One of the many reasons I love the Christmas season is the cozy holiday treats that can be enjoyed at Christmas markets or at home with friends and a festive movie. Here are my top holiday treats!
Candied Almonds
A few years ago, while in Germany, my family and I visited a few Christmas market and fell in love with the hundreds of flavors of candied almonds. There were stalls and stalls of them, ranging from cinnamon roll to chili pepper. Although we can’t really get them this year unless we make them somehow (?), they still remain my favorite holiday treat of all time!
Peppermint Pretzels
This one’s really simple and kind of random, but white chocolate and peppermint pretzels are delicious to me, even the cheap store bought ones! There’s something about the salty, crunchy pretzel with the sweet, creamy white chocolate and the mint that I just adore. I’ll probably attempt to make them this year.
Sugar Cookies
Sugar cookies are fun to decorate and I like mine with lemon icing to balance out the sweetness! I feel like sugar cookies get taken for granted way too much, but I genuinely enjoy eating them. My friends and I are going to make and decorate some next week!
Hot Chocolate
I feel very strongly that there’s a difference between hot cocoa and hot chocolate. Most, if not all, of the mixes that you can buy in store are hot cocoa mix. They’re light, milky, and usually added to water. Hot chocolate, though, is very common in Europe around Christmas time. It’s an amazing delicacy that I had in Italy, when I was there for Christmas. I like cocoa, too, but the thickness of hot chocolate is much more addictive. It’s pretty much just melted chocolate and milk, I think, and I love it!
Ginger Snaps
Christmas spices are the best: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and more. Ginger snaps are perfectly crisp and sweet, but not too crunchy or too sweet. Simple, elegant, mouth-watering. I’ve tried a few different ginger snap-like cookies here in China, and they’ve been pretty good. One kind was from a village we toured. They were more crumbly and thick than regular ones. The others were oat breakfast biscuits that I ate every day for about a week. Then, we went back to buy more and they didn’t have them.
Peanut Brittle
I forget how much I like this stuff. As you may have noticed, crunchy foods are my favorite! Peanut brittle is sweet and occupies me for a while, so I like it. In Turkmenistan, we used to buy it from the “nut guy” at the bazaar we shopped at. It came in a big rectangle and we had to break it apart. I haven’t had it too much since we moved, but I’m pretty sure it’s a Christmas thing.
Buckeyes
My meemaw used to make these, and I’ve never had them any other way. I’d like to make some this year. I’ve never really heard of them that much, so I don’t think they’re super popular, but I’m not sure why. They’re so good! It’s just peanut butter balls covered in chocolate but there’s vanilla and butter in the peanut butter. That must be what makes them so delightful!
Thanks for reading! Maybe I gave you some dessert inspiration for this Christmas. Let me know what your favorite treat is this time of year. See you tomorrow!
Way Out Wanderer 