These lightning fast no bake holiday treats are the best last minute gifts for family, friends, and Santa. And I’ll tell you what, these 11th hour wonders turn out to be everybody’s favorites!
I’ve spent many a Christmas morning making a last minute batch of bark or two because for all my planning and prepping during the holidays, I always seem to come up short in the gift department. You too? No worries, I’ve got quite a collection of no bake treats that come together in a jiffy.
Nutcracker Bark
This decadent, chunky bark is packed full of festive nuts like almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, and pecans. What I love about this bark is the nice textural contrast you get from both stirring some nuts into the melted chocolate before pouring it out onto your baking sheet, AND scattering more nuts on top. That way you get flavor, texture and crunch all the way through this nice, thick bark that’s really more like a delicious homemade chocolate bar.
Grand Marnier Truffles
Successful last minute gift givers have a delicious secret, and it’s truffles. Truffles are decadent, delicious, and do-able. The fun here is that you can use just about any liqueur you love to infuse these chocolates with a dose of holiday flair and extra special flavor. Buy one or two mini airline sized bottles to experiment with.
Hot Chocolate Mix ~ the creamiest!
Trust me you can’t buy a better hot cocoa mix anywhere! Package it up in a cute mug and you’ll get extra brownie points. Three special ingredients amp up the flavor and richness so that when you whip up a cup of hot chocolate it’s full bodied and chocolatey, not thin and watery.
Christmas Cracker Candy
This cracker based candy has been a hit with everyone I’ve ever gifted it to! I wasn’t expecting to love this like I do, but this no bake candy is a classic for a reason. The salty crunchy crackers with the caramel, the chocolate, and the nutty M&M topping is truly irresistible.
Peppermint Bark Pretzels
These chocolate and peppermint covered pretzels are so festive and really satisfy that sweet/salty craving. They couldn’t be easier to make and make for a great last minute host or hostess gift during the holidays!
Butter Pecan Bark
If you’re like me and you love chocolate, but you REALLY love all those toasty, caramel-y, toffee-y flavors, this butterstoch-y bark is for you.
If you’ve only made bark with regular chocolate or maybe white chocolate, there’s a whole world out there of meltable chips in flavors like butterscotch chips (which I used here), peanut butter, etc. These meltable morsels (you’ll usually find them in the baking aisle near all of the other chocolate chips – look out for special seasonal ones around the holidays too!) work great for making bark because they melt but then harden at room temperature, just like chocolate, and they open up a whole new world of flavor combination possibilities!
Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
It doesn’t get any easier than dipping pretzels in melted chocolate, but the result is so sweet. Fancy gift catalogues charge a fortune for these, but guess what? Yours are going to be better because you’re going to use real chocolate, and fresh pretzels. It makes all the difference. Be sure to get creative with your combinations and these dipped pretzels will be a coveted gift, guaranteed.
Peppermint Mocha Bark
This classic holiday flavor combo is always a favorite. Peppermint mocha bark is a classic peppermint bark with a background hint of coffee ~ it’s different, slightly more sophisticated, and delicious.
Hot Cocoa Bombs
My hot chocolate bombs are better because they make a deliciously rich cocoa with real chocolate ~ no powdery hot cocoa mix or plastic mold required.
They look like giant truffles because they are giant truffles. And when they melt in a mug of hot milk they make the hot chocolate of your dreams. This is because you’re using real chocolate and cream ~ the only 2 ingredients you need to make amazing hot chocolate. Aside from chilling your ganache, they only take 20 minutes to make.
Sugar Plum Fairy Bark
This gorgeous white chocolate bark is just plain magical fun. It’s the perfect excuse to break out all the pretty sprinkles and just have fun! Plus it looks so pretty set out on a holiday table.
White chocolate can make a stunning bark, but can be difficult to melt. It has a tendency to seize up, which can be so frustrating. I recommend using confectionary candy “melts” that aren’t actually chocolate, but a creamy, white, meltable candy that gets the job done.
Christmas Popcorn Mix
If you can pop corn you can make a last minute gift that everybody will love. Creative combining of ingredients is what it’s all about here. Readymade ingredients can be gift-worthy when you know how to put them together and this popcorn mix hits the sweet spot with a melange of salt, crunch, and chocolate.
Chocolate Covered Dates
Two very good ingredients combine to make one decadent gift. Chocolate covered dates are one of those sweets that you know is going to be good. My mouth waters just thinking about them. This recipe requires pitted dates and melted chocolate, that’s it.
Butter Brickle Bark
Sometimes the easiest projects turn out the best ~ this one is incredibly easy and so delicious. Nuts are a classic ingredient for a lot of chocolate barks, but look around your pantry for other types of candy and edible toppings. Crushed peppermint candies make for a classic peppermint bark, toffee, small candies like M&M’s, even dried fruit and seeds make pretty and festive toppings for your chocolate bark.
No Bake White Chocolate Thin Mints
These adorable holiday thin mint cookies are perennial favorites on the blog, and that’s because chocolate and peppermint are such an amazing combination. No need to reinvent the wheel, though.
Readymade cookies are your friends here. Use Nabisco wafers, deconstructed Oreos, or, as one genius reader did, use Oreo Thins. Any thin chocolate cookie will work.
Peanut Butter Truffles
PB truffles get my vote for best no bake treat ever invented! If you can melt chocolate (and yes, you can!) then you can make one of the most indulgent last minute gifts on the planet.
White Toasted Almond Bark
This one is a favorite of mine, combining creamy white chocolate with deep toasty almonds. Ok so technically you have to turn on your oven to toast the almonds, but trust me, you won’t mind once you taste this epic candy. It’s out of this world delicious.
Homemade Turtle Candies
Everybody’s favorite luxury candy is totally doable in the kitchen, just be sure to use good chocolate and toast those pecans (see note above.) You’ll take wrapped caramels, chocolate, and pecans, and with a little sleight of hand you can create turtles just as good as your favorite candy shop.
Sweet and Spicy Bar Mix
No one ever turns down a great snack mix! The sweet/spicy flavoring adds SO much to the simple ingredients in this mix. Once we started making this, we couldn’t NOT have it at every single gathering and family dinner all season long!
2 Ingredient Toasted Hazelnut Bark
This simple bark is deceptive – it seems like there’s not much going on, but the deeply toasted hazelnuts have so much flavor and pair so well with the creamy white chocolate.
Toasting nuts enhances and brings out their natural flavor SO much, it’s always worth the little bit of extra effort. Since nuts can burn easily, it’s best to keep an eye on them in the oven and give them a shake a few times as they are cooking. I usually toast my nuts at about 325-350F for 10-12 minutes or so but you can also do it in the microwave, start with 1 1/2 minutes.
Perfect Peanut Butter Fudge in 10 Minutes!
Fudge is the ultimate gift from your kitchen, and with my quick recipe you don’t need to set aside a day to make it. That’s right, easy peanut butter fudge is ready from start to finish in 10 minutes, with just 5 pantry staples, a spoon and a saucepan. You’ll get the best, creamiest fudge you ever sank your teeth into, guaranteed!
Dark Chocolate Mendiants
A little something for the health nuts on your list! These easy medallions are such fun to make with healthy dark chocolate and toppings like dried fruit, nuts, and seeds.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Sue! Thanks for all the great recipes you’ve sent to me inbox over the last year. I appreciate all the work you do in getting them out to us.
From a crisp 25°F Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦 morning
Merry Christmas Sue! Best wishes for a great 2024. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes.
The last minute treat recipes are so easy, yummy and beautiful! Who wouldn’t want to get a
tin full of any of these at Christmas. HO HO HO! Blessings to you and your family.
Right back at you Benni!
Merry Christmas, Sue! Appreciate all your terrific recipes & ideas!
Merry Christmas CathyAnn 🙂