Easy treats to sweeten your festive season

The holiday season is the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen, and these 12 festive treats make it easy to add homemade magic to your celebrations.

Whether a baking pro or just starting, these holiday desserts, from aluminium foil-shaped cupcakes to light-up reindeer cakes, will impress.

With no-fuss recipes, minimal prep, and tons of seasonal flair, you will have everything you need to make this year’s festivities extra sweet.

Aluminium foil-shaped holiday cupcakes

You don’t need to buy fancy moulds or cutters for these adorable cupcakes in holiday shapes. Simply roll foil into balls and tuck them into standard muffin cups. Using a box mix batter makes them even easier.

This recipe makes pairs of these six iconic holiday shapes: reindeer, gingerbread men, mittens, snowmen, angels and snowflakes.

After baking, go to town decorating the cupcakes with frosting, candies and sprinkles. The results are very achievable and oh-so impressive.

Melting snowman cake

A double-stack of peppermint-swirled bundts makes for an impressive “hill’ on which to place an adorable snowman. Sure, he’s a little panicked, dripping down the sides, but we can’t help but smile at his cute face.

Popcorn ball wreaths

A fantastic project for kids, these popcorn treats don’t require any stovetop cooking. Remember, let the popcorn mixture cool before adding the candy so the pieces hold their shape and don’t melt.

Gelt magic bars

These sweet Hanukkah treats come together quickly and are easy to transport to a party or event. The bars are gooey so let them cool completely before cutting.

Many fun holiday sprinkle blends are available online, or you could make your own.

Gingerbread man mug mates

These gingerbread men are people-pleasers – you will love how they hang around with lots of holiday spirit.

Santa hat crispy-treat cheesecake squares

Crispy treats make an unexpected and sweet crust for cheesecake. These squares will be a holiday favourite topped with strawberry Santa hats.

Red velvet Christmas tree Linzer cookies

Red velvet and cream cheese frosting are a match made in heaven, and here we just changed the usual cake to a cookie for hand-held eating.

The dark-red tree shapes contrast with the bright green frosting and are decorated with a gold star on top and colourful nonpareils.

This recipe is for decorations with a classic holiday motif, but feel free to use other candies or sprinkles if you like.

No-bake chocolate mocha Yule log

This show-stopping cake requires zero baking and is packed with luscious chocolate and coffee flavour. Make it up to one day in advance to save time on the big day.

Holiday berry meringue wreath

This edible wreath is almost too pretty to eat (but seriously, you should dive in – it is delicious). Crisp and crunchy meringue lies beneath a ruby red cranberry, raspberry and pomegranate sauce.

Snowy pinecones

With their crunchy cereal exteriors and creamy peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut centres, these wintery pinecones are a delicious and easy way to serve your guests adorable holiday treats without turning on your oven.

Slice-and-bake dreidel cookies

The simple shape of a dreidel is especially striking for slice-and-bake cookies; the key is to keep the coloured dough frozen and firm and the uncoloured dough soft but still chilled.

You can bake the cookies right away or keep the entire log wrapped in the freezer, then slice off and bake cookies as needed.

Light-up reindeer cake

This showstopper dessert gives Rudolph his proper due. The moist yellow cake with cocoa frosting and chocolate antlers has an extra magical touch: a red nose that lights up. Rolling a small LED light into the fondant nose gives it brightness; you would even say it glows.

Poinsettia pinwheel cookies

Despite the intricate design, these festive pinwheels are simple to create. The cream cheese in the cookie dough adds the right amount of pliability so you can cut, fold and shape easily.

We decorated the cookies with white, red and green coarse sanding sugar, sometimes called pearlised sugar, but you can swap in plain confectioners’ sugar. They will look stunning either way.

Gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting

As with most gingerbread, this cake gets better with time. When first baked, it will be light and cakey. If you wrap it and let it sit for a day, it will become even moister, and the warm spices will intensify.

Either way, it’s homey, delicious and perfect for your holiday table. And if you don’t have gingerbread cookies to decorate the bottom with, don’t worry. This cake can easily stand alone and still impress.

• Source: foodnetwork.com