One of our favorite Holiday traditions is finding new cookie recipes to make and share with friends.
Usually, hubby and I each pick 4 recipes, and spend the weekend baking, tasting, and decorating packages to deliver some *happy*!
This year, however, we've had to be mindful of just how much I can take on, so we decided to pick just a few recipes that are quick and easy, to keep our little tradition alive.
I'm sharing recipe links below, and a few notes on the tweaks. But the real star of today's post is actually the packaging! It was so easy and fun to pull together! And since I don't have the energy I once did, making all the packaging from scratch seemed like quite the feat. Instead, we found several packaging options, and decided to just focus on making the tags. We found these adorable treat boxes at a local craft store, and we've also picked out a few larger boxes at our local Michael's.
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TIP
If you're in need of some more tag designs, check out a few tag ideas here, here and here.
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Today's tags are extra fun, and perfect for those long gifts, where a dangly something-something would work well.
It might seem like it's a complicated design, but I assure you, it's really not! If you think of it like making several individual tags, and then combining them, it makes it seem a lot less daunting. Making an assembly line is the easiest way to whip these guys up quickly.
For all the little tag pieces I used PTI's Limitless Layers: Hearts and Heart Stitches. You can use any type of stacking dies: stars, circles, ovals, squares, etc...
To add color to the tags, I simply grabbed a Copic marker, which I used in various ways - to color just the edges such as in the image above, or to color the whole base, such as in the image below.
For the toppings, I used PTI's Sparkle and Shine word dies and coordinating stamps. I used heaps of glitter (with my no-mess glittering technique, of course!), sequins, rhinestones and Nuvo drops.
It was an easy project for us to do, and having hubby help, was not only a great way to speed things up, but it meant we could still enjoy our Holiday tradition and spend some quality time together!
To attach all the tags, we used some tinsel, but you could use thick twine, pretty ribbon, or seam binding!
And here are the recipes - hope you likey!
Rum Balls
My grandma used to make these all the time! They're super easy too. We used imitation rum so they're kid friendly, and we also made two versions. Blondie version without cocoa, and extra coconut in the mix, and the linked cocoa version. Note: this recipe calls for 395 g of condensed milk, but this seemed like way too much. I used about a 1/8 cup, and added more if the mixture felt dry. It should *just* come together.
Oblatne
This is my absolute favorite desert from back home. I used to love it as a kiddo, but I've never actually made it myself. Since it is another no-bake recipe, I thought it would be perfect for our low-key cookies this year. You do need a specialty product, a type of wafer crust, but you should be able to find them in your international foods isle, European shoppe, or on Amazon. One pack is enough, but I'd tell you to buy two and either double the filling recipe provided above, or just make mine (which works as double when alternated with dulce-de-leche).
But trust me, doubling is a good idea, because it's just that good!
We used the above recipe rather liberally, just to get the idea of what it's all about. I actually prefer the milk-cream version I remember from my childhood, so we made our own! We used about half a litre of milk, about two cups of sugar, a packet of vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract) and about 1/4 cup flour. We whisked it all together and cooked it on medium low heat for a good 20-25 minutes until well thickened - resembling a very thick pudding. You must stir constantly though, so it doesn't burn. Once off the heat, we added a 1/4 cup butter (salted is fine), 2 cups of ground almond meal (without the skin), but you can add any nut you love; walnuts are traditional. Once cooled, we spread a 1/8 inch layer between the oblatne wafers, and actually alternated with store-bought dulce-de-leche, to stretch this recipe so it could make two full wafer cakes.
Ginger Snap Cookies
We loooove lebkuchen. As you might have read in my previous posts, it's a never-ending quest to find the perfect recipe. But since it's a finicky one and this year we were not well equipped for that, we decided to take an old favorite, the above gingersnap recipe, and give it a twist! We substituted margarine for shortening, and in order to make it as lebkuchen-y as possible, in place of the ginger,we used this homemade lebkuchen spice, and also added about a 1/8 cup candied citrus zest + 1/8 cup condensed milk (pureed together) to the batter, for that true citrusy lebkuchen flavor! Hubby has almost eaten the whole batch already, so we're making another to actually gift away!
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I hope this post inspires you to get in the baking spirit, or to make your own tags this Holiday season! If you do either of those things, share it with us!
Rum Balls
My grandma used to make these all the time! They're super easy too. We used imitation rum so they're kid friendly, and we also made two versions. Blondie version without cocoa, and extra coconut in the mix, and the linked cocoa version. Note: this recipe calls for 395 g of condensed milk, but this seemed like way too much. I used about a 1/8 cup, and added more if the mixture felt dry. It should *just* come together.
Oblatne
This is my absolute favorite desert from back home. I used to love it as a kiddo, but I've never actually made it myself. Since it is another no-bake recipe, I thought it would be perfect for our low-key cookies this year. You do need a specialty product, a type of wafer crust, but you should be able to find them in your international foods isle, European shoppe, or on Amazon. One pack is enough, but I'd tell you to buy two and either double the filling recipe provided above, or just make mine (which works as double when alternated with dulce-de-leche).
But trust me, doubling is a good idea, because it's just that good!
We used the above recipe rather liberally, just to get the idea of what it's all about. I actually prefer the milk-cream version I remember from my childhood, so we made our own! We used about half a litre of milk, about two cups of sugar, a packet of vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract) and about 1/4 cup flour. We whisked it all together and cooked it on medium low heat for a good 20-25 minutes until well thickened - resembling a very thick pudding. You must stir constantly though, so it doesn't burn. Once off the heat, we added a 1/4 cup butter (salted is fine), 2 cups of ground almond meal (without the skin), but you can add any nut you love; walnuts are traditional. Once cooled, we spread a 1/8 inch layer between the oblatne wafers, and actually alternated with store-bought dulce-de-leche, to stretch this recipe so it could make two full wafer cakes.
Ginger Snap Cookies
We loooove lebkuchen. As you might have read in my previous posts, it's a never-ending quest to find the perfect recipe. But since it's a finicky one and this year we were not well equipped for that, we decided to take an old favorite, the above gingersnap recipe, and give it a twist! We substituted margarine for shortening, and in order to make it as lebkuchen-y as possible, in place of the ginger,we used this homemade lebkuchen spice, and also added about a 1/8 cup candied citrus zest + 1/8 cup condensed milk (pureed together) to the batter, for that true citrusy lebkuchen flavor! Hubby has almost eaten the whole batch already, so we're making another to actually gift away!
____________________________________________________________________
I hope this post inspires you to get in the baking spirit, or to make your own tags this Holiday season! If you do either of those things, share it with us!
If you're not sure what #letsmakesomethinglovely is, check out the intro post here.
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Happy Crafting!
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