack

This Vivacious Life

Who says gluten eaters get to have all the fun? This gluten-free recipe is the equalizer that the people need to get their crack on. Get the recipe.

Related Video: Christmas Lights Sugar Cookies

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oat flour and rolled oats add a nutty flavor to these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies! Bittersweet chocolate adds some chocolatey depth. Keep these around for your friends and family who can't have gluten.

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Ground Beef Chili

Everyone needs a recipe for classic beef chili. Make this one your go-to! It's made with corn, peppers, tomatoes, and beans, and makes enough to freeze for later!

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What Is a Clarified Cocktail?

Chowhound Gift Guide 2018: Best Food-Based Gifts for the Beauty-Obsessed

I grew up in a home where my mom would slice tomatoes and cucumbers for a salad, but she’d always save a few for us to smear on our faces. Turmeric face packs, rose water toners, sugar scrubs…my mom made them all, right from her kitchen pantry!

No wonder I’m obsessed with all-natural beauty products that leave you feeling pampered and loved, without the stress of weird chemicals blocking your chi. My rule of thumb with ingredients: if you can’t pronounce it, you probably don’t want it. Check out these amazing food-based products any beauty lover would be ecstatic to get this holiday season.

Savannah Bee Company Get Gorgeous Gift Set, $56.50

Savannah Bee

The skin loves some honey, henny! Savannah Bee Company is heavily vested in bee protection and cultivation. Not only do they have an array of amazing craft honey and cheese, but also a natural beauty line. The royal jelly body butter is their best-selling item. But for the holidays, you’ve got to indulge. This “Get Gorgeous Gift Set” is their 3-in-1 “face care system.” It comes with a charcoal and volcanic ash cleanser, honey moisturizer, and a hibiscus and royal jelly sheet mask. Mmmmm…Exfoliate, hydrate and protect your skin, all while knowing you’re saving the bees! The packaging is very cute, too—the set comes in a white organza bag with a drawstring—so no gift wrapping required!See It

Fresh Rice Sake Bath, $82 at Sephora

Sephora

I had no idea sake was this good for your skin! Sake, as you know, is a delicious Japanese wine made by fermenting rice. Besides giving you a sweet buzz, the wine has been used in geisha bathing rituals, said to eliminate toxins from the skin and while hydrating it. This bath liquid has a bunch of sake in it, infused with real peaches and pure ginger to help relax tense muscles. Just be careful not to drink it! The bottle looks deceptively just like a regular sake bottle. AKA gorgeous!See It

The Coffee Body Scrub, $16.99 on Amazon

Amazon

Coffee can wake you up inside and out. This is the perfect gift for the coffee addict because now they can lather their whole body in it. Ha! This scrub is all natural—it uses organic coffee, shea butter, vitamin E, and other antioxidants, leaving your skin wide-eyed and moisturized. The granulated coffee is a natural exfoliant and even helps fight acne. I say, if you’re up for it, make your own! It’s easy and uses just a few ingredients. And people love handmade gifts!See It

Here’s a how-to:

Peter Thomas Roth Mask Frenzy 6-Piece Kit, $75 at Macy’s

Macy’s

This is for the mask-a-holic in your life. (*slow hand raise*) Peter Thomas Roth masks are some of my favorites in the world! You don’t have to get a full set (but treat yo’ self!); they come in individual jars too. I’m talking rose stem gel mask, cucumber hydrator, pumpkin enzyme mask, and more! Yes, pumpkin mask. Apparently, it exfoliates and peels for smoother, revitalized skin. I believe it! The cucumber one uses extracts of the veggie, papaya, chamomile, pineapple, orange, and aloe vera. Aren’t you relaxed just reading the ingredients? My personal favorite is the rose stem gel mask. I use it 2-3 times a week, and it leaves my skin feeling velvety smooth.See It

Green Tea Blotting Paper Kit, $7.85 on Amazon

Amazon

This is the perfect little stocking-stuffer for the makeup lover who needs the power of green tea. Blotting paper is essential for long days on-the-go—it blots up any oil from your face without removing any makeup. The sheets are made of wood pulp, hemp, calcium carbonate (that soaks up oil), and green tea oil, which is great for a mattifying and clearing finish.See It

LUSH Serenity Gift Box, $59.95

Lush

You can gift someone serenity in a box…especially when you know that all the products are 100 percent vegetarian and cruelty-free! LUSH has been a longtime favorite of mine. This box is packed with soothing soaps, a velvety argan body conditioner, an oat milk shower gel, lavender body lotion, and a silky dusting powder. It’s a great place to start if you’re unfamiliar with the brand. You can also buy individual tubs of handmade face masks that the store clerk tells me are fresh enough to eat! (No, I did not try to eat them…)See It

dpHUE Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse, $57 at Ulta

dpHUE

The list of health benefits from apple cider vinegar just keeps on growing! This hair rinse will leave your hair squeaky clean and conditioned, without stripping any of its natural oils. It’s an alternative to shampoo and conditioner. The vinegar also adds an abundance of shine! It’s infused with argan oil, fire tulip, lavender extract, aloe vera, and more…all amazing natural ingredients for those beautiful locks.See It

Sugar Hair Bear Hair Gummies, $29.99

SugarBearHair

Finally, a beauty product you can eat! This is a product that went viral and has amazing ratings on Amazon. They’re packed with all the nutrients your hair needs to be its best self, like biotin, folic acid, and vitamin D. They’re vegetarian and cruelty-free, and flavored with berries! Apparently, you only need 2 gummy bears a day, no matter what kind of hair you have.See It

Related Video: Here’s How To Make A Homemade Honey-Oatmeal Face Mask

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