Jingles Christmas Tree Hostess Gift and Cookie Sleds

Christmas is week away and we have been working overtime in the kitchen making, baking, and creating all kinds of good stuff!  We’ve been having all kinds of fun this season and I’m noticing that my boys are LOVING the cookie decorating parties this year.   We’ve got a few more parties this week and I wanted to make up something sweet for the hostess as well as a “different” cookie to decorate.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love sugar cookies as much as the next gal, but I was feeling like I was stifling my creativity decorating tree after tree after tree 😉

I have to say it’s pretty crazy the amount of candy and baking supplies I’ve been burning through the past few weeks.  I headed to Walmart to pick up the ingredients needed for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sleds and the materials I needed for my vision of a Jingles Christmas Tree.  Now, I’ll be perfectly honest…I had a totally different vision for this when I headed off to Walmart to pick up supplies.  I still had a different vision when I got back home and then when I started working…well, you’ll see!

Materials Needed:

• Wilton Cupcake Stand
• NESTLE Butterfinger Jingles
• NESTLE Crunch Jingles
• Elmer’s Glue Dots
• Green Paper
• Ribbon

Instructions:

I started with a Wilton Cupcake Stand.  I’ve used these a couple times in the past when I didn’t want to risk breaking any of my good trays or I needed something that I could build on the spot.  They’re pretty cool and can easily be dressed up with some ribbon.  After I got the cupcake stand built, I cut out triangles from green paper to cover up the cardboard legs of the stand.  I measured out one, and then cut out seven more for the bottom two layers.  I used the glue dots to keep the two triangles stuck together.

For the top, I cut out two triangles and cut slits so they could interlock.

Next I added ribbon  to the edging and secured with glue dots…

Now comes the fun part – filling it up with candy!  My boys insisted on a star at the top so I used one of the gold NESTLE Butterfinger Jingles for the star – love it!

Here’s another shot of the tree:

Now for these fabulous Chocolate Chip Cookie Sleds!  This recipe {along with lots of other fun recipes} comes from Nestle’s Seasonal Recipe site.  They are super easy which is great because I am slowly running out of time and need all the shortcuts I can find.   I love using #HolidayCandy in Christmas recipes because it adds such a festive flair!

Ingredients:

• 1 package (16.5 ounces) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Dough
• 1/3 cup ready-to-use white frosting
• 20 (5 1/4-inch) WONKA SweeTart Candy Canes
• NESTLÉ and WONKA assorted Holiday Candy
• Edible white glitter (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease or foil-line a large baking sheet.  Place the whole bar of dough on prepared baking sheet and allow to soften for 5 to 10 minutes.  Use your fingertips and pat dough to gently to form an 11 x 8-inch rectangle.  I used a piece of computer paper as a rough guide.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. Gently slide cookie onto cutting board.  Use a sharp knife to trim the edges of rectangle as needed.

Cut cookie into 4 x 2-inch rectangles, or to about the length of the candy canes you will be using. (Cut in half lengthwise and you should have 2 long rectangles that are 4 inches wide. Cut each long rectangle into 5 pieces. This should give you ten 4 x 2-inch rectangles.)  If you find your cookie bars to be crumbly, place in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes and they’ll firm up.

Use about 1 teaspoon frosting on backside of cookies to attach candy canes (1 teaspoon per candy cane should do).

Let stand for 30 minutes or until set. Once set, turn the sled over so the candy canes are on the bottom.

Now they’re ready to decorate!

If you are taking these to a party to be decorated, make sure you allow time for the frosting to set up.

I’m pretty confident that if you show up to any holiday party or celebration with one or both of these ideas – you’re going to be a hit!

Definitely check out Nestle’s Seasonal Recipe site for some great inspiration and easy-to-make holiday recipes!  Don’t forget to follow along on Twitter and Facebook too!

What’s your favorite hostess gift for the holidays?

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Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Nestle #CBias #SocialFabric  All opinions are, as always, 100% my own.