vii #9: 7 homemade Christmas gift ideas
Welcome back to vii, a weekly newsletter featuring an exploration into seven somethings. Today marks exactly one month until Christmas, so I’m sharing my favourite homemade edible gift ideas.
Whether you’re on a budget or a self-confessed feeder, something homemade can be often be the perfect gift to show you care. Homemade doesn’t need to mean edible (but for me is often synonymous) and air-dried clay or something sewn work just as well for gifting at this time of year.
Handmade Christmas presents are a great way to show people you care but they do take time and effort so it’s important to not bite off more than you can chew. You’ll find that planning is key to successfully pulling this off and there are a few things to contemplate in advance, starting with how many people do you want to give to? It’s also worth considering whether you are seeing friends and family to deliver gifts in person. The answer here impacts hugely on the shelf-life required of your items and how you might choose to package them. Whilst a homemade cranberry jam, like any preserve, will keep plenty long enough, glass jars are heavier and will add to the weight if you’re posting a parcel and any fragile items also need to be wrapped especially carefully. Could there be anything worse in this scenario than a thoughtful and well-intentioned gift becoming a dangerous mess on receipt?
Once you know who and how, an idea of what and how much will start to form. If opting for a selection, it’s worth giving thought to the combination of treats to ensure variety of texture and flavour if possible.
From baked goods to sauces and jams, I have 6 different types of edible gift to inspire you, with suggestions of some of my favourites and, vitally, advice about wrapping your presents as the 7th and final element to this newsletter. Let’s get started…
THE SWEET TREAT
Now is not the time to be whipping up a Victoria sandwich with freshly whipped cream. But other than that, the options here are almost limitless, even bearing in mind restrictions connected with shelf life.
Cookies and biscuits offer sufficient variety that you could create a selection box of different ones to gift. From chocolate chunk cookies to biscotti, florentines to crinkle cookies, linzer cookies to lebkuchen, the hardest part will be deciding what to make. Other strong contenders are traybakes such as brownies and flapjacks, as well as fridge set equivalents like rice crispie cakes and tiffin. Fudge and chocolate truffles are always crowd pleasers, and homemade marshmallows impress without fail. Amongst these, there are plenty of recipes available even if you have dietary requirements to tailor your bakes for.
Some of my favourite recipes and recipe developers are linked here:
Nicola Lamb’s Christmas biscuit bonanzas 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024
Sophie Bamford’s Advent calendar of recipes
Buttermilk by Sam’s marshmallows (have a look at Sam’s variations on the website for other flavour combinations)
THE DIY
A couple of years ago, deciding that I didn’t have enough time to bake all of the treats I wanted to, I opted to gift jars of layered ingredients with simple cookie baking instructions and a small pinch pot of flakey salt. They could be swiftly combined by the recipients at a time that suited them to have fresh from the oven cookies. What was especially lovely about this gift option that I hadn’t accounted for was the numerous photos I received from friends and family who had proudly turned their jars of ingredients into treat-laden trays.
The following is a variation on the Ovenly secretly vegan cookie recipe above which comfortably fills a 500ml jar. You can pad the top of the jar with cotton wool to prevent the layers shifting in transit. Don’t forget to print the instructions and fold these inside the lid.
To accompany, you’ll want to include a little pinch pot of flakey salt for an extra special touch. Salt brands such as Halen Môn and Maldon sell these or you can make your own…
THE PANTRY STAPLE
A staple in my cupboard and one that always goes down a storm as a gift is homemade granola. As something that’s easily customisable, you can play with your favourite base recipe to create your own signature Christmas variation. Add spices, mix up the nuts and seeds, and most importantly, have fun with it! Other great options for gifting could be spiced candied nuts or trail mix. The recipe for my granola is in this post:
THE PRESERVE
Preserves are the perfect way to get through a glut of fruit or vegetables and lock in flavour of the season. And for the organised amongst us, they’re a great way to get ahead and prepare something delicious in advance. Whether it’s marmalade, jam or chutney, there’s something for everyone or every occasion. Below we’ve got two jams - one fruity and one spicy - as well as the epitome of Christmas for Brits, mincemeat.
THE CONDIMENT
Now not everything needs to be sweet, and that’s probably the best way to satisfy some people. You can have a lot of fun by creating your own condiments to share with others and they’re fairly simple to make a sizeable batch of. Forget the readily available mass produced Tommy K and try your hand at a mushroom ketchup, burnt apple ketchup or walnut ketchup as something different. I will likely not be making ketchup as I live with an absolute fiend for hot sauce and so something fiery will be being made at scale in my kitchen instead…
THE INFUSION
For the keen bakers in your life, gifting them homemade vanilla extract is something they will be extraordinarily grateful for. It’s simple and only gets better with time. Other ingredients you could infuse are olive oil (think chilli, garlic, hard herbs) or hard spirits like vodka or gin (cranberry vodka would be a great festive option). The number one ingredient in any infusion is time - they’re always better the longer you can leave them for.
THE PACKAGING
Last, but by no means least, is the crucial role of packaging. Obviously it depends on what you’ve chosen to make but my advice is as follows:
Long before plastic-wrapped sleeves of biscuits was the classic biscuit tin, a Christmas staple and one that would later house sewing kits, odds and ends, whatever it needed to. Consider the tin to be just as much a part of the gift as what’s inside. Ikea, Sostrene Grene and Flying Tiger have affordable options or you can recycle something you already have. I love this sectioned biscuit tin from Nova bakehouse in years gone by.
Søstrene Grene square biscuit tin
Søstrene Grene round biscuit tin
For baked goods and sweet treats, freezer paper is a great material to wrap them in. It’s coated on one-side which is perfect to trap any moistness or potential greasiness in a way that parchment paper wouldn’t. Beeswax wraps are another option, as is packing your treats into ziplock bags or cellophane packets, with biodegradable options also available.
The likes of granola or ingredient jars look great in a sleek jar wrapped with ribbon. These plastic ones (or these) are a great option your recipient can reuse once empty. I’ve found 500ml to be the perfect size.
Glass jars are recommended for preserves as you’ll want to ensure the vessel is sterile before you fill it. An oven-safe material like glass allows you to do this in bulk. You’ll likely already have jars at home you can repurpose but these would be great options if you needed to buy some.
Condiments and infusions are best bottled, with a slightly larger bottle (with a swing-top stopper) being better suited to infusions and smaller ones for sauces.
Ikea KORKEN 0.5l bottle with stopper
Ikea KORKEN 1l bottle with stopper
If you’re sending your carefully crafted goodies to friends further afield, reuse old cardboard boxes if you can or use easy to assemble flat-packed ones. There are multiple options to pad the contents of your box, as you’ll have noticed when receiving parcels. But I genuinely think nothing is as fun to use as popcorn, and fun is what you’re aiming for, right? It’s quick and easy to pop as much as is needed in a microwave, plus it’s cheap. Just don’t go adding any butter or flavourings if you’re using it as padding!
Final piece of advice from me before wrapping this (with ribbon) up is to not forget to label your treats, including allergens. Remember to have fun and enjoy a chef’s perk or two. I hope this is leaving you feeling inspired, or at least in the mood for some festive treats!
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These are great ideas. I have a friend that’s made chicken liver parfait every year for people. We’ve come to rely on it.
Some really exciting treats and amazing ideas. Loved this