When Christmas time rolls around, people everywhere start trading cookies and candies. Everyone has a favorite flavor whether it is chocolate, peppermint, fruity, eggnog, or gingerbread.
Maybe this is your first year participating or maybe you are looking for something new to try. Either way this list of 17 Best Christmas Candy Recipes includes candies for everyone.
Take a moment and savor these delicious and surprisingly simple recipes for 17 great Christmas Candy Ideas. If this is your first year, try starting with a small selection of 3 or so.
Contents
17 Best Christmas Candy Recipes
These 17 Christmas Candy Recipes are some of the best available. Surprise your friends and family with these homemade treats for Christmas.
1. Christmas Chocolate Bark
Chocolate Bark in all its forms is a classic Christmas candy. It is simple to make and easy to customize. You can mix and match the fruit, nut, and candy additions to make your own special bark.
First timers can try one of these basic recipes. If you are feeling adventurous, play around with the ingredients to get the flavors you prefer.
2. Peppermint Chocolate Bark or Candy Cane Bark
Peppermint Bark and Candy Cane Bark are Christmas favorites. Almost everyone loves peppermint and candy canes around the Christmas Holiday.
Red and White Candy Canes are traditional, but do not be afraid to use other colorful and minty candy canes and peppermint candies. Crushing the candies is one of the most fun parts of this candy making process.
3. Chocolate Toffee or English Toffee
Toffee is another popular Christmas Candy. It takes some practice, so do not be worried if your first efforts don’t turn out quite right. They will still taste great.
Add some extra Christmas flair by adding colorful red, green, and white sprinkles. Other great additions are Christmas Tree and Star shaped sprinkles.
4. Peppermint Fudge or Candy Cane Fudge
Peppermint Fudge and Candy Cane Fudge are fun to make and fun to give. Friends and Family will be wowed by your apparent cooking ninja skills.
Fudge has a reputation for being hard to make. While it is important to follow directions and use a candy thermometer, fudge is not that hard to make.
5. Eggnog Fudge or Gingerbread Fudge
Eggnog and Gingerbread Fudge bring two of the season’s favorite flavors into delicious candy form. If you have family or friends who love these flavors it is worth adding them to your candy collection.
These creamy fudges paired with one or both minty fudges above make a perfect fudge plate to give as a gift.
6. Candy Cane Meringues or Eggnog Meringues
Meringue cookies are surprisingly easy and always delicious. The key to these cookies is making sure you whip the egg whites long enough.
You can easily customize these meringue cookies by gently folding in your preferred ingredients whether they are crush candies, Christmas M&Ms, or chopped candied nuts.
7. Peppermint Truffles or Candy Cane Truffles
Truffles are another delightful treat that has a reputation for being hard to make. like fudge it is important to follow the directions to get the best candy, however truffles are not as hard as you might believe.
While traditional truffles are circles, you can make the process easier by cutting them into squares, triangles, or rectangles. They may look like fudge, but they will still taste and feel like truffles.
8. Eggnog Truffles or Gingerbread Truffles
These truffles are great for the Eggnog and Gingerbread lovers amongst your family and friends. Add a little bit of textural interest by adding chopped candied nuts, or dried cranberries.
While you can roll these truffles in balls you can also cut them into squares, triangles, or rectangles. If you want to make them fun looking, try pouring the truffle mixture into Shaped Candy Molds.
9. Peppermint Patties
Fans of York Mint Patties will love these homemade versions. The creamy mint and slightly bitter chocolate make these wonderful treats seem harder to make than they are.
Sprinkle your finished patties with Christmas themed sprinkles or crushed candy canes. The classic version of this recipe is great for friends who do not celebrate Christmas.
10. Candy Cane Marshmallows or Eggnog Marshmallows
Marshmallows are an inspired Christmas Candy gift because your friends and family can eat them or pop them into Hot Cocoa or Steamed Eggnog.
You can make them in a big tray and cut them into squares and rectangles or you can get marshmallow molds. They even have some fun Christmas Shaped molds. If you already have silicone candy molds those will do just fine.
11. Turtles or Polar Bear Paws
In these two delicious recipes nuts meet caramel and are smothered in chocolate. Turtles are pecans, creamy caramel and dark or milk chocolate.
Polar Bear Paws are peanuts, creamy caramel, and white chocolate. These candies are a great addition to a candy tray because they offer creamy caramel, crunchy nuts, and delicious chocolate.
12. Caramels
Caramels, like fudge and Truffles, have a reputation for being hard to make. Do not be afraid to try these delicious candies. The worst that will happen if you overcook them (but not burn them) is a fudge textured candy instead of a caramel.
Using a candy thermometer and making sure to follow the directions will help ensure that your caramels come out right.
13. Almond Joy Chocolate Candies
Fans of Almond Joys will love these homemade versions. Whether you decide to go with the truffle version, the copycat almond joy version, or the almond joy bites, you will not be disappointed.
These creamy and sweet coconut, almond chocolates are great anytime of the year. If you have friends who do not celebrate Christmas these treats are another great non-Christmas treat.
14. Nut Brittle
The key to this delicious candy is making sure to cook the sugar the right amount of time. Use a candy thermometer to keep track of your sugar’s cooking progress.
Nut Brittle can be made with any nut and most have very similar ingredients. If you make a mistake you might end up with nut fudge or nut pralines.
15. Candied or Sugared Nuts
What could be more simple than candied or sugared nuts? These simple and delicious treats are quick and easy to make, and most recipes make a lot.
You can use a single kind of nut or mix and match whichever nuts you like. One thing to keep in mind is the size of the nut, smaller nuts (like pine nuts) should be on their own baking sheet as they cook faster. The same goes for large nuts (like Brazil nuts), they will take more time to cook then regular sized nuts.
16. Chocolate Covered Cherries
Chocolate Covered Cherries are a candy that popularly shows up at Christmas time and stays through February and Valentine’s Day. If you are looking for some variety, dip your maraschino cherries in different chocolates.
For an especially fun Christmas chocolate cherry, you can split the white chocolate and dye one red and one green and dip the cherries in them. You can either do half red & half green or alternate between red and green.
Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries
17. Nougat
Nougat is another great Christmas candy. This candy is often overlooked but it is easy to customize because you can add, remove, or substitute ingredients such as nuts, dried fruit, or even candied fruit.
Try substituting candied orange peel, candied lemon, maraschino cherries, and more in the Christmas Gumdrop Nougat recipe.
Wrap Up
That’s a wrap! Enjoy experimenting and learning these new Christmas Candy recipes. Mix and match them on a plate for friends who like variety.
Whether you are looking for one recipe or five, hopefully these recipes have inspired you to try something new and broaden your horizons. Happy cooking and happy eating!
17 Best Christmas Candy Recipes
Ingredients
- Christmas Chocolate Bark
- Peppermint Chocolate Bark or Candy Cane Bark
- Chocolate Toffee or English Toffee
- Peppermint Fudge or Candy Cane Fudge
- Eggnog Fudge or Gingerbread Fudge
- Candy Cane Meringues or Eggnog Meringues
- Peppermint Truffles or Candy Cane Truffles
- Eggnog Truffles or Gingerbread Truffles
- Peppermint Patties
- Candy Cane Marshmallows or Eggnog Marshmallows
- Turtles or Polar Bear Paws
- Caramels
- Almond Joy Chocolate Candies
- Nut Brittle
- Candied or Sugared Nuts
- Chocolate Covered Cherries
- Nougat
Instructions
- Select your favorite recipe from the list above.
- Organize all the required ingredients.
- Prepare and enjoy in 30 minutes or less!