The sweetest homemade Christmas gifts for 2024
You can't get more thoughtful than a homemade Christmas gift!
There's nothing more thoughtful than a homemade Christmas gift to show someone you really care this festive season. Even better, if the gift is edible! Our cookery team have developed over 50 recipes that will delight any friend or family member this year.
Move over mince pies, these homemade Christmas food gifts are so much more interesting. They include everything from a mini Christmas cakes, to wonderful stollen crinkle biscuits and classic gingerbread men biscuits.
Why not even make a Winter Wonderland gingerbread house, send it flat-packed ready for building, for a real show-stopping present. Or we love this chocolate salami, dusted in icing sugar and wrapped in string, it looks like the real thing but is made with chocolate, brandy, almonds, pistachios and walnuts, which is even better in our eyes. If you're feeling especially generous one of our Christmas cake recipes would also make an incredible gift.
We've also developed some boozy treats too (well it is Christmas after all) including an espresso martini liqueur and a gingerbread cream liqueur.
And if you're looking to batch-make lots of homemade edible Christmas gifts then our customisable hot chocolate stirrers, wrapped up in cellophane with candy canes at the handles, are just the thing. We even have savoury gift recipes for those that don't have much of a sweet tooth, so give our cheeseboard piccalilli a try.
Pretty boxes, lined with paper and filled with homemade Christmas biscuits and cookies are an extra thoughtful touch as, are pretty glass jars and bottles for chutneys and liqueurs.
And if you’re aiming for a more eco-friendly Christmas, use recyclable wrapping paper.
Best homemade Christmas gifts for 2024:
Pistachio Amaretti
These tasty little morsels come together in under an hour and use just a handful of ingredients. It's the perfect gift for Christmas.
Recipe: Pistachio Amaretti
Panettone Biscuits
If you love the flavours of a panettone - let this biscuit be the first thing you make this festive season! Moreish, nutty and fruity - all at once!
Recipe: Panettone Biscuits
Christmas Tree Shortbreads
These adorable shortbreads can last up to 5 days in an airtight container and taste really delicious!
Recipe: Christmas Tree Shortbreads
Double Ginger Biscuits
Fiery ground ginger meets smooth and sweet white chocolate. The question is, to dunk or not?
Recipe: Double Ginger Biscuits
Frosted sugar cookie wreaths
These lovely orange zest sugar cookies make a perfect treat for a loved one. The sprinkling of thyme at the end transforms them, too!
Recipe: Frosted sugar cookie wreaths
Vegan chocolate florentines
We can't get enough of florentines and these chewy morsels make the perfect gift. We've gone for a dark chocolate coating, which usually is vegan - but double check before handing them to your vegan friends!
Recipe: Vegan chocolate florentines
Chocolate-Dipped Shortbreads
Buttery shortbread fingers dipper in a double-coating of chocolate? Yes please! The perfect stocking filler.
Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Shortbreads
Pepparkakor village
Pepparkakor is Sweden's version of gingerbread biscuits and are beautifully spiced and incredibly sturdy - perfect for hanging like we've done here! Find the template to make the village in the recipe, too.
Recipe: Pepparkakor village
Peppermint baubles
These striking edible baubles are made using whipped egg whites and icing sugar, and formed into a firm dough so you can cut out any shapes you like!
Recipe: Peppermint baubles
Snowy pretzels
These adorable pretzel garlands won't last long in your house as they not only look cute, but taste even better! They make a lovely weekend activity with kids.
Recipe: Snowy pretzels
Mini Christmas Cakes
These individual fruit cakes with their Christmas pudding-inspired decoration make the ideal gift this Christmas. You can buy mini cake tins from specialist cookware shops, but using clean food tins is a more resourceful option.
Recipe: Mini Christmas Cakes
Blackcurrant liqueur
This blackcurrant liqueur recipe is going to be a hit this Christmas. You can find cute little bottles like these on Etsy - just make sure you sterilise them before you fill them.
Recipe: Blackcurrant liqueur
Toasted Pecan Fudge
Sea salt and toasted pecans really elevate this classic vanilla fudge. Perfect for gifting at Christmas.
Recipe: Toasted Pecan Fudge
Stollen Crinkle Biscuits
Nothing evokes Christmas quite like the flavours of stollen, so we've combined them in these eye-catching biscuits for a twist on a homemade Christmas gift. You can leave out the brandy, if you prefer, or soak the fruit in apple juice instead.
Recipe: Stollen Crinkle Biscuits
Spiced Cashew Brittle
Sweet, salty and spicy – be warned: this brittle is an incredibly moreish homemade edible Christmas gift.
Recipe: Spiced Cashew Brittle
Hot Chocolate Stirrers
These make great homemade edible Christmas gifts for a chocolate lover; simply stir 1 or 2 into a mug of warm milk. We’ve given some flavour ideas below, but you can let your creativity run wild.
Recipe: Hot Chocolate Stirrers
Manchego and Thyme Shortbreads
If you can’t find Manchego, use a mature Cheddar instead. And if you’re not a fan of thyme, freshly chopped rosemary works well, too.
Recipe: Manchego and Thyme Shortbreads
Tiramisu Biscuits
These tiramisu-flavoured biscuits are the perfect festive gift for the coffee lover in your life!
Recipe: Tiramisu Biscuits
Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles
These truffles are the perfect bite-sized homemade Christmas gift, with a creamy centre and a crunchy nutty shell.
Recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles
Honey, Cherry & Almond Nougat
If you can’t get hold of rice or wafer paper, line your tin with baking parchment and dust generously with cornflour. Top the nougat with an even dusting of cornflour and lay on a square of baking parchment before setting.
Recipe: Honey, Cherry & Almond Nougat
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
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