Home Recipes Candy
Rosemary SiefertUpdated: Feb. 10, 2024
Make the holidays extra merry with these Christmas candy recipes. From barks to brittles, truffles to taffy, we've got it all!
Christmastime has loads to look forward to: decorating the tree, making snow angels, listening to your favorite holiday songs on repeat and breaking out those once-a-year Christmas candy recipes. While we love gooey cinnamon rolls before opening gifts and the tasty Christmas cookies from Grandma’s old tins, there’s nothing like biting into a rich fudge square or a minty meringue.
Use this holiday season to perfect the art of chocolate truffle making or teach yourself how to make your favorite candy bars from scratch. Come Christmas day, you’ll have heaps of candy to bring to all your festivities and pass out as homemade gifts!
Speaking of candy, here’s how you can put the leftover candy cane to best use with these candy cane recipes.
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Peanut Butter Snowballs
We can’t get enough of desserts that look like snowballs when Christmastime rolls around. For a time-saving tip, use candy coating discs instead of bars so you don’t have to spend time chopping up all the chocolate.
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Easy Truffles
Chocolate truffles are rich, melt-in-your-mouth desserts that are delicious on their own or paired with a post-dinner coffee or cocktail. Follow our test kitchen tips on how to avoid common truffle mistakes, and you’ll be on your way to bite-sized goodness that you can share with everyone.
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Cashew Brittle
Homemade treats are thoughtful gifts for neighbors, coworkers or even friends and relatives who stop by your Christmas party. Whether you decide to wrap it up in colorful baggies or festive Mason jars, this cashew brittle will be a delight to anyone who loves nutty candy. Unlike other candy recipes, you don’t need a candy thermometer and you can heat the ingredients up in the microwave—it’s that simple.
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Creamy Orange Caramels
Chocolate and orange pair well together—just take a look at these chocolate and orange desserts! But as far as Christmas candy recipes go, these orange caramels might just be the sweetest. This recipe makes 80 pieces of caramel, so get your gift bags out and you’ll be set with easy holiday gifts.
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Double Chocolate Walnut Fudge
We have a lot of rich fudge recipes, and this double chocolate walnut version is one of our favorites for Christmas. If you’d prefer to skip the nuts, feel free to leave them out of this recipe and enjoy the double chocolatey goodness all on its own.
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Holiday Rum Balls
These rum balls are a decadent no-bake dessert. To make them your own, roll them in your favorite toppings, or use the walnuts, powdered sugar and vanilla wafers that the recipe suggests. If you aren’t a fan of rum, you can substitute the rum for bourbon or flavored vodka.
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7/52
Pistachio Cranberry Bark
Any recipe for desserts that have five ingredients or less come in handy when you need to make something last minute or when you don’t have time to run around the grocery store for a bunch of special ingredients. This pistachio cranberry bark takes only about 20 minutes to prep and then you just pop it in the fridge until it’s firm and ready to serve.
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Creamy Peppermint Patties
Peppermint is such a yummy Christmas flavor and you can make your own peppermint patties right at home. If you can’t get enough of fun candy recipes like this one, read up on our ultimate guide to candy making and you’ll be a pro in no time.
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Chocolate Coconut Candies
These cute coconut candies can be added to cookies trays or served with a post-dinner coffee as a light dessert. The best part is that you can get as creative as you want with the toppings: sprinkles, colorful icing, coconut flakes, you name it. Or, you can leave them as they are and enjoy them plain.
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10/52
Peppermint Pretzel Dippers
Calling all sweet and salty fans. These chocolate covered pretzels have to be the easiest dessert you’ll ever make. When the chocolate chips and shortening are melted and mixed, all you have to do is dip pretzel rods in the candy coating and then roll the pretzel through sprinkles, crushed nuts or peppermint bits.
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11/52
Chocolate Caramels
Because it’s easy for caramel to harden quickly, you’ll want a candy thermometer for these chocolate caramels. The end result will be ideal for small candy bags or Christmas tins full of sweets.
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Cherry Mice
Not a creature was stirring…except for these adorable chocolate cherry mice. Though the assembly might take a bit of patience, these candied mice are too cute to pass up this holiday season.
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Chocolate Bonbons
Making these chocolate bonbons fresh will ensure that they retain their beautiful shiny coating. The shininess comes from mixing shortening with the chocolate, and they should stay that way unless you make them early and store them in the fridge. If you’d rather not melt all the chocolate for these in the microwave, you can read up on our other tips for melting chocolate for an option that works best for you.
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Aunt Rose’s Fantastic Butter Toffee
For only using five ingredients, this butter toffee recipe yields about 32 pieces and can be a very easy gift to package up for loved ones. Make sure to use your candy thermometer so that your butter and sugar combination is just the right consistency before pouring over the nuts and chocolate.
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Coconut Yule Trees
Some Christmas candy recipes are pretty basic; these coconut yule trees are anything but simple. For as detailed as they look, though, these macaroon-like cookies are pretty easy to make. Get the kids involved with decorating.
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Angel Food Christmas Candy
If you’re a fan of old-fashioned candies, then you’ll need to try this crispy, chocolate covered candy. The inside is airy and light and the outside has a think chocolate coating that will melt in your mouth.
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Layered Mint Candies
If you’re headed to multiple holiday gatherings this year, consider this layered mint candy recipe—it yields over 9 dozen candies! Once the candy is cut into serving squares, they can be placed in airtight containers and refrigerated to stay fresh.
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Lots of Christmas cookie recipes and Christmas candy recipes call for nuts. If you’re not a fan of cashews, almonds or walnuts but you still love a crunch in your sweets, try these peanut butter chocolate pretzel truffles.
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M&M’s, peanuts, pretzels, chocolate chips—these toffee crisps have the works! Although these candies look beautiful, they are one of those sweet and salty treats that require no decorating expertise.
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Mulled Wine Jelly Candies
If one of your favorite brandy cocktails is mulled wine, then these candies will be your new holiday go-to. Buy wine especially for this recipe or use leftover wine from a party. Once you’ve let them rest overnight, these jelly candies can be enjoyed for up to a week.
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21/52
Almond Cherry Fudge
A soft square of fudge may be one of the best Christmas candy recipes ever. With chopped almonds and candied cherries, this fudge will be delicious as a dessert or paired with a glass of your favorite wine.
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Rudolph Treats
Whether you have kids, grandkids or you just like to make cute desserts, these Rudolph candies will not disappoint. Place all the ingredients in separate bowls and make an assembly line setup for a fun family night activity.
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23/52
Christmas Marshmallows
There are quite a few things you can add to your hot cocoa that aren’t marshmallows. If you go through the process of making your marshmallows from scratch though, you’re going to want to top off your hot cocoa with these festive candies.
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy
You are three ingredients and 10 minutes away from one incredibly easy candy. Use up that jar of peanut butter you’ve had in your pantry, mix it with white candy coating and chocolate chips, swirl the ingredients and you’re done.
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Caramel Pretzel Bites
These beautiful candy bars are sure to go quick at family Christmas parties, so make sure you make enough to go around. You can make this Christmas candy recipe your own by using food dye to turn the drizzle red and green or you can swap the pecans for a different type of nut.
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Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
It’s time to break out your mini-muffin pan, but not for muffins! Make your own Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with this copycat recipe. Once the cups are set and the chocolate is no longer soft, transfer these treats out of the muffin pan and into a storage container. Keep them chilled in the fridge for up to a month. If you prefer your peanut butter cups a little more soft, you can leave them out at room temperature for about a day.
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Chocolate Truffles
These velvety soft chocolate truffles are a game changer when it comes to Christmas candy recipes. You only need four ingredients and you can create a dessert all chocolate lovers will enjoy.
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Christmas Crunch Candy
Any sweet that can be made ahead comes in super handy during a busy holiday season. These crunchy cashew Christmas candies can be made up to a month in advance when stored in an airtight container.
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Salted Peanut Rolls
For party guests, family, friends or neighbors who love a nutty candy, these salted peanut rolls will delight. You can leave a few plain, dip a few in chocolate and drizzle chocolate over the tops of some to change up the look of these candies.
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My Christmas Fudge
Unlike many candy recipes, these fudge squares call for evaporated milk rather than condensed milk. Evaporated milk doesn’t have sugar like condensed milk does, so make sure to use the correct one. Once these are made, store the squares in layers of waxed paper in an airtight container.
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Cream Cheese Candies
If you’re not big into sugary desserts or you’d prefer just a hint of something sweet after a filling meal, these festive little Christmas candies will do the trick. The Christmas colored sugar will make these stand out on a sweets tray or a candy dish.
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Soft Rum Caramels
The rum extract in these caramels really take them to the next level. To make them festive for sharing, wrap these Christmas candies in holiday themed cellophane or waxed paper tied with red and green ribbon.
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White Candy Bark
This white candy bark will make for a pretty display in your holiday candy jar. You can add any topping you prefer to make this treat your own. Swap the dried cranberries for a different type of fruit and mix and match the kind of nuts you include.
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Coconut Joys
Coconut balls with a nutty, chocolate center? It might not get better than these bite-sized morsels. When you’re in a hurry and need to whip up a quick dessert for a holiday party, these will come in super handy.
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Cinnamon Almond Brittle
When you’d prefer something spiced over something sweet, this Christmas candy recipe for almond brittle should be at the top of your list. As much as you might want to keep this candy all for yourself, the recipe does make 2 pounds of brittle, so it’s an ideal recipe for sharing with a crowd.
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Three-Chocolate Fudge
This three-chocolate fudge calls for lots of semisweet chocolate, so get your sweet tooth ready. If you don’t like a crunch in your fudge, omit the chopped pecans.
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Butter Pecan Fudge
Chocolate Christmas gifts are popular during the holiday season, but if you know people who don’t love chocolate, you can adapt your dessert tins and gift bags to their tastes with sweets like this butter pecan fudge. You can also make these squares to mix and match with chocolate and white chocolate fudge squares for pretty variation.
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Old-Time Butter Crunch Candy
Anything with a cup of butter is sure to be delectable, and these butter crunch bars are just that. If you’re not a fan of milk chocolate, you can swap the candy bars for a dark chocolate.
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Tiger Butter Bark Candy
Another Christmas candy recipe with only four ingredients here. We love a candy that calls for pretty minimal effort but yields so much flavor. The chocolate swirl in this butter bark will make it look like you bought the confection at a candy shop!
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Texas Pecan Pralines
If you don’t love how crunchy brittle is, try this praline recipe. This Christmas candy recipe calls for cooking at a lower temperature, which means the final result will be softer than other types of candy. You can use a cookie scoop for easy serving sizes of this tasty treat.
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Peppermint Lollipops
These lollipops are so festive, you won’t be able to pass them up. When you’re gathering your ingredients, don’t forget to buy lollipop sticks so you can get the full effect. If you can’t find sticks or you’d rather skip that step, you can simply make these into hard candies.
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Creme de Menthe Truffles
If you have a bottle of Creme de Menthe in the house from making Irish coffee, use some of it in this recipe. If you like peppermint patties, you’ll love these truffles.
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Chocolate Mascarpone Truffles
Cheese in a Christmas candy recipe? Yes! You don’t want to overlook these Mascarpone truffles. They can be rolled in any of your favorite nuts to add texture to the silky center.
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Anise Gumdrops
Feeling ambitious? Try your hand at a completely from-scratch gingerbread house and decorate it with these anise gumdrops. You can make these ahead and freeze them for a couple weeks.
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Divinity Candy
This recipe for divinity candy is fun because you stick to the basics or make it your own with flavored gelatin or chocolate chips. Because it’s a meringue treat, it will be a perfect pick-me-up after a heavy meal.
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Cinnamon Candy Popcorn
Caramel corn is great in the fall, but when winter rolls around, this candied treat is much more festive. This cinnamon candy popcorn only calls for four ingredients and it’ll be a delicious party snack for people who like a sweet and salty combination.
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Cinnamon Rock Candy
If this was always in a tin at your grandma’s house around Christmastime and you miss the flavorful treat, here’s how to make it on your own! The recipe calls for cinnamon oil, which you should be able to find at your local pharmacy or kitchen supply store.
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Licorice Caramels
This Christmas candy recipe for licorice caramels makes 12 dozen candies. Rest assured, you can use these as stocking stuffers, in cookie tins or in your own candy jar for when guests come to visit. You can always cut the recipe in half if you want to make fewer caramels.
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Frosty Polar Bears
If you have little ones at home or you love getting creative with your grandkids, give these frosty polar bears a try. They use basic ingredients and require no cooking.
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Swirled Peppermint Marshmallows
These fluffy, Christmas-hued mallows definitely look like something Buddy the Elf snacked on in the North Pole. Add one or two of the marshmallows to a mug of hot chocolate and let their pepperminty flavor infuse the cocoa.
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White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge
Minty peppermint fudge squares will pop on a platter of chocolate fudge—especially with bright red crushed peppermint sprinkled on top. For a slightly spicy twist, use crushed cinnamon candy instead of peppermint.
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Snowman Oreo Balls
Of course, we had to end on the most adorable Oreo balls of all time. These little snowmen are so fun to assemble, and you can get the whole family involved. The end result might even be too cute to eat!
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Originally Published: December 23, 2021
Rosemary Siefert
Rosemary has been writing and editing for digital and print publications for six years. Starting out as a freelancer for Taste of Home, she joined the team full time in 2022. She writes and edits food content and helps manage Taste of Home’s freelance community. Rosie focuses her writing on cooking tips, baking and cleaning techniques (gotta have a sparkling kitchen!). Rosie’s degrees in journalism and English from the University of Missouri contribute to her skills as an editor, while her penchant for trying new recipes and kitchen hacks shines in her writing.If Rosie isn’t making a (fun) mess in the kitchen, she’s scoping out new restaurants, trying foods she’s never heard of, holed up at a coffee shop with a book or clanging away on one of the typewriters in her collection.
