Tis the season to see magazines and Pinterest boards filled with gorgeous and decadent holiday desserts.
But let’s face it, if you have young kids, cover-worthy desserts are probably not going to happen.
And that’s okay, we can leave the hard work to the Marthas and Bakerellas of the world and instead have fun getting messy with our kids.
Here are a few simple and less involved Christmas treats shared by moms around the web that the kids can help with and will love.
1. Pretzel Buttons. If you haven’t made these sweet and salty treats before you are really missing out! They are so simple and kids can do most of the work themselves. If you can’t find the round pretzels, square ones work just as well. Oh, and Hershey’s makes holiday colored kisses too so you can get creative with your color combinations.
2. Painted Christmas Cookies. How fun is this idea? Make edible paints with evaporated milk and a little food coloring and then let the little ones PAINT their cookies. Melissa shares her tips and a sugar cookie recipe too.
3. Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree. Here’s an easy-peasy one for you. Pop open a couple cans of cinnamon rolls and bake them in the shape of a Christmas tree. You could even make it more festive and let the kids sprinkle on some red and green sugar.
4. Gum-drop cookies. Not many kids will turn down cookies or candy so cookies + candy has surely got to be a winner. This is probably the most complicated treat on our list but if you can handle chocolate chip cookies you can do this one. Sue used a Paula Deen recipe but shares a good tip to get the job done easier.
5. Christmas Tree Rice-krispy Treat Pops. This is your basic rice krispy treat recipe jazzed up for the holidays. Amy assures us that these pops are deceptively easy to put together with little helpers and provides step-by-step directions.
6. Christmas Tree Cupcakes. We loved the simplicity of the cinnamon rolls above so couldn’t help but include a cupcake version of the idea. Make your favorite cupcakes (no judgment if you use a box recipe), line them up in the shape of a tree, and then let the kids go to town decorating their edible tree. Get creative and use whatever candies and sprinkles you have on hand. Many kid cereals would even make great decorations!
(Originally written and published on Philly Kids Things)