Thanksgiving is just around the corner for our friends and family in the U.S.A.! And I have some fall/thanksgiving treat box ideas to share!
I made these for the Thanksgiving season here in Canada. Treat boxes are a great gift for any holiday! It’s a really nice addition to any holiday party or even something to give to the host! Or it can be something sweet for yourself too 😉
getting ideas for a dessert box
I try to make as many treat boxes as I can for the holidays throughout the year, and they are a hit with my clients! With any box, it’s good to have a variety of different goodies so I usually try to find a few different recipes (some that I’ve never tried – it’s also a perfect time to experiment) and include a few of my own.
This year I somehow ended up with a caramel theme and pumpkin spice of course!
baked pumpkin spice donuts
The first sweet I found was pumpkin spice donuts!
Now, I’m actually not a huge fan of PSL or pumpkin spice (I know, I’m crazy!) but I have to taste everything I make (you know, quality control) and when I made these donuts, I was really happy with them! They’re a perfect little burst of sweetness, without being too sweet! Can’t go wrong with cinnamon sugar on top, with a touch of pumpkin pie spice. Yummy! So it made it to the box! Thank you Girl with the Iron Cast!
They’re also super easy to make. The only special tools you’d need is a piping bag and tip, and a mini donut tin. Pipe some batter into each mold cavity and bake for about 10 minutes. Brush the tops with melted coconut oil and dip in cinnamon sugar *drool*
pumpkin spice latte anyone?
Next, I found the ever-so-popular Pumpkin Spice Latte Cocoa Bomb!
I made a whole bunch of cocoa bombs last year and thought this would be interesting to make! So I used the recipe from The Station Bakery – and again, I’m not a PSL chick, so I had my husband try it – thanks hubby! But I did have a sip, and I actually enjoyed it!
For cocoa bombs, I’d suggest a sphere silicone mold that is about 2.5″ in diameter – like this one:
They’re the perfect size to fit in your favourite mug. Plus you can squeeze in a handful of marshmallows! The more marshmallows, the better – right?!
Sweet and salty chocolate bars
Then I figured I should include some kind of bar. I stumbled upon these Salted Chocolate and Pretzel Bars.
It’s a nice sweet and salty addition – to offset the overload of sweets in the box. Wait, there’s no such thing as a sweet overload, is there?
Now, they turned out more like bark pieces instead of “bars”, but it was a nice “rustic” addition to the box. Plus it was a delicious chocolate-y, caramel-y, melt-in-your-hand, gooey treat!
These were probably the easiest to make. Melt some chocolate, and spread it on parchment. Top with mini pretzels (I used salted pretzels). Drizzle with caramel, refrigerate and chop them up! Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy!
a classic vanilla cupcake with a caramel twist
Now, I usually try to add some sort of cupcake in each box – it’s something easy to make in larger batches. So I went basic with a vanilla cupcake BUT I added a caramel filling AND topped it with caramel buttercream AND salted caramel chip-its, OH AND caramel drizzle – because, why not?! It’s delicious!
The recipe I used for the caramel is from Preppy Kitchen.
As I write more and more on this blog, I’m probably gonna express my love for Preppy Kitchen over and over again. Honestly, every single recipe I use from John always works out! Every. Single. One. ALWAYS. Even the strenuous French macaron recipe that I was struggling with for years. One day, I used his recipe and tips, then voila – they came out perfect! Anyway, I used his caramel recipe and of course, it came out perfectly.
Every other time I’ve made caramel, it turns into a weird clumpy mess. This time it didn’t. Thank you, John!
This was also the caramel I used for the salted chocolate and pretzel bars above.
caramel cookies – my new favourite cookie recipe!
OK, last but certainly not least – Salted Caramel Crunch Cookies.
Guys, I’ve become addicted to these cookies. It’s so good but so bad…but so good! And I don’t normally eat all the goodies I make – I know, weird! But these cookies are to die for! Especially when you warm them up *drool*
Mine didn’t quite turn out like the recipe picture – some of the caramel was super melty and oozed out and looked messy. But that was okay, I just ate the “ugly” ones. Ha! I did not mind at all!
The recipe says to save some of the toffee chips, caramel squares, and pecans to top the cookies – but I found it much easier to just add a few pecan pieces on top (the toffee pieces just fell right off the cookie dough and I was worried about the oozy caramel squares).
Just look at this deliciousness! I don’t normally have these types of cookies on the menu for my clients to order, but I didn’t mind at all making them for a few people 😉 I’ll search for any excuse now!
And that’s it! I usually add some shredded paper to the bottom of every box. I added 2 PSL Bombs, 2 cupcakes, broke up the pretzel bars and put some pieces in a cupcake liner, then 2 mini donuts in another cupcake liner, wrapped the cookies in cellophane bags, and added 2 of those too.
adding the final touch to the treat box
I normally make sure I have treat bags or cupcake liners for everything – it helps avoid the treats sticking onto the shredded paper.
Sometimes I’ll add some extra marshmallows to the box just to add a little more sweetness and decoration 🙂
sharing desserts is caring
I recently moved to a new city, so I gave some of these treats to a few of my neighbours. These boxes are also a sweet treat for teachers, friends, family, or anyone who has a sweet tooth!
I made these just in time for Thanksgiving, and they were great fall treats to make – and bake!
Hope this inspired you for your next treat box – or even just a sweet night in 🙂
Happy baking and munching!
xo
Mich
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