19 Christmas Treats Kids Can Help Make
The holidays are the perfect time to get your little ones involved in the kitchen. Baking Christmas treats together creates wonderful memories while teaching kids valuable skills. These festive recipes are designed with young helpers in mind, featuring simple steps and lots of fun decorating opportunities.
From classic cookies to creative candy creations, each treat offers a chance for kids to roll, dip, sprinkle, and shape their way to delicious results. Best of all, you’ll end up with a kitchen full of holiday cheer and plenty of tasty goodies to share with family and friends.
Sugar Cookie Snowflakes
These delicate cookies taste buttery and sweet with a hint of vanilla that melts in your mouth. Kids love using snowflake-shaped cookie cutters and decorating with white icing and sparkling sugar. The dough is easy to work with and holds its shape beautifully during baking.
Little hands can help with rolling, cutting, and adding the finishing touches. They’re perfect for leaving out for Santa or packaging up as gifts for teachers and neighbors.
Chocolate Peppermint Bark
This two-toned treat delivers the perfect balance of rich chocolate and refreshing peppermint. The recipe requires minimal cooking skills, mostly just melting and spreading, making it ideal for younger children. Kids enjoy crushing candy canes with a rolling pin and sprinkling them over the top. The bark sets quickly in the fridge and breaks into beautiful irregular pieces.
It’s an impressive-looking treat that tastes like it came from a fancy candy shop but takes less than 30 minutes to make.
Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats
These adorable treats transform the classic cereal square into festive reindeer faces. The familiar crispy, marshmallowy texture kids already love gets a holiday makeover with pretzel antlers, candy eyes, and a red M&M nose. The mixture is sticky but fun to shape, and decorating is where children really shine.
They’re no-bake, which means less worry about hot ovens. The whole family will smile when they see these cute characters on the dessert table.
Gingerbread Men Cookies
The warm spices of ginger, cinnamon, and molasses create that unmistakable holiday flavor everyone craves. Rolling out the dough and cutting out little people shapes keeps kids engaged and excited. Decorating with royal icing and candies lets them express their creativity, whether making silly faces or fancy outfits.
The dough is sturdy enough to handle lots of little fingerprints. These cookies taste even better when enjoyed with hot cocoa after decorating.
Christmas Tree Brownie Bites
Rich, fudgy brownies form the base for these festive forest treats. Kids can help mix the batter and then get creative stacking brownies into tree shapes with green frosting. Adding colorful sprinkles as ornaments and a star on top makes each tree unique.
The chocolatey flavor satisfies any sweet tooth while the decorating process keeps children entertained. They’re bite-sized, making them perfect for holiday parties where guests want just a taste of something decadent.
Snowman Marshmallow Pops
These whimsical pops are incredibly simple, requiring just large marshmallows, white chocolate, and basic decorating supplies. Kids love dipping the marshmallows and adding pretzel stick arms, edible marker faces, and mini candy scarves. They set up quickly and look absolutely adorable arranged in a jar or laid on a platter.
The sweet vanilla flavor of the marshmallow pairs perfectly with the creamy chocolate coating. They’re mess-free to eat and perfect for little hands.
Candy Cane Cookies
These swirled beauties taste like a sugar cookie with a refreshing peppermint twist. The fun part is dividing the dough, coloring half red, and twisting the two colors together into cane shapes. Kids develop fine motor skills while shaping and get excited watching their creations come to life.
The cookies have a light, crispy texture and a burst of mint flavor in every bite. They look stunning hanging on the tree or arranged on a cookie platter.
Hot Chocolate Spoons
These clever creations are essentially hot chocolate on a stick, ready to stir into warm milk. Children can help filling plastic spoons with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, then drizzling with melted chocolate. The process is straightforward and forgiving, perfect for various age groups.
When you stir them into hot milk, they create instant hot cocoa with minimal cleanup. They make thoughtful homemade gifts that friends and relatives actually get excited about receiving.
Christmas Ornament Sugar Cookies
These decorated rounds look like edible ornaments with their colorful icing and festive designs. The vanilla-flavored cookies provide a perfect canvas for artistic expression using different colored frostings and sprinkles. Kids can pipe designs, spread icing with knives, or use stencils to create patterns.
The cookies taste sweet and buttery with a satisfying snap. Adding a ribbon hole at the top before baking makes them look even more authentic.
Pretzel Christmas Trees
Crunchy, salty pretzels get transformed into sweet Christmas trees with green candy melts and colorful sprinkle ornaments. The contrast between salty pretzel and sweet coating creates an addictive flavor combination. Kids enjoy arranging pretzel sticks into tree shapes and drizzling or dipping them in melted chocolate.
They harden quickly, which means less waiting time for impatient little bakers. These treats disappear fast at parties because they’re such a crowd-pleasing snack.
Santa Hat Strawberries
Fresh strawberries get dressed up for the holidays with white chocolate and whipped cream to resemble tiny Santa hats. The natural sweetness of the berries balances the rich chocolate and cream perfectly. Kids can help dip berries and add the cream puffs on top with minimal mess.
These treats are lighter than most holiday desserts, offering a refreshing option. They’re also naturally gluten-free and look absolutely charming arranged on a platter.
Snowball Cookies
These round, powdered sugar-coated treats are also known as Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes. They have a delicate, buttery texture that practically melts on your tongue with a subtle nuttiness from ground pecans or walnuts.
Rolling the warm cookies in powdered sugar is the best part for kids, who love getting their hands a little messy. They’re not overly sweet, making them perfect for people who prefer less sugary treats. The snowy appearance is perfect for winter.
Christmas Popcorn Mix
This sweet and salty snack combines popped popcorn with melted chocolate, colorful candies, and festive sprinkles. It’s endlessly customizable based on what your family loves, from M&Ms to pretzels to dried cranberries. Kids can measure, pour, and mix everything together in a big bowl, making them feel like real chefs.
The mixture sets quickly once the chocolate hardens, creating crunchy clusters. It’s perfect for movie nights, gift bags, or keeping in a jar for snacking.
Rudolph Cupcakes
Chocolate or vanilla cupcakes become adorable reindeer with simple decorating tricks using pretzels, candy eyes, and red candies. The moist, fluffy cake underneath tastes delicious while the decorations steal the show. Children love transforming plain cupcakes into characters, and this design is simple enough for even young kids to master.
The combination of sweet frosting and crunchy pretzel antlers provides nice texture contrast. They’re guaranteed to bring smiles at any holiday gathering.
Peppermint Truffles
These smooth, creamy chocolate balls pack an intense peppermint punch that peppermint lovers will adore. Rolling the truffle mixture into balls is a hands-on task that kids really enjoy, even if they end up a bit messy. Coating them in crushed candy canes adds festive flair and a satisfying crunch.
They taste incredibly rich and decadent, like something from a gourmet chocolate shop. A little goes a long way with these, making them perfect for gift boxes.
Christmas Funfetti Cookies
Loaded with colorful sprinkles baked right into the dough, these cookies are basically a party on a plate. They taste like a classic sugar cookie with a tender, slightly chewy texture and sweet vanilla flavor. Kids get excited about the rainbow colors throughout and can add even more sprinkles on top before baking.
The dough comes together quickly with basic ingredients you probably have on hand. They’re cheerful, delicious, and guaranteed to brighten any cookie exchange.
Elf Hat Treats
These cone-shaped treats usually feature ice cream cones or strawberries decorated to look like elf hats. They’re whimsical and fun, with sweet frosting forming the hat and various candies creating the details. Kids love the assembly process, which feels more like crafting than baking.
The combination of textures and flavors depends on your base ingredient, but they’re always delightful. They add a playful touch to dessert tables and are perfect for themed parties.
Christmas Pudding Cake Pops
Rich cake mixed with frosting gets shaped into balls, dipped in chocolate, and decorated to resemble traditional Christmas puddings. The dense, moist interior contrasts beautifully with the chocolate shell and decorative icing holly leaves. Rolling cake balls is a tactile activity that kids find satisfying and fun.
They’re perfectly portioned for little appetites and easy to serve at gatherings. The cake flavor can be customized to your family’s preference, from vanilla to chocolate to red velvet.
Jingle Bell Rock Candy
This festive rock candy grows right before your eyes over several days, creating a science experiment and treat in one. The process teaches kids about crystallization while rewarding their patience with sparkly, crunchy candy. The sweet, pure sugar flavor is simple but satisfying, and you can add food coloring for holiday colors. Watching the crystals form day by day builds anticipation and excitement. It makes a stunning display in clear jars and tastes like homemade nostalgia.
