If you’re looking for thoughtful, inexpensive and delicious gifts – look no further! Edible gifts win (hands down) over ugly sweaters or soaps that end up in the back of your closet. They also make great host(ess) gifts for your next party you’re attending.

Here are some delicious recipes you should try!

Peppermint Bark: All you do is melt chocolate, then put it back together with candy and peppermint flavoring. It makes the perfect edible gift!

More recipes after the jump!

Cake pops: You can use any cake mix and use green/red colored chocolate for a very festive treat! If you bring these to a party, I guarantee they will be a hit!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies: These are a dream for every peanut butter lover and freeze really well, so you can make a big batch in advance and bake them when you need it!

Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies: Shortbread + salted caramel = heavenly combination!  This is perfect for when you have a sweet/salty craving!

Homemade Truffles: Forget Godiva! You can make your own truffles, wrap them in a pretty tin, and gift them as well!

Ginger Spice Cookies: Candied ginger and cloves make a great combination!

Be sure to let me know how they turn out!

I received an ice cream maker from a friend and was really excited to use it. Then life happened and I found myself staring at the ice cream maker tucked away in my room. I finally had a chance to use it after summer was officially over, but ice cream is totally acceptable to make all year around, don’t you think?

Next time, I will make green tea ice cream (with less sugar), then wrap them in mochi to give as a gift to my friend who gave me his ice cream maker. I’ll get to it, eventually. Stay tuned!

Recipe: Matcha Ice Cream
Adapted from About

Makes 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of matcha green tea powder
3 tablespoons of  hot water
3/4 cup of whole milk
2 egg yolks
2.5 tablespoons of sugar (has been adjusted)
3/4 cup of heavy cream

Procedure:

1. Mix hot water and green tea powder together in a bowl and set aside.

2. Lightly whisk egg yolks in a pan. Add sugar in the pan and mix well. Gradually add milk in the pan and mix well. Put the pan on low heat and heat the mixture, stirring constantly. When the mixture is thickened, remove the pan from the heat.

3. Soak the bottom of the pan in ice water and cool the mixture. Add green tea in the egg mixture and mix well, cooling in ice water. Add heavy cream in the mixture and stir gently.

4. Pour the mixture in an ice cream maker and freeze, following instructions of the ice cream maker. (Be patient!) Once ready, place into a bowl with a lid and freeze. Be sure to eat within 7 days.

I realized that being stuck indoors is very bad for me for two reasons – 1. I get stir crazy, 2. I want to eat everything in sight. Since we couldn’t go outside, my sister and I made peanut butter and jelly cookies, using a recipe from The Kitchn. This recipe requires overnight freezer action, followed by some heat from the oven. I knew it would be a risk since we were prepared for a possible blackout, but we had a lot of time on our hands. You can only watch so much TV!

The best thing about this recipe? You can make a big batch to keep in the fridge (up to 3 months), then slice and bake whenever you’re in the mood for a treat!

Recipe: Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies
Inspired by Martha Stewart’s Striped Icebox Cookies
From The Kitchn

Makes about 30 cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white granulated sugar (I used 1/2)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2)
3/4 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky as you prefer
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fruit jam, a reduced-sugar variety works best (I used strawberry)

Procedure:

1. By hand or in a mixer on medium-speed, mix the two sugars together. Work in the peanut butter and butter until they form a smooth batter. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour all at once and mix just until you see no more dry flour.

2. Turn out the cookie dough on a piece of wax paper and shape it into a rectangle. Cover with another piece of wax paper and roll out the cookie dough to form a 1/4″ thick rectangle. It’s ok if the edges are slightly rounded, but try to keep that rectangle shape as best you can.

3. Peel off the top sheet of wax paper. Using a pizza cutter or a bench scraper, cut the dough into four long strips down the length of the rectangle. Cover again with wax paper, transfer the dough to a cookie sheet, and freeze for 30 minutes.

4. Remove the dough from the freezer and spread 1/3 cup of the jelly on one of the strips of dough. Place a second strip on top with the jelly sandwiched between. Continue layering until you’ve formed a long rectangle with four layers of peanut butter cookie dough and three layers of jelly. Trim the edges. Wrap this first in wax paper and then in plastic. Freeze for at least two hours or preferably overnight. (Or for as long as three months.)

5. When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375°F.

6. Take the cookie dough out of the freezer and unwrap it on a cutting board. Turn the block on its side so the layers are perpendicular to the cutting surface. This helps keep the layers separate instead of compacting them. Use a serrated knife to slice cookies 1/4″-1/2″ thick.

7. It helps to transfer the cookies from the cutting board to the cookie sheet with a thin spatula, a bench scraper, or even the flat edge of your knife. If the layers slide apart a little, just nudge them back into shape on the cookie sheet. Arrange them on a cookie sheet two inches apart. Wrap the remaining dough back up and return it to the freezer.

8. Bake 15-18 minutes until the edges of the cookies just start to turn brown (if you only froze your cookies for a few hours, check them after 12 minutes). Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack with a spatula.

9. Cookies are best freshly baked, but can be stored in an airtight container for several days. The cookie dough will keep frozen for up to three months.

Since I promised my friend that I would make her red velvet cake pops, surprised her with them at her bridal shower. Hope you liked them, Susan!

As I’ve mentioned before, I make an exception to my “don’t eat lazy” rule and use boxed cake for cake pops. I added more chocolate, cocoa, an extra hint of acid and a small drop of red food coloring to enhance the flavors and color. But if you’re feeling extra inspired, feel free to use my red velvet cake recipe to bake the actual cake!

My dad always says that that only way to discover a shortcut is to do the same thing repeatedly. I found this to be true with cake pops as well. I will include my tips in the recipe below. This recipe calls for 16 cake pops, while my older recipe calls for 45-50 cake pops.

Recipe: Red Velvet Cake Pops
Makes 15-17 cake pops

All ingredients are available at a cake specialty shop, or at Michael’s.

Ingredients:

1/2 box of red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box)
1/3 can of cream cheese frosting
1/3 package of dark chocolate bark aka confectionery coating chocolate
1/3 package of milk chocolate bark (pink) aka confectionery coating chocolate
17 Lollipop sticks
17 candy wrappers
17 ribbons for tying
Small sprinkles
Dried coconut flakes
Scissors
Wax paper or Silpat Mat
A Styrofoam board

Optional: I added 1/2 bag of melted dark chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon of cocoa, 1 drop of red food coloring and 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the cake batter for enhanced red velvet flavor.

Procedure:

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with cream cheese frosting. It may be easier to use a stand mixer, if available. (I used a little bit less frosting to avoid super duper sweetness.) The cake consistency should look like brownies.

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. Chill for about 30 minutes in the fridge, uncovered.

4. Melt about 5-6 pieces of chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, over 70% power. Mix until smooth. If necessary, pop in the microwave again for 10 seconds until there are no lumps. It is possible for the chocolate to burn and turn dark brown, so make sure you microwave over medium heat.

5. Take cookie balls out of the fridge. Add a small amount of chocolate to the end of the lollipop stick.

6. Insert lollipop stick about halfway in. Pop the new cookie sheet, with the sticks attached, back in the fridge for at least another 20 minutes (Overnight is best, if you have the time). This will help firm up the cake and make it 10 times easier for you to coat your chocolate.

7. Reheat your chocolate, as it would have hardened by now. Use a spoon to coat the entire ball in chocolate, rotating the lollipop stick and tapping off the extra. Immediately, over a separate bowl, add sprinkles or coconut, before it dries. You seriously have a 30 second window before this happens, so be quick!

8. Cover a piece of Styrofoam with plastic wrap and let them cake pops dry on it. Once it’s completely dry, wrap with lollipop cover and tie ribbon to the ends. If you have any leftover, store at room temperature. (During the summer – refrigerate!)

I didn’t have the patience to wait for the chocolate to harden, so I took a bite. Oops.

Extra Tips:

- If your unused chocolate is melted, simply add 2 teaspoons of vegetable shortening or 2 teaspoon of virgin coconut oil before microwaving. Be patient – it will take a little bit longer to set!

- Refrigerating the cake balls uncovered (with the sticks already inserted) produced the best results. The cake’s firmness made it 10 times easier to work with when coating with chocolate at the end.

After a rigorous internet search, I decided to give it a try, since they didn’t seem too difficult. As many of you know, Bakerella makes all sorts of creative cake pops, from Hello Kitty shaped ones to miniature wedding cake pops! While cake pops are not anything new, she is largely responsible for making them popular.

It’s a good thing, because when you roll cake into balls and place it on a lollipop stick, it goes from good to absolutely amazing!

I decided to make chocolate and vanilla cake pops for my friend Joe’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Joe!). A few days before, my sister and I baked a test batch so I shared with some coworkers. The response I got was overwhelming. Some people said they were too pretty to eat (but ate them after I walked away – can’t blame ‘em ); while others commented on how pleasantly surprised they were at the moistness of the cake.

Recipe: Cake Pops – Cake on a Stick
Adapted from Bakerella

Makes 45-50 cake pops

Note: Chocolate bark is also known as confectionery coating that melt and dry quickly, similar to the chocolate shell you would see in a Godiva chocolate box. Do NOT melt regular chocolate, as it will not have the same shiny coating or taste.

Chocolate bark, lollipop sticks, wrappers, sprinkles, coconut flakes, styrofoam board were all purchased at a cake supply store in NYC. However, they are also available Michael’s.

Ingredients:

1 box of devil’s food cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can (or less) of cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package of milk chocolate bark (in yellow and blue) aka confectionery coating chocolate
1 package of dark chocolate bark aka confectionery coating chocolate
50 lollipop sticks
50 candy Wrappers
50 ribbons for tying
1 container of small sprinkles
1 packet of dried coconut flakes
Scissors
Wax paper or Silpat Mat
A styrofoam board

Procedure:

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with cream cheese frosting. It may be easier to use a stand mixer, if available. (I used a little bit less frosting to avoid super duper sweetness.) The cake consistency should look like brownies.

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. Chill for about 30 minutes in the fridge, uncovered.

4. Melt about 5-6 pieces of chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, over 70% power. Mix until smooth. If necessary, pop in the microwave again for 10 seconds until there are no lumps. It is possible for the chocolate to burn and turn dark brown, so make sure you microwave over medium heat. (These chocolates are not cheap!)

5. Take cookie balls out of the fridge. Add a small amount of chocolate to the end of the lollipop stick.

6. Insert lollipop stick about halfway in. Pop the new cookie sheet, with the sticks attached, back in the fridge for another 20 minutes. This will help firm up the cake and make it 10 times easier for you to coat your chocolate.

7. Reheat your chocolate, as it would have hardened by now. Use a spoon to coat the entire ball in chocolate, rotating the lollipop stick and tapping off the extra. Immediately, over a separate bowl, add sprinkles or coconut, before it dries. You seriously have a 30 second window before this happens, so be quick!

8. Cover a piece of Styrofoam with plastic wrap and let them cake pops dry on it. Once it’s completely dry, wrap with lollipop cover and tie ribbon to the ends. If you have any leftover, store at room temperature.

When the day of the party finally rolled around, I was running around like a mad woman, trying to coat, decorate, wrap, and tie ribbons on about 30 cake pops in 30 minutes. Dan and I actually missed the “surprise!” entrance cuz Dan so wisely said they shouldn’t “waste the good surprise on us.” So we waited to enter the party after making sure Joe beat us there. Many many thanks to seester and Dan for helping me make these under such time constraints!

In the past week, I think we made close to 80 cake pops. I finally ate one today for the very first time, and I must say, they were quite yummy! Though I do have some chocolate and cake left, I don’t think I’ll be making these for a while. Unless someone wants to place an order, that is. =)

French macarons (not to be confused with Italian coconut macaroons) are delicate cookies made of whipped egg whites and almond flour. My first batch was green tea with a dark chocolate ganache filling; many thanks to UmamiMart for the inspiration!

Have you ever wondered why macarons are so expensive? They are small and cost at least $2.50 for each one! After this experience, I’ve figured out why.

[NYC folks: Macaron Day 2011 is this weekend! Simply stop by any of the participating stores and mention macaron day to get your free macaron!]

Unlike other desserts, macarons are not easy to make, as each step in the process needs to be just right (like Goldilocks). First, you need the precise amount of ingredients. Second, the egg whites have to be whipped perfectly. Third, your oven heat needs to be at the right setting!

All the recipes I read recommended using a kitchen scale, which I did not have. I took a huge leap of faith and decided that for my first try, I was going to use a recipe that lists the measurements in volume, not weight. I’ll be showing you photos with my notes but you can see the entire recipe from Martha Stewart on her site.

I began with the most important step – I let my egg whites rest on my kitchen counter for a few days. It might sound gross but don’t worry, they won’t rot. My initial instinct was to cover it, but that would not work, as the air is needed to make the whites become more stiff. So I covered the bowl loosely with a small colander.

It’s hard to tell in the picture but these egg whites thickened, resembling gelatin. Since this was my first time, I halved these egg whites to make 2 separate batches to insure that I got a second chance, should anything go wrong.

Almond flour, which are blanched almonds processed through a blender, had the skin in it, so I  sifted carefully, and then saved them to eat on top of yogurt.

During the first round, I carefully whipped the egg whites on low speed, stopping every 3 minutes to make sure I didn’t over whip them. This picture is from when the meringue is at soft peaks. I whipped them a little bit longer to get stiff peaks.

During my second try, my sister told me that I needed to get more air into the egg whites, so I increased the speed to medium, and repeated the process. I’m SO glad she told me this, because that’s what made my second trial a success! I’ll explain why in a little bit.

First trial batter next to the second trial batter. I used less green tea powder in the second trial. As you can see, the second batter is much more watery and falls off the spatula.

After piping the batter, I let them sit out for 30 minutes, giving them enough time to form a shiny coating on the outside.

Fresh out of the oven, I present to you, batch number 1 – they are flat, with weird looking air bubbles…

…while the second batch has awesome little layer of crumbly things we call “feet”!!! (Happy dance.)

I was super duper excited about getting this right, only because it’s not an easy task. Who would have thought that whipping the egg whites on a slightly faster speed made all the difference in the world? If you look carefully, you will see that the cookies are slightly overcooked. But you know what? I’ll take it!

I’m going to try making them again soon! Stay tuned for part 2 and possibly, part 3, depending on how crazy I feel.

The article referenced Sandra Lee’s Sensuous chocolate truffles recipe. She took store bought frosting, added confectioners sugar, dusted it with some cocoa powder, then called it truffles. That does not sound good, does it? They also looked hideous. But then it got me thinking. How do you make truffles?

After some research, I saw this recipe in Food & Wine Magazine. Making truffles is not difficult, though a little bit time consuming. Basically, I made chocolate ganache, added different fillings into the chocolate, then rolled them in walnuts, cocoa, crushed Oreos(thanks for your help, sister!), and sprinkles. I took these to a Christmas party and boy am I glad I only saved 1 of each. Otherwise, I would have eaten them ALL!

Recipe: Do It Yourself Chocolate Truffles
Makes 42-45 1″ round pieces

Ganache Ingredients:

1 12 oz. bag of Ghiradelli’s 60% cacao dark chocolate
1 12 oz. bag of Ghiradelli’s semi-sweet chocolate
1 pint of heavy cream
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter (3/4 of a stick)
Pinch of salt

Flavor options:

2 tablespoons of dark rum
2 tablespoons of salted caramel
3 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Coating options:

2/3 cup of cocoa powder
8 pieces of Oreos, crushed
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of sprinkles

Procedure:

1. In a saucepan, bring heavy cream to a simmer.

2. In a large bowl, combine chocolates, butter and a pinch of salt.

3. Pour the hot cream on top. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth.

4. Divide ganache into 3 bowls, more or less, depending on how many flavors you want.

5. Mix in desired flavoring into each bowl(I used rum, vanilla and salted caramel). The consistency of the chocolate will change but as long as you stir it well enough, it’ll come out just fine. Refrigerate flavored ganache for at least 3 hours.

6. After 3 hours, remove from fridge and roll into balls, using a melon baller or your hands. Coat with desired toppings. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Thanks for rolling the chocolate so I could take pictures, Dan!)

I made little labels so people could pick whatever they wanted. I also wanted to make sure parents knew that there was rum in the chocolate truffles.You can also use dried coconut flakes, or even cover them in melted chocolate, like the ones you purchase at the store.

These were super fun to make, not to mention scrumptious. Besides, calories don’t count during this time of year. Enjoy!

A while back, my friend J brought me some salted caramel from Laudre in Paris, so I was excited to use it in this recipe! I actually baked these for J&J when I went to visit them in Maryland. Thanks for a lovely time, parents-to-be!

I was concerned that the caramel would make it really super duper sweet, but thankfully, it was not the case. I ate one that was not filled (crazy me), which was also very yummy. If you don’t have any salted caramel, don’t worry – you can make your own!

Recipe: Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Yields 36 cookies (I made them very small)
From A Cozy Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (I added more, like 1 ½ teaspoons)
1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Procedure:

1. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla.

2. Separately, sift together the flour and salt.

3. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together.

4. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat square. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

5. After 30 minutes, take out the fridge and cut into 1 1/4-inch squares.

6. Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. If you have a scale they should each weigh 1 ounce.

7. Heat oven to 350 F. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Hold the cookie steady with one hand and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. (For some reason, my thumbprints were HUGE after baking. Just remember that the indent might be bigger once baked.)

8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until they’re just a little golden brown on the sides. Let them cool.

9. Make or heat up some caramel over the stove, making sure it doesn’t burn. Spoon a teaspoon of warm caramel into the indentations of your cookies and top with sea salt.

You can make your own caramel by following this recipe. =)

Note: Don’t crowd your cookie sheet unless you want the cookies to stick together like mine did (see above photo). After I was done adding caramel and sea salt to the cookies, I realized that I could make Verona replicas with some strawberry jam! Brilliant! But I didn’t have any jam, so I will have to save it for next time.

Edit: I made these cookies again and instead of salting the cookies in the end, I added a few sprinkles of salt to the caramel and mixed it in. It created a hint of salty right after the sweet – perfect!

[Happy birthday to my dad, my cousin, yours truly and a few friends who are born two days before Christmas, and to anyone out there gets one combined gift every year. I feel your pain. Let us commiserate with peppermint bark. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable break with loved ones! Merry Christmas! ]

Peppermint bark is one of my favorite holiday treats! It only contains only four ingredients (dark chocolate, white chocolate, peppermint extract, candy canes) yet tastes amazing!

Use high-quality dark chocolate, and you won’t be disappointed! Also, be careful while tempering the chocolate. I like to slowly melt it instead of shocking the chocolate into submission, especially since burning good chocolate would be a travesty.

The challenge here was to spread out the chocolate as evenly as possible. One of the things that I would do differently next time is to crush up the candy canes more carefully, and mix them into the white chocolate so that they don’t fall off.

Recipe: Peppermint bark
Makes one sheet (9 x 13 inch baking pan)

Ingredients:

1 12 ounce bag of Nestle white chocolate baking chips
1 11 ounce bag of Ghirardelli Bittersweet 60% Cacao Baking Chips
5 crushed up candy canes
2 teaspoons of mint extract
Parchment paper
Baking sheet

Procedure:

1. In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Then lower heat to maintain a bubbling, low simmer. Place a bowl large enough to sit over the pot and slowly melt dark chocolate, until smooth.

2. Remove from heat and add peppermint extract.

3. Cool for about 5 minutes.

4. In a baking pan, line with parchment paper. Slowly pour dark chocolate and smooth it out with offset spatula.

5. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

6. Crush candy canes by placing them in a bag, then going over it with a rolling pin. Or use a hammer to crush them into small bits. I think using a hammer is a much better method, as I had varying sizes of candy canes that were difficult to work with!

7. Melt the white chocolate chips using the same instructions from step 1. Once the chocolate has been cooled for 5 minutes, stir in crushed candy canes and pour slowly onto firm the dark chocolate.

8. Place baking sheet in the fridge and let it firm up in the refrigerator for another 3 hours.

9. Once the chocolate has set, break up chocolate sheet into pieces by using parchment paper to hold it in place.

Speaking of peppermint, here is a bonus photo of a wonderful treat I had the other day! My friend C brought them back from Taiwan (Hi W!) and they were scrumptious. We were just confused about the British Flag. Any idea why that’s there?

I was trying to recall how I came to make brownies. But truth is, do you ever really need a reason to enjoy some brownies from scratch? Butter and chocolate, baked with some flour – what’s not to like?

The first time I made it, I thought it came out a bit too crispy. I adjusted my oven rack and cooked it for about 50 minutes exactly. The second batch resulted in a crispy, gooey, caramel-like consistency, which I love. I thoroughly enjoyed every single crumb!

Since I didn’t have a brownie pan, I decided to bake them in cupcake form. This comes from Martha Stewart. And of course, I used my favorite dark chocolate from Ghirardelli (get in my belly).

Recipe: Dark chocolate brownies
From Martha Stewart

Makes 1 dozen cupcake-sized brownies

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 1/4 cups of white sugar (I used 2/3 cup)
1 cup of all-purpose flour
8 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate
3 large eggs (at room temperature)
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Procedure:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush cupcake pan with butter.

2. In a small bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove bowl from pan.

4. Add sugar to chocolate mix to combine. Add eggs and flour mixture. Mix just until moistened by hand.

5. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top.

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes.

7. Cool in pan for 30 minutes.

8. Lift brownies out of pan, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Eat deliciously.