5 festive snack ideas to make this Christmas

If there’s one time of year to get in the kitchen and have fun it’s Christmas. We love getting festively plump and tasting all the Christmas sweets and treats. But it can be a bit boring making a plain simple Christmas cake or cookies. We know everyone loves the tubs of Christmas sweets, but what if you could make your own? You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to do and it can be so much fun. Take a look at our festive snack ideas and ditch the plastic-wrapped Christmas sweets this year.

Cranberry and Brie bites 

Now we know we said Christmas sweets, but every good snacking session begins with something savoury. For many of us, cheese is the true Christmas sweet anyway – who doesn’t love a cheese board? So, we’re starting with these beautiful snacks which may take a little longer (if you want to make your own pastry) but if you’re savvy like us, you’ll utilise what’s already laying around in your kitchen and make a beautiful treat. 

You’ll need the following: 

• 1 Jus-Rol croissant dough (or make your own) 
• 1 wheel of brie 
• Cranberry sauce 
• Chopped pecans 
• Rosemary (cut to an inch long) 

How to make your cranberry and brie bits: 

1. Unroll your pastry into sheets. If you’re buying the Jus-Rol croissant dough, you’ll need to ignore the perforated lines. You need to create squares that are small enough to fit in your cupcake tray. It doesn’t matter if not all the sides are covered in the tray, we’re just using the shape of the tin to create a cup 

2. Chop a chunk of brie off your wheel and pop it in the cup then top it with a scoop of cranberry sauce. Add some chopped pecans and a tiny sprig of rosemary 

3. Pop it in the oven for whatever time your croissant dough says on the packaging. If you’ve made your own 15 minutes at 200C should be fine but keep an eye on them. As soon as your pastry becomes golden, remove them before you end up in a cheesy sticky mess 

White chocolate snowmen drink toppers 

We love this one, it’s perfect for the kids to get involved with and it transforms any hot chocolate into a festive treat. Of course, you can have these white chocolate snowmen on their own as well, we just enjoy the ‘melting’ illusion that they create in a cup. Children can help make these as well so it’s perfect for a chilly Sunday afternoon. 

You will need the following: 

• 200g white chocolate 
• 10 large marshmallows (white) 
• 20 mini pretzel sticks 
• Handful of smarties 
• Black and orange edible icing pens 

How to make your white chocolate melted snowmen: 

1. Melt your chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. You can do this in 20 second bursts in the microwave (any longer and it may burn) 

2. Once melted, spoon the mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, your ‘blobs’ should be roughly 6cm wide. Stick a marshmallow on top of the melted chocolate and two pretzel sticks into the marshmallow to create some arms. Pop two smarties in the chocolate ‘puddle’ and then pop in the fridge 

3. Once the chocolate has completely cooled and is solid once more. You can decorate your marshmallow with your icing pens, Black for the eyes, orange for the nose 

4. Once the icing has set you can start eating your friends! Or melt them even further by popping them on top of your hot chocolate 

Candy canes 

Is there anything more festive than a candy cane? They’re great Christmas sweets, but they often come wrapped in plastic that cannot be recycled at home. So, we want you to consider making your own. You’ll be surprised at how easy they are – just 45 minutes for tasty plastic-free Christmas sweets. 

You will need the following: 

• 1 large egg 
• 400g icing sugar 
• 1 tsp peppermint extract 
• 1-2 tsp red gel food colouring 

How to make your candy canes: 

1. Separate your egg white from the yolk and whisk the egg white in a bowl until light and foamy. Sift in your 400g of icing sugar and add 1tsp of peppermint extract. Keep stirring until it all starts to clump together 

2. Knead the mixture with your hands until it makes a smooth ball then divide the ball in half. Add your red gel food colouring to one ball and knead until the colour is completely red. If it becomes tacky add more icing sugar (a little bit at a time) 

3. Divide and roll each colour into roughly 20 walnut sized pieces. Then roll them out into long thin strips about 5mm thick on a surface that has been dusted with icing sugar 

4. Twist one red piece with a white piece and then continue to roll them together until they look like one seamless piece. Bend the end into shape and voila! 

5. Leave them overnight to dry out and they’ll be perfect the next day 

Cornflake wreaths 

This festive idea is perfect for using up the last of the cereal in your home. Plain cornflakes could be your child’s last choice for breakfast in the morning, leaving you with a less than appetising bowl. But we all know that those chocolate covered cornflake cakes go down a treat at the school’s bake sale! Well, this festive treat will combine the two. Plus, you can freeze these for a month so you can enjoy these throughout the New Year too!

Things you will need: 

• 500g mini marshmallows 
• 2tsp pumpkin spice 
• 1tsp green food colouring 
• 1kg cornflakes 
• Red decoration edible beads 
• 64g salted butter 

How to make your edible Christmas wreaths: 

1. In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt your butter 

2. Add 500g of mini marshmallows and continuously stir until they’re melted 

3. Remove from heat 

*Quick tip, douse your silicone spatula in cooking spray to avoid the mixture sticking to your utensil 

4. Stir in your pumpkin spice and food colouring 

5. Add your cornflakes into the mixture and continue stirring until the mixture is all green 

6. Let it cool for about 30 seconds – so it is cool enough to touch but still malleable 

*Quick tip, spray your hands with cooking spray so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands 

7. Line a baking tray with parchment paper 

8. Grab 3 tablespoons of your mixture and roll it into a sausage before joining both ends and placing it on the tray (they’ll be roughly 3 inches in diameter) 

9. Repeat with the remaining mixture 

10. Arrange wreaths on your tray and decorate them with edible red beads 

Oreo truffles 

We just had to put something chocolatey in there! No Christmas sweet list is complete without a bit of chocolate. Plus, we needed something to replace those pesky individually plastic wrapped chocolates in the huge tubs of … yes, more plastic. These truffles are incredibly moreish, we had to have a serious word with ourselves before we ate the entire tray!

What you’ll need to make your Oreo truffles: 

• 38 Oreos broken into large pieces 
• 225g of cream cheese at room temperature 
• 225g of white chocolate chopped  
• 225g of 70% dark chocolate chopped 
• Festive edible sprinkles for garnish 

How to make your Oreo truffles: 

1. Line two baking trays with parchment paper 

2. Blitz your Oreos in a food processor or blender to make fine crumbs then add your cream cheese and continue blitzing until combined like a paste 

3. Scoop the mixture and roll into small 1 inch balls (roughly 36 balls) and pop them in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes 

4. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl in the microwave by doing 20-second bursts at a time. Once fully melted, get your balls out of the fridge 

5. Grab a fork or skewer and dip your balls into one of the chocolates at a time. Putting back on the prepared baking tray to cool 

6. Once all the dark chocolate has been used and all balls semi-covered, wait for the chocolate to cool then repeat the process with white chocolate – covering the entire ball 

7. Sprinkle your festive garnish and pop them back in the fridge to cool completely – they’ll be ready to eat in roughly 10 minutes! 

BONUS Christmas Sweet! Rose wine gummies 

Now this one is perfect for the adults and it’s so simple. We made some melted snowmen toppers for the kids now it’s time to get creative with our festive wine. We’ve eaten these gummies on their own but also found that they taste great if you pop them in with some other Christmas cocktails or even a lemonade! Everybody loves a fancy-looking festive drink.

What you’ll need to make your festive gummies: 

• 250ml of rose wine 
• 45g sugar 
• 5 sheets of gelatine 
• Pink food colouring 
• A silicone ice cube/baking mould  

How you can make your festive rose gummies: 

1. Heat your rose in a saucepan on a medium heat until it starts to simmer 

2. Add your sugar and whisk until it’s dissolved 

3. Slowly add your gelatine in small pieces at a time 

4. Add some food colouring to give your mixture an extra bit of festive colour 

5. Once the gelatine has completely dissolved pour into a silicone mould and refrigerate until set (usually one hour) 

There you have it! Five festive snack ideas to make his Christmas extra special and one adult Christmas sweet that you can thank us for later! There’s plenty here to try out with kids, without kids, for snacks, treats and everything in between. The best part? Most of the ingredients will already be in your home and without plastic packaging. You can even find some in your local zero waste store! We can’t wait to see what you’ve made.