Homemade Food Gifts | Wholefully https://wholefully.com/holiday-recipes/diy-food-gifts/ Fresh Family Meals - Made for Everyday Life Thu, 18 Jul 2024 20:30:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wholefully.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/favicon-150x150.png Homemade Food Gifts | Wholefully https://wholefully.com/holiday-recipes/diy-food-gifts/ 32 32 Simple Blueberry Jam Recipe https://wholefully.com/blueberry-jam-recipe/ https://wholefully.com/blueberry-jam-recipe/#respond Mon, 15 Jul 2024 06:40:00 +0000 https://wholefully.com/?p=77995 Looking for an easy, tasty homemade blueberry jam recipe? This simple recipe calls for only a few ingredients and will have you enjoying summer fruit all year.
A long spoon scoops up fruit jam from a half-pint jar, fresh fruit and more jars around it.
Every year, we put up jars and jars of jam and preserves. Jam is one of the best places for new canners to start—there aren't a ton of ingredients or a lot of prep work, they come together quickly, and taste far better than what you'd find at the grocery store. This blueberry jam recipe has been a go-to  in my family for years, and I'm excited to share it with you today. Let's make some blueberry jam! Read the post »]]> https://wholefully.com/blueberry-jam-recipe/feed/ 0 How To Make Canned Pickled Beets https://wholefully.com/pickled-beets/ https://wholefully.com/pickled-beets/#respond Mon, 24 Jun 2024 05:18:00 +0000 https://wholefully.com/?p=78106 Making homemade pickled beets is a great way to preserve the flavors of fresh beets! Follow our step-by-step guide on how to make canned pickled beets at home.
Two slices of pickled beets are speared onto the end of a fork held above an open jar of homemade pickles.
This pickled beet recipe is tasty enough to turn even the staunchest of beet-haters into a fan. This heirloom canning recipe has been passed down in my family for generations (and we've verified it to make sure it is up to modern canning safety standards), so you can trust that it's a winner! Plus, pickles are some of the easiest recipes to kick off a canning journey. Let's get pickling! Read the post »]]> https://wholefully.com/pickled-beets/feed/ 0 Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam https://wholefully.com/strawberry-rhubarb-jam/ https://wholefully.com/strawberry-rhubarb-jam/#comments Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:39:58 +0000 http://backtoherroots.com/?p=23861 Strawberries are the first cannable produce to come off in our area, and it's normally the first time I pull out my canner for the year. I canned a number of wonderful strawberry recipes this year, but none of them hold a candle to the wonderful Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam recipe directly from the pages of the canning bible—the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. This jam is pretty much life-changing. It's sweet, tangy, fruity. I know some people love the smooth, clear results you get with making jelly, but this jam is packed full of rhubarb chunks and strawberry pieces. I love that you can actually see the fruit when you spread it onto an English muffin. This jam makes my breakfast happy. Get the recipe -->]]> https://wholefully.com/strawberry-rhubarb-jam/feed/ 9 How to Make Perfect Caramel Popcorn at Home https://wholefully.com/caramel-popcorn/ https://wholefully.com/caramel-popcorn/#comments Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:00:42 +0000 https://wholefully.com/?p=54997 With just a few ingredients, you can make your own caramel popcorn at home! Learn how to make this sweet movie snack the easy way, no corn syrup required. Sweet, salty, and crunchy, caramel corn is a totally addictive snack that is super easy to make it home and it perfect for family movie night! This is a fun family kitchen project that you can toss together on the stove in just a few minutes! We made sure to make our caramel corn recipe using only wholesome, scratch ingredients that you probably already have on hand—no corn syrup needed! This is a great recipe for enjoying at home or packaging up for gifting. It's also a key component of world-famous Chicago Mix popcorn. Let's get popping! Overhead of a hand holding a metal popcorn scoop filled with finished caramel corn.

Is caramel corn the same as kettle corn?

While it's easy to mix up both these sweet popcorns, caramel corn and kettle corn are not the same. For kettle corn, popcorn kernels are sweetened with sugar just to give it a slightly sweet taste, while caramel corn, popcorn kernels are drenched in crunchy caramel to give it a rich, sweet, caramelly flavor and satisfying crunch!

How do I make perfect caramel popcorn at home?

First, you'll need to make yourself a batch of plain popcorn. Pop kernels and let your popcorn cool completely. Read the post »]]> https://wholefully.com/caramel-popcorn/feed/ 4 Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe https://wholefully.com/the-best-hot-chocolate-mix-recipe/ https://wholefully.com/the-best-hot-chocolate-mix-recipe/#comments Tue, 21 Nov 2023 14:58:38 +0000 https://wholefully.com/?p=54033 This post is brought to you by Wholefully partner Ball® Canning. Skip the store-bought packets and instead make up a batch of better-tasting hot chocolate mix at home! This is the BEST hot cocoa mix out there, so good you'll want to give it as a gift! Food gifts really are the best for the gifter and the giftee! For the giver, food gifts are easy to make, affordable, and everyone loves something tasty. For the receiver, they are delicious, thoughtful, and—maybe best of all—consumable! No extra bits or baubles that are going to the donation pile in January. This handmade hot chocolate mix is my new favorite food gift this holiday season! It is stupendously easy to make—you can make dozens of gift jars in just a few minutes—and who doesn’t love a cozy mug of hot cocoa on a winter’s day? A mug of hot chocolate garnished with marshmallows and chocolate shavings sits in front of a jar of homemade mix.

What makes this the best hot chocolate mix recipe out there?

You can feel good about gifting this hot cocoa mix, because it’s been tested on dozens of very discerning teachers! Last year, we created a hot chocolate bar using this mix at my daughter’s school during teacher appreciation week, and it got rave reviews, with lots of folks asking for my just-add-hot-water hot chocolate mix recipe! If this mix satisfied over 60 busy teachers, you know it’ll satisfy all the folks on your Christmas gift list! Even better: we took this recipe back into the test kitchen and tweaked it to make it even richer and creamier! Read the post »]]> https://wholefully.com/the-best-hot-chocolate-mix-recipe/feed/ 18 Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix (Ranch Seasoning) https://wholefully.com/ranch-dressing-mix/ https://wholefully.com/ranch-dressing-mix/#respond Thu, 14 Sep 2023 06:45:00 +0000 https://wholefully.com/?p=75032 Mix up a batch of this Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix to have on hand for quick and easy salad dressing or seasoning popcorn, sandwiches, and more!
Close view of ranch dressing mix in a bowl with a metal whisk.
Whether you're a salad enthusiast, a dip lover, or just looking to add a burst of flavor to your dishes, this powdered ranch dressing mix has got you covered. We love this mix because it's super versatile—you can use it as a popcorn flavoring, use it to add ranch flavor to casseroles and soups, or quickly mix it up with some mayo and sour cream to make the best-ever homemade ranch dressing! Keep a stash of this ranch dressing mix in your pantry, and you'll find a million ways to use it. Let's mix some up! Read the post »]]> https://wholefully.com/ranch-dressing-mix/feed/ 0 Popcorn Gift Set with Homemade Popcorn Seasonings https://wholefully.com/popcorn-seasoning-gift/ https://wholefully.com/popcorn-seasoning-gift/#respond Mon, 19 Dec 2022 19:42:29 +0000 https://wholefully.com/?p=72336 America's favorite movie snack gets even better with gourmet popcorn seasoning recipes. Plus, the seasonings make a great gift! We’re big fans of edible gifts here at Wholefully—they are easy and affordable to put together, and everyone appreciates the gift of something tasty! We whipped up this popcorn gift set as a quick Christmas gift or host/hostess gift idea, and it’s one of our favorite holiday food gifts we’ve ever created. Why? Well, obviously, everyone loves popcorn! But also, this gift set costs just a few dollars to make, it takes less than 10 minutes to pull together, and it’s a beautiful gift for neighbors, teachers, delivery people, or anyone who deserves a little bit of quality time with the family. This popcorn set just begs to be used for a cozy family movie night snuggled up on the couch! Even if you don’t need a holiday gift, our three homemade popcorn seasonings are a great option to have on hand in your own kitchen when the popcorn hankering strikes! We’ve got recipes for all three seasonings, plus a full tutorial on how to package them up in a cute popcorn gift set below. Let’s get popping! Read the post »]]> https://wholefully.com/popcorn-seasoning-gift/feed/ 0 The Best Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe for Decorating https://wholefully.com/cut-out-sugar-cookies-iced/ https://wholefully.com/cut-out-sugar-cookies-iced/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2022 15:00:00 +0000 http://backtoherroots.com/?p=20911 I know there are a lot of sugar cookie recipes floating around out there. And I know you probably have a tried-and-true sugar cookie recipe passed down from your great-great-grandma. But I'm telling you, you can throw those all in the recycling because this is the perfect sugar cookie recipe for cutouts. I've been using this recipe for years, and it has never ever failed me—and since I originally shared it years ago, you guys have been telling me that you come back to it again and again, too! That's because it's a total no-fail rolled sugar cookie and icing recipe. This recipe results in soft, tender, fluffy cookies that don't spread in the oven—making them absolutely perfect for cut-out cookies. And the cookies have the most beautiful, mild vanilla flavor! I also have the perfect icing recipe that goes on top that ends up drying hard enough to pack these perfect frosted sugar cookies in a tin, but is still soft enough to bite into without chipping a tooth. And it shines so bright and glossy in the light. It makes for some obnoxiously pretty cookies. Closeup view of a cut out sugar cookie shaped like a christmas tree topped with green icing and sprinkles.

What do these sugar cookies taste like?

I think the perfect sugar cookie is mildly flavored and very buttery. The cookie itself isn't too sweet—because the icing will add even more sweetness. I usually just flavor these cookies with high-quality vanilla extract (I say "high-quality" not because I'm an ingredient snob, but because you can really taste the flavor of the vanilla in these, so you want to make sure it's something good), but you can easily go with other flavorings, too. Peppermint is delightful for the holidays. Almond and coconut are also both delicious. In fact, I made a batch of these cookies for my coworkers one Halloween (pumpkin and ghost-shaped, of course) and used almond flavoring, and I repeatedly had people stopping by my office telling me they were the best sugar cookies they'd ever had. Most folks don't expect an almond-flavored sugar cookie! It's a really nice change of pace.

How do you make rolled sugar cookies with icing?

Making sugar cookies is a bit of an experience—it requires a few hours' worth of work. It's easy to do, but it isn't something you want to try to wedge into your schedule before work one morning. Here's the process:
  • Make the sugar cookie dough: I like to do mine in my stand mixer, but you can also do it with a hand mixer or with a wooden spoon.
  • Chill the sugar cookie dough: I suggest chilling for at least an hour, but you can speed that up by popping the dough in the freezer.
  • Roll out and cut the cookie dough: On a floured or powder sugared surface, roll out the dough. Using your favorite cookie cutters, cut out shapes.
  • Bake and cool: Bake for just a few minutes (really keep an eye on them), and then immediately remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Decorate: Mix up a batch of our sugar cookie icing, and decorate to your heart's content!
Read more »]]> https://wholefully.com/cut-out-sugar-cookies-iced/feed/ 230 Tender Lemon Drop Cookies https://wholefully.com/chewy-lemon-snowdrop-cookies/ https://wholefully.com/chewy-lemon-snowdrop-cookies/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2022 16:00:00 +0000 http://backtoherroots.com/?p=20913 A few years back at one of our family gatherings, my Mama brought out a plate of these little, pale yellow cookies. They almost looked like unbaked sugar cookies. I really didn't think anything of them. And then my husband had one, ran over to me and told me I had to go grab one immediately. I made my way over to the plate, grabbed one, took a bite, and was completely blown away.   Get the recipe »  ]]> https://wholefully.com/chewy-lemon-snowdrop-cookies/feed/ 78 Soft Gingerbread Cookies https://wholefully.com/chewy-gingerbread-cookies/ https://wholefully.com/chewy-gingerbread-cookies/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2022 18:00:00 +0000 http://backtoherroots.com/?p=20916 The smell of fresh gingerbread baking is unmatched. Make a batch of these soft gingerbread cookies with your family this holiday. These soft gingerbread cookies are one of my favorite non-chocolate cookies ever! They are just...perfect. They are the perfect texture (slightly crunchy on the outside, but totally gooey and tender on the inside). They are the perfect flavor (rich and warm, with a little bit of added kick thanks to black pepper). They even look perfect. Like perfect little pillows of sugary deliciousness. Get the recipe »  ]]> https://wholefully.com/chewy-gingerbread-cookies/feed/ 77