Scroll to the bottom of the post to get ALL the “12 Days” recipes from 2019 – 2024!
Welcome to Day 10 of
The 12 Days of Holiday Treats!
Once again, this year, from December 1st-12th I’ll post a new holiday treat recipe every day – inspiration for your holiday entertaining!
The recipes I’m sharing are small-er batch – each recipe makes 1-dozen or a few more smaller-sized treats that are simple to prepare and that use everyday ingredients and equipment so hopefully you’ll be able to whip up any of these on a whim. Check out the treats from 2019 – 2024 at the bottom of this post too for more inspiration!
Today’s treat is a no-bake recipe that comes together in minutes and is perfect to make in advance for holiday parties or gifting! Bonus? It uses up ingredients that you probably have on hand already. This is, in fact, how the recipe came to be about – I am slowly working my way through “bits and pieces” in the pantry and found a half a package of cereal (cereal flakes, almonds and cranberries) that was needing to be used. I remembered about Dorie’s “Desert Roses” that we made back in 2017 for Tuesdays with Dorie.
Desert Roses are apparently a part of French childhood (I think similar to the Rice Krispie square in North America or perhaps the Chocolate Crackle or Honey Joy in Australia). The name is a nod to clumps of gypsum that form in the desert which these resemble (kinda sorta!), Dorie’s version sounds awfully exotic, but are a cinch to make – and endlessly customisable (as per the “empty the pantry version you have here!). So easy to make GF and nut-free too.
No-Bake Chocolate, Fruit, Nut and Cereal Clusters
Easy, no-bake holiday treats made with pantry staples - great for holiday entertaining or gifting!
Ingredients
- 28g (2 tablespoons) salted butter
- 100g (1/2 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 80g (1 cup) flaky cereal (I used a Cranberry and Almond Cereal)
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut
- 2 tablespoons dried fruit pieces (like cranberries or raisins), chopped small
- 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, slightly crushed
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients at 50-60% power for 1-2 minutes in 30-second bursts. Alternatively, you can place the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and stir until the chocolate is melted.
- Mix in the cereal, nuts, fruit and coconut until they are evenly distributed through the chocolate.
- Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the mixture into 12-14 mini cupcake liners (you can place them in a mini cupcake pan if you like, until they are set).
- Refrigerate until completely set. These will keep for a week or so in an airtight container in the fridge (lol, try to make them last that long!). Bring them to room temperature for a few minutes before serving.
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Stay tuned to see the last two days of holiday treats recipes !
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Check out 2024’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Browned Butter Holiday Rice Krispie Squares
Day 2: Orange Shortbread
Day 3: Festive Macaroons
Day 4: Chocolate Wheatie Cookies
Day 5: Raspberry Coconut Squares
Day 6: Lemon Curd Tartlets
Day 7: Granola Cookies
Day 8: Lemon Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
Day 9: Cranberry Almond Squares
Day 10: Chocolate Caramel Cups
Day 11: Cheese Crackers
Day 12: No-bake Almond Cranberry Slice
Check out 2023’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Holiday Speckles
Day 2: Soft Chocolate Mint Sugar Cookies
Day 3: Funfetti Thumbprint Cookies with Ruby Drop Centres
Day 4: Chocolate Orange Creme Cups
Day 5: Chocolate Filled Shortbread Cups
Day 6: Pistachio Fruit Bread Crackers
Day 7: Pistachio Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Day 8: Iced Mocha Financier Bars (GF)
Day 9: Lemon Meringue Thumbprint Cookies
Day 10: Chocolate Hazelnut Financiers
Day 11: Cranberry, Almond and Pistachio “truffles”
Day 12: Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies (GF)
Check out 2022’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Chocolate Peppermint Creme Cups
Day 2: Chocolate-Dipped Wafer Cookies
Day 3: Gingerbread madeleines
Day 4: Funfetti Cookies
Day 5: Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Day 6: Coffee Financiers
Day 7: No-Bake Strawbery Cheesecake Cups
Day 8: Holiday Joys
Day 9: Holiday Spice Marmalade
Day 10: Soft Molasses Cookies
Day 11: Coconut Roughs
Day 12: Holiday Lights Jam Sandwich Cookies
Check out 2021’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Speculoos financiers
Day 2: Chocolate Dipped Orange Sugar Cookies
Day 3: Madeleines à la Clémentine
Day 4: Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
Day 5: Sunbutter and Jam Chocolate Cups
Day 6: Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Cookies
Day 7: Linzer Cookies
Day 8: Chocolate-Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
Day 9: Choc-Mint Thumbprint Cookies
Day 10: Pailles (Puff Pastry and Jam Cookies)
Day 11: Strawberry Santa Hats
Day 12: Mulled Wine Jam
Check out 2020’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Rice Krispie Wreaths
Day 2: Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Day 3: Peppermint Bark
Day 4: Orangettes
Day 5: Rocky Road Chocolate Crackle Slice
Day 6: Candy Cane Sugar Cookies
Day 7: Orange Pim’s
Day 8: Mendiants
Day 9: Chewy Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies
Day 10: Apricot, Coconut and Cranberry “truffles”
Day 11: Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Brownies
Day 12: Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Check out 2019’s 12 Days of Holiday Cookies:
Day 1: Easy Three Ingredient Shortbread
Day 2: Jam Drops
Day 3: Chocolate Caramel Slice
Day 4: Melting Moments
Day 5: White Christmas
Day 6: Langues de Chat
Day 7: Chocolate Coconut Slice
Day 8: Cornflake Biscuits
Day 9: Rocky Road
Day 10: Honey Joys
Day 11: Rum Ball Truffles
Day 12: Giant Florentine Cookie (to share)
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