Make a Quick and Easy Holiday Cookie Gift Basket

It's not Christmas without cookies. Kids love them, a lot of people like to bake them and Santa loves to eat them. It's a great way to spend some time with your family on a cold winter day as you're preparing for the holidays. It's also a great gift idea for those people on our lists that you'd like to give a little something to without breaking the bank or putting a whole lot of effort into. By the way, it's also a gift that you can benefit from too-no one said you have to give ALL the cookies away!

Each holiday I like to make a variety of cookies and make up little gift baskets or boxes for some of the people in my life. You can give them to teachers, daycare providers, secretaries or bosses, hair dressers, a hostess at a holiday party and anyone else that you can think of. It's a simple, thoughtful and very tasty way to say thank you this holiday season.

The first thing you need to do is get containers. Wicker baskets, decorative Chinese take-out boxes, cellophane bags, decorated brown paper bags, or any of those Glad Tupperware type containers are all great and relatively inexpensive choices. Depending on who you are giving this gift to, you may want to change the packaging. Getting plain brown paper bags and letting your kids decorate them is a great idea for a gift for his teacher or babysitter. A beautiful wicker basket lined with plastic wrap and beautiful holiday napkins or tissue paper and then encased in cellophane wrap with ribbons, can make a great gift for a boss or hostess of the holiday party you are attending. Plastic Tupperware containers (which you can find at any grocery store in the plastic bag aisle) are a quick and easy way to package your wares for family events and if you want to wrap them in wrapping paper with a nice bow another great gift for a teacher or hair dresser. An arts and crafts store has all kinds of great bags, boxes and packaging ideas for even the most uncreative holiday gift maker.

The next step, and most important, is to bake the cookies. You can make any cookies that you like. Make them from scratch or buy the pre-made cookie dough and go to town with them but there are a few important things you should remember when choosing which cookies to put in your cookie basket. You're giving the gift of food, so you obviously want people to eat them and enjoy them. Try to keep that in mind when you're baking. Not everyone may be into those no fat, no sugar carob chip cookies (although some of them will, so you can throw a few of those in if you want!) so you want to give the people what they'll like. I always like to go with 3 "comfort cookies"-you know, the kinds of cookies that we all know and love-and then 2 "wow 'em cookies"-something new, different and a little crazier than your typical comfort cookies. Now granted, I may make a few alterations on those "comfort cookies" but they'll still be something that everyone can easily recognize and enjoy without an explanation. Some great "comfort cookies" that should find their way to your basket: chocolate chip (you can find a great an easy recipe on the back of the chip package or use one of your own). Oatmeal raisin (quick and easy recipes all over), sugar cookies (make your own or use the pre made kinds, roll them out and cut them into shapes to give them more of a homemade feel) and gingerbread cookies (you don't have to shape them like the men if you don't want to! ). These are just a few examples. Pick 2 or 3 of these, or make a few variations of them, such as peanut butter chocolate chips cookies, or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or get frosting and ice the sugar cookies. It's up to you, adding a little kick to the comfort cookies adds a little kick to your basket and gives it a little more variety without a whole lot of effort.

Wow 'Em cookies are any cookie that's a little out of the ordinary and not as common as our comfort cookies. Sometimes they have crazy names, sometimes they take longer or require more effort, and sometimes they just have some random ingredients that people aren't used to using. In any case, be prepared to explain your Wow 'Em cookies and in some cases, to share the recipe! Some great Wow 'Em cookies are the Saltine Cookie (easy recipe at end of article that is sure to WOW your recipient!), Lemon Squares (a family favorite or ours), Chocolate chip candy cookie bars, Snicker doodles (Cinnamon-sugar cookie) or Meringue cookies. You have millions of options and tons of great websites to get ideas from. Don't just take my word for it! Check out a few of the websites I've used at the end of this article or ask some of your family members! I've always found that my mom and aunts have some of the best recipes around.

So now, you've baked your cookies and you have your tins of your varieties waiting for us. Now it's time to assemble. The number of each cookie will depend on how big your package is but try to put a decent mix of each variety into your package. Or look at your supply, if you and your family LOVE the Saltine cookie, only use a small amount of those in the container and load up on something that maybe you don't like as much ( remember, this is the gift that benefits you too!) Once you've loaded your cookies feel free to throw in some Hershey Kisses, or other wrapped candy pieces, to add some holiday spirit and color to your package. Sometimes I throw in some home-made chocolate covered pretzels (or you can just buy some) or some raisins or nuts to make it a little more interesting. It's really up to you. If you're making a large basket for someone, you could also put a container of Hot Cocoa mix or coffee, with a coffee mug or two to make it even more special. Of course all of this is up to you. Feel free to mix and match any of these ideas No matter what, you're recipient is still going to get a beautiful and yummy gift this year! Happy baking and happy holidays!!!

Quinn's Quick and Easy Saltine Cookies (named for my best friend who passed on the recipe)

1 and ½ packages of Saltine Crackers

1 cup brown sugar

2 sticks of butter

Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

Line a cookie sheet with foil.

Line up saltine crackers, in rows, on sheet. Any left over crackers are crumbled up and sprinkled over the sheet and into corners.

Melt butter and brown sugar in microwave 1 minute and stir together. Time may need to change depending on your microwave.

Once mixture is melted and mixed, pour over crackers. Make sure to spread as evenly as you can.

Place sheet in oven for 15 mins.

Remove sheet and drop chocolate chips all over crackers. Allow them to melt (you can place them back into the over for a minute or 2 if you'd like)

Carefully spread the chocolate chips out so that they cover the crackers.

Then place entire sheet in fridge and let cool for at least 1 hour, if not more.

Once the chocolate has hardened, use a large knife and cut into chunks. Be careful with the foil! You may have to peel some parts off due to the sticking!

Enjoy!!

I like to make a few variations with my toppings. You can use any of the new flavored chips such as the Mint and Chocolate swirled chips, Raspberry Chocolate swirled chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips..etc. Experiment and make the recipe your own!