Christmas is all about spending time with family, being thankful for everything you have in life, and eating lots of food. It is always fun to get together with your family and make tasty desserts that look like snowmen or Santa Clause; however, it can sometimes be difficult to find a good, easy to make recipe.

To test out a variety of recipes, I decided to make five different holiday treats that I found on Pinterest and have some family members try them out and rate each treat on a scale of 1-10. To help you out this holiday season, below are my reviews of these fun and festive treats that you and your whole family can make at home.

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Snowman Cupcakes

• What will you need?

Chocolate Cupcakes
Vanilla Frosting
White Crystallized Decorating Sugar
Butterscotch Chips
Mini Chocolate Chips

• How did my family like it?

My sister who is eight years old rated these snowman cupcakes a 9/10 because she did not like the butterscotch nose.

My grandma who is 76 years old rated this a 9/10 because she did not like the crunch of the sprinkles.

My brother who is four years old rated the cupcakes a 10/10.

• How easy was it?

Extremely easy if you have the correct ingredients.

• My final verdict?

I personally loved making these cupcakes because of how easy it was. I was able to make the cupcakes, take a break while they were baking, frost them and decorate them in a short amount of time with no stress involved in the process. The only thing I would do differently next time would be to use something different as the nose simply because I am not the biggest fan of butterscotch. Other than that I loved the experience and the taste that went along with these snowmen.

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Christmas Tree Waffles

• What will you need? 

125g All-purpose Plain Flour50g Caster Sugar
1.5 Teaspoon Cornflour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Egg, yolk and white separate
100ml Coconut Milk
80ml Drinking Water
1/2 – 3/4 Teaspoon Pandan Paste
30ml Salad/Vegetable Oil

• How did my family like it?

My sister who is eight years old rated it a 7/10

My grandma rated it a 7.5/10

My brother rated it a 3/10 because he didn’t like the waffle and M&M mixed together

• How easy was it?

It was surprisingly difficult because the waffle was hard to keep green so the only way to show the green coloring was to undercook the waffle.

• My final verdict?

When I found these waffles on Pinterest I had assumed that it would most definitely be the easiest treat to make. I was wrong. This ended up being somewhat frustrating for me because I had to make so many rounds of waffles in order to get the perfect color while still having a cooked waffle. In the end I decided that the only way to have to waffle be completely green and without brown marks would be to undercook the waffle. This made, obviously, a waffle that was not very tasty.

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Melted Snowman Chocolate Bark

• What will you need?

White Melting Chocolate
Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Wilton Candy Eyes
Orange Jimmies (I got mixed rainbow jimmies and just picked them out)
Red Hot Candy
Pretzel Sticks
Silicon baking mat or wax paper

• How did my family like it?

My sister rated it a 9/10 because she doesn’t like the red-hots used for the buttons

My brother rated it a 9/10 because he doesn’t like the reese’s Peanut Butter Cups used for the hat

My grandma rated it a 10/10

• How easy was it?

I would say this was the easiest treat to make and the tastiest.

• My final verdict?

This was most definitely my favorite treat that I made. It was the easiest and most fun to make while still being extremely tasty. The only change I would make the next time I make them, which will definitely be soon, is to switch out the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup because I do not like them. Thankfully this recipe makes it extremely easy to switch out the candies for things that you personally like. In addition, it may also be fun to add things onto the bark like adding sprinkles for snow or something of that sort.

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Holiday Candy Lollipops

• What will you need?

2 cups sugar

⅔ cup light corn syrup

2 teaspoons flavored extract, such as mint or vanilla

Assorted sprinkles or candy

Lollipop sticks

Candy thermometer

• How did my family like it?

My sister rated it a 10/10

My brother rated it a 0/10 because it was way too sugary

My grandma rated it a 6/10 because it was too hard to bite

• How easy was it?

This was the most difficult and time consuming one to make for various reasons.

• My final verdict?

I was very cautious while making this because I know that working with sugar and things of that sort can be very difficult and easy to mess up. When I made the lollipops I made sure to follow the directions extremely closely and, surprisingly, it worked. The lollipops, although I was able to make them, did not taste very good to me. I would consider adding a different extract into it next time I make them. A tip that I  found out while making these is not to try to use what’s left in your pot to make a lollipop after the pot of sugar is already cooled, it most definitely does not work.

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Hot CoaCoa Marshmallow Cookie Cups

• What will you need?

Jet-Puffed Marshmallows
Maravillas Cookies
Mini Candy Canes
Red & Green Confetti Sprinkles
Tree Sprinkles
White & Chocolate Cookie Icing
Marshmallow Bits

• How did my family like it?

My sister rated it a 9/10.

My grandma rated it a7/10 but she liked it better without the cookie.

My brother rated it a 10/10 without the cookie.

• How easy was it?

This one was fairly easy once I found all of the correct ingredients but finding the ingredients was a struggle.

• My final verdict

This one was fun to make but finding the right ingredients was very difficult. I accidentally bought regular marshmallows instead of jumbo marshmallows, which definitely made the decorating process more difficult. I also accidentally bought black icing instead of brown icing, which also makes the coffee look odd. So if you make sure you buy the correct ingredients for this it should be fairly easy to make.

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Comment down below your favorite holiday treat or if you tried to make one of these. Merry Christmas!