Christmas Dessert Party

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It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, and what better way to celebrate the season than with a Christmas Dessert Party!  I’ve put together a  really easy, delicious, and extra sweet menu and the best part is it’s full of baking tricks that make it quick to put together.

This time of year is so busy for everyone, but it’s still so nice to make homemade treats for family and friends.  You don’t have to give up homemade taste with these little tricks. 😉  I made all these treats in one fun day in the kitchen with my kids.

I love to start with the basics, like brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin loaf and then add a few extra special touches to take them to a new level.

I used NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Brownies & More Baking Mixes, NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Holiday Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Libby’s® Pumpkin Bread to make the baking fast and easy and still deliver homemade taste.

I picked up all my supplies at Walmart.  Look for special holiday baking displays for NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® products and Libby’s® products.  Also check the baking aisle.  Find the cookie dough in the refrigerated section.

After I made the brownies, cookies, and pumpkin loaf for the party, I added a few extra special touches to take them to the next level.

I used NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Holiday Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to make cookie pops.

To make the cookie pops, I separated and baked the Holiday Chocolate Chip Cookies and after they were cooled I sandwiched two of  them together with some icing, added a lollipop stick, and rolled the edge in holiday sprinkles.

So easy and such a hit with my guests.

I also made some special brownie lollipops too.  I baked NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Brownies & More Chocolate Baking Mix for the brownies, and after they were cooled and cut into rectangles, I put them on a stick, dipped the tops into some melted NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels, and sprinkled with some Christmas sprinkles.

I also made some reindeer brownie pops, as little take home favours at the end of the party.

I love using the baking mixes for the baking, it leaves me with enough energy to add some extra special touches like making the reindeer.  They were really simple to put together.  I used NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Brownies & More Baking Mix with Butterfinger Morsels -yum, so good.  After they were cool, I cut them into rectangles and added a lollipop stick.  Then I melted some more Milk Chocolate Morsels for dipping the brownies in.  I also melted some NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, and put the melted chocolate in a  small zip bag, with the corner snipped off.  I piped some small antlers onto parchment paper and put them into the fridge to set.

To make the reindeer faces, I used some candy eyes, and made a nose with a NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, Holiday variety, using the red ones as little Rudolph noses.  Then I added the chocolate antlers.

Once they were set, I put them in little cello bags tied with a ribbon and placed them by the door so my guests could take one as they left as a little party favour.

I used the Pumpkin Bread Kit to make some delicious pumpkin bread.  It’s so easy, moist and delicious, and I love that even the icing is included in the kit.

The kit makes two pumpkins loaves so I used one to make  little pumpkin trifles.  These were so, so good.

 

Pumpkin Trifle

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Ingredients

• Libby's® Pumpkin Bread Kit
• vanilla instant pudding
• 250 mL whip cream
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup Libby's® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• candied nuts

For the Candied Nuts

• 8 oz pecans, chopped
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Prepare your pumpkin bread according to the kit instructions and allow to cool.
2. To make the candied nuts, whip the egg white, then stir in pecans. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and cinnamon, then add to nut mixture, and stir to evenly coat the nuts. Bake the nuts on a parchment lined baking sheet at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring even 15 mins. Allow to cool.
3. Prepare the vanilla instant pudding according to package instructions.
4. Whip the cream and add 1 tbsp sugar and vanilla -set 1/2 cup aside to use as topping, the rest is for the mousse.
5. To make the pumpkin mousse, mix the pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, and maple syrup. Add the pudding mixture and stir to combine. Fold in the whipped cream.
6. To assemble the trifles, cut the pumpkin loaf into cubes and fill the bottom 1/3 of a small dessert dish. Top with the pumpkin moose, to fill the next 1/3 of the dish.
7. Garnish with a spoon of whipped cream, and sprinkle with candied nuts.

These were a real favourite on the dessert table.

I also included some clementines -or Christmas oranges as we love to call them, they were a nice addition to all the sweets.

The brownies and holiday chocolate chip cookies were so good!  My whole house smelt like chocolate.

I also made some brownie donuts, just for fun.

They looked adorable paired with some little milk bottles.  To make them, use some brownie mix and pipe them into a very well greased mini donut pan.  I topped them with a little chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles.  So cute.

My dining room is all decorated for Christmas with a woodland theme, and was the perfect setting for this sweet party.

I kept the decor pretty simple with lots of fresh greens, and a few red roses.

For drinks, along with the milk in the sweet little bottles, I put together a little hot chocolate bar on my bar cart.

I love having lots of little serve yourself stations when entertaining, it helps with the traffic and flow of the get together.

I made the most delicious hot chocolate with NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk and the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.  Just heat one can of evaporated milk with 1/2 cup chocolate morsels until the chocolate is melted and hot chocolate is well combined.  Using the evaporated milk makes the hot chocolate so rich and creamy.  Here’s a little tip for serving hot chocolate at a party, use a teapot!  It worked perfectly.

I added a few fun toppings like marshmallows, hot chocolate flavoured candy canes and whip cream.

I also made a few gingerbread cookies for the mugs.  I used NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Rolled & Ready Holiday Gingerbread Cookie Dough Sheets.  It’s so easy to use and so good, I don’t think I’ll ever use anything else again.  The sheets come all rolled out and ready to use, you just cut out with your favourite cookie cutter and bake. These are perfect to use with kids, because lets face it all they really want to do is cut out the shapes and decorate them, and with the refrigerated that dough that’s all there is to it.  The only hard part was keeping the kids from eating all the cookies before the party. 😉

This was a wonderful way to kick of the holiday season.

Find lots more inspiration at the Nestlé Flavorful Moments Pinterest Board.

With a Christmas Dessert Party, life really is a party!

What are you baking this holiday?