Tasty Homemade Treats

Thanks everyone ... am now stuck for choices although the pastry pin wheels with mincemeat sound yum ..... off to dig out the mincemeat from the cupboard :-)

How about making simple chocolate rice crispie cakes by mixing rice crispies with melted butter, golden syrup and coco powder, then pop a cherry on top and sprinkle with a bit of icing sugar to look like mini christmas puddings! easy and yummy!

how about some puff pastry pin wheels, theyare really simple and tasty.  Just roll out a piece of puff pastry, then spread it with whatever filling you like, grated cheese and onion, cheese and bacon, pesto, then roll up like a swiss roll and slice about 1cm thick.  lay them on a baking sheet and cook for about 25 mins.  you can always make sweet ones to using mincemeat or nutella. yummy!!

I have no recipe but went to a friend's this weekend and she had made these yummy Christmas biscuits, they were spicy (nutmeg, cinnamon etc) and tasted like rock cakes. They didn't look hard to make, so maybe you could Google a simple winter/Christmas biscuit recipe...

what about some tasty canapes using up any old leftovers - sounds bizarre but tastes wonderful (http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/show/631-french-toast-nibbles) - you can also freeze these ahead so you can make them when you have time and just get them out when needed. Or how about some cream cheese marble brownies http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/show/684-cream-cheese-marble-brownies easy to make and delicious

We've got a similar thing in a couple of weeks so I've been having just the same thoughts as you.  At this time of year, life can be so busy and hectic that I wouldn't feel too guilty about taking something shop-bought.  A couple of other really simple ideas that I've had are here though:

Cheesy biscuits

160g plain flour

70g unsalted butter

60g cheese

1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees fan or gas mark 4)

2. Rub the butter and flour together in a mixing bowl until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the cheese and beaten egg and mix together until combined.

4. Sprinkle out a little flour and roll out the dough.  Cut shapes from the dough using a cutter (perhaps star shaped or something else suitably Christmassy if you have the cutters).

5. Put the shapes on baking parchment in a baking tray.  Bake for 10-12 mins until just golden.

Running out of characters so will do a new answer with the other recipe...