Easy Gift Ideas from Your Kitchen! by Natalie

Easy Gift Ideas from Your Kitchen! by Natalie

As a kid, I remember loading up the back of our Suburban with 40+ plates of cookies and delivering them throughout our snow-covered neighborhood around mid-December. My siblings and I took turns running back and forth between the still-running Suburban and the doorsteps of our friends and neighbors.

Some years it was cookies. Some years it was bundt cakes. One year it was candy wreaths. (I have a hot glue scar as a souvenir from that one.) It was a lot of work, but we always loved seeing the delight in our neighbors’ faces when they received our homemade offerings.

Now that I have a family of my own, we try to send out a little homemade holiday love, but on a much smaller scale. I’ve gathered a few non-cookie ideas we’ve used from the past few years to show you! Don’t get me wrong—cookies are glorious little things, but sometimes it’s fun to change things up. These are perfect little ideas for friends, neighbors, teachers, stylists, and anyone who may need some holiday cheer or a thank you.

 
 

Frozen Cookie Dough

I realize I said “non-cookie” ideas, but technically these aren’t cookies. Yet. They’re cookies in utero. Future cookies. Cookies for sometime in mid-January when your neighbors have finished their Christmas cookie detox, vowed to lose weight, and then get a cookie hankering a couple weeks later. They’ll thank you for it.

You can freeze almost any kind of drop cookie or icebox cookie dough. Just put half or a quarter of a regular batch of dough on a large piece of parchment or wax paper, fold the paper over the dough and shape it into a log, rolling it up in the paper. I like to put a layer of foil over the whole thing, too, to protect it in the freezer. Tie some ribbon on and add a little note with baking instructions (add an extra couple minutes of cooking time) and you’re good to go!

 
 

Homemade Baking Mixes & Spice Blends

This is one of my favorites gifts! I love making my own spice blends and baking mixes, and it’s another gift that provides some holiday cheer long after the decorations are put away.

In the photo, I included a few ideas: pancake mix, taco seasoning, ranch dressing mix, rosemary salt, and clementine sugar. A quick online search can give you a million ideas of what to put in a cute little jar to give away with a recipe to use it in. We’ve got quite a few right here, including a Middle Eastern spice blend, infused salts and sugars, pumpkin pie spice, hot chocolate mix, and all kinds of sauces and syrups!

 
 

Chocolate Bark

I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like chocolate bark. It’s so customizable, too! Just melt a bag of chocolate chips (any kind, really) and spread it evenly and thinly over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle on some toppings, and let it set.

For this one, I was inspired by a trail mix I fell in love with over the summer, so I used white chocolate, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, cashews, almonds, and a few pinches of Himalayan sea salt.

One tip I have is to not put the bark directly in the freezer to help it harden. When chocolate goes through drastic temperature changes, is stored in damp conditions, or develops condensation, it can form a dusty-looking coating called “bloom”. You may have noticed this when you buy chocolate chips or baking chocolate. It doesn’t hurt the chocolate or affect the taste, but it’s not very pretty. Allow the bark to cool on its own in a cool room and then perhaps refrigerate for a few minutes it if it’s not hard enough to snap into pieces.

 
 

Fruit

If you’re trying to support someone who is living a healthy lifestyle or you’re looking for the easiest possible edible gift, try gifting some fruit!

The trick with giving away fruit is presentation. Sure, you could slap a bow on a mesh bag of clementines, but aesthetically it’s bit underwhelming. Enter: cellophane and ribbon. I’m convinced that you could wrap just about anything in cellophane and ribbon, and it instantly makes it fancy.

One year we bought a few cases of big, pretty pomegranates, wrapped them like this, and included our favorite pomegranate dismantling technique on a small piece of paper in case the recipient had never opened one before. Such a fun gift, especially if you have kids. Mine go bonkers over pomegranate arils.

 
 

Sugar/Salt Scrubs

The next two are technically edible, but aren’t really meant to be eaten.

When I realized how easy it was to make my own bath scrubs, I scoffed at all the money I had spent over the years. (Tell me I’m not the only one who was obsessed with St. Ives apricot scrub in the 90s.)

Just combine 2 parts sugar or salt and 1 part oil. I like using coconut oil because it stays in a semi-solid state (assuming it’s stored in a cool place) and gives the scrub a creamy effect. Plus, coconut smells amazing and is rumored to solve all of the world’s problems. You can also add any scents or flavors you like. I like using a few drops of essential oils or some citrus zest.

For this one, I used coarse organic sugar, coconut oil, a little vanilla, and a few drops of peppermint oil. I swear this stuff smells like wedding mints. If you’re worried about your kids eating all of your scrub (a legitimate concern), just use salt instead of sugar. We made these for teacher gifts last year, and they were a hit!

 
 

Simmer Pot Kits

Ok, I saved my favorite for last: simmer pot kits. We received more rave reviews from these than anything I ever baked. They’re so easy, too!

If you’ve never used a simmer pot kit, you just empty the package into a pot, fill it with water and let it simmer on the stove over low heat for several hours. Your house will smell absolutely amazing. Putting it into a slow cooker is another option, and if you continue adding water when needed, you could keep it going for a few days.

This particular simmer pot has an orange (which gets cut into wedges before going into the pot), a handful of fresh cranberries, a spoonful of whole cloves, a few cinnamon sticks, a couple of bay leaves, and a star anise pod. Lemons and fresh, woodsy herbs like rosemary are other great additions.

 
 

I hope these ideas get your creative juices flowing. I’d love to hear about your favorite low-stress gift ideas!

 
 

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