Holly Jollies – Christmas Candy On A Budget, In A Hurry!
This is the busiest time of year for most of us. We have all of the decorations to put up and tend to, presents to shop for and wrap, visits to Santa, to see lights, to see family…and on top of it all we really want to bake and prepare treats for those we love and appreciate!
I prefer, whenever possible, to give a homemade gift rather than a storebought, but sometimes I just don’t have the time in the kitchen that I’d like. Ironically, the time of year I’d like to cook the most is also the time of year I have the least amount of time to do it in. Holly Jollies come to the rescue! My kids love making these with me and you can easily turn out a customized candy in very little time and using very little money. Chances are, you may even have some of the ingredients on hand already.
For this tutorial, I made enough Holly Jollies to send to twelve teachers and staff members of my kid’s schools in about half an hour, start to finish! Could it get any better than that? It sure can – I only had one bowl and on spoon to wash when I was done! ~grins~
Ingredients are mostly up to you but they start with mini muffin papers and almond bark. I like to get a different color or pattern mini muffin paper for each variety, and then give an assortment to folks that they can easily tell apart. I love using almond bark in these because it is just a little over two dollars a package and each package, with add ins, will make about 36 mini muffin sized treats.
The kids really like rice krispies added in there but Ricky’s favorite is salted peanuts.
Now some folks will tell you to melt this big old hunk of chocolate in a double broiler but last I checked, not many of us had a hankering to make something difficult when it could be easy. So what we’re gonna do instead is plop this thing in a large mixing bowl and stick that puppy in the microwave.
Let’s microwave it for 90 seconds to start.
I know, I know. It doesn’t look like it’s making much headway but hang in there, honey bunches.
Now stick it back in for about 45 seconds and then stir it up a bit. The package says to microwave it for thirty seconds at a time but you know how I like to live dangerously and all that… Keep on doing this, stirring it after every thirty seconds, and in a few cycles it will be all smooth and creamy.
While that is melting, put your mini muffin papers in your mini muffin pan.
I bet y’all are ashamed of me for using this one. It’s old and stained, but I promise it’s clean. Usually, I make regular sized muffins for Southern Plate because I have what I call a “stunt pan” that I use only for posts so it doesn’t get all stained up like muffin pans tend to do. I’ve caught Ricky about to use that one a time or two and get this look of horror on my face as I seem to call out in slow motion “nooooo! That’s my stunt pan!”.
But hey, it’s Christmas, we’re all a bit overextended, so I figured y’all could just pretend this one was all pristine and such.
Looky here, almost done.
Smooth as can be and ready to go!
This is where I call in the experts. Everyone knows that candy tastes better if you let kids do it.
They’re just naturally sweeter than us 
Getting my kids in the kitchen is extremely important to me, but especially so at Christmas. If I’m making something for them to give, I want them to enjoy the happiness (and learn the importance) of giving something you personally had a hand in making. In my mind, this is one of those activities that helps them to grow up with their heads in the right place.
They are also very proficient at the latest quality control techniques and therefore will insist on tasting the rice krispies before they use them!
I use several things in these Holly Jollies, but I only do one ingredient per batch.
- Peanut holly jollies, with salted peanuts stirred in (Ricky’s favorite)
- Rice Krispie Holly Jollies, with rise krispies stirred in (kid’s favorite)
- Raisin Holly Jollies, with raisins stirred in (one of my favorites)
- Cranberry Holly Jollies with dried cranberries stirred into white almond bark. (My top favorite)
The sky is truly the limit with these.
Whatever add in you choose, you’ll want to add about two cups of it as Katy Rose is doing here.
Speaking of Katy Rose…
She goes to preschool in a church and brought this coloring picture home. She took it out of her backpack and brought it to me and asked:
“Mama, is Jesus wearing a Snuggie?”
~snickers~
And stir it well.
Once you have your add ins mixed in there well, spoon it into your mini muffin papers.
This is going to make about three dozen.
But what I do is once I fill up my muffin tin (it only holds 24), I just spoon the rest onto waxed paper.
Allow those to harden, it won’t take long.
Here are our muffin paper ones…
and here are the ones from the waxed paper.
Now just go crazy and have fun! I use a different add in for each package of almond bark. This is peanuts.
Remember to get the salted ones, they are just wonderful in this!
I love dried cranberries stirred into white almond bark and it’s really pretty for the holidays, too!
This would also be great with nuts added in as well, or why not just do the white with cashews or other dried fruit that you like?
Seriously, knock yourself out with these.
Once you get your chocolate melted you can have these babies done from start to finish in about five minutes and it only dirties up one bowl.
This is the most fuss free holiday recipe I have!
In about half an hour, I was able to turn out enough Holly Jollies for twelve teacher’s gifts.
I packaged them in the little clear cellophane party favor bags you get in the party section at Wal Mart or the grocery store (my Dollar General has them, too). You get about twenty for a little over a dollar. I LOVE THOSE THINGS, especially this time of year. I use them for so many things. They are perfect for candy, cookies, and even miniature loaves of bread. They are also pretty enough to just tie with some curling ribbon and deliver as is.
Most importantly, it allows you to create gifts for folks and not have to spend more on the packaging than you did making the gift!
For my Holly Jollies, I found these little tin buckets at Target for $1.00 each, and picked up a few. I normally don’t spend that much on packaging, though.
I also picked up a package of plastic Christmas themed cups at Wal Mart, they were three for $1.50 but you can also get others that are 5 for $1.00 there if you like. I just put my Holly Jollies in a clear party favor bag and stuck them down in there. I included a couple of each type of Holly Jolly with each cup for variety. The kids just loved being able to take these to school! Doesn’t it make you feel good to see kids so excited to be giving things to folks?
I love those little munchkins.
Holly Jollies are so quick, easy, and economical that you can afford to give treats to all of the kind people you encounter regularly throughout the year.
We always think of teachers, but what about the school’s support staff? Does your child eat in the lunchroom – what about the lunchroom ladies and the school janitor? All of these are folks who can make your child’s day with a smile and a kind word. I’ll just bet that if you sent them some Holly Jollies, you’d make theirs, too.
Holly Jollies
Ingredients
- 1 Package Almond Bark (white or chocolate)
- 36 mini muffin papers
- 2 Cups of one or more of the following (get creative!): Salted Peanuts, Rice Krispie Cereal, Dried Cranberries, Raisins, crushed candy canes, Other salted nuts,Your favorite dried fruit, chopped to the size of raisins
Instructions
- Line a mini muffin tin with mini muffin papers. Place almond bark in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for a minute and a half; stir. Return to microwave and microwave for about thirty seconds at a time, stirring each time, until bark is smooth and creamy.* Remove from microwave and stir in two cups of your choice of add in. Spoon into mini muffin papers and allow to sit until cool and hardened. You can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process if you like.
- Package and give with a smile on your face and a grateful heart. *Note: Take special care not to allow even the tiniest drop of water to get into the bark as it will clot up if you do.
Google Recipe View Microformatting by ZipList Recipe Plugin
Ingredients
- 1 Package Almond Bark (white or chocolate)
- 36 mini muffin papers
- 2 Cups of one or more of the following (get creative!): Salted Peanuts, Rice Krispie Cereal, Dried Cranberries, Raisins, crushed candy canes, Other salted nuts,Your favorite dried fruit, chopped to the size of raisins
Instructions
- Line a mini muffin tin with mini muffin papers. Place almond bark in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for a minute and a half; stir. Return to microwave and microwave for about thirty seconds at a time, stirring each time, until bark is smooth and creamy.* Remove from microwave and stir in two cups of your choice of add in. Spoon into mini muffin papers and allow to sit until cool and hardened. You can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process if you like.
- Package and give with a smile on your face and a grateful heart. *Note: Take special care not to allow even the tiniest drop of water to get into the bark as it will clot up if you do.
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Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.”
~ Peg Bracken.
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Dec 3 2009. Filed under Dessert, Holidays, Southern Plate Kids.
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I linked to this from the Southern Savers website. It sounds SO Great and Easy. I Can’t wait to try it!! I LOVE your tutorial with all the comments, I was totally laughing about snuggie.
All the best, and Happy Holidays!
These sound SO yummy! I will definitely have to buy some almond bark (for the first time). I want one of your cookbooks as well…where can I buy one?!
Hey Christy! Obviously someone in Texas is paying attention to you! — we were grocery shopping last night at HEB (big grocery chain all over Texas) and they have a coupon next to their HEB brand almond bark (they call it “chocolate or vanilla coating”) If you buy it for $2.99, you get free: a bag of pretzels, a bag of mini-marshmallows, and a small bag of pecans. (yes, all three!) Coupon is good through 12/15.
Thanks for the tip, Lisa! I’m on my way to HEB in the morning!!
I LOVED the Snuggie comment!! So cute!!
You inspired me yesterday to make multi batches of this incredibly easy, delicious candy!! Many people I know will be getting this for part of a christmas present this year!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!! Merry CHRISTmas!!!
THESE ARE AWESOME, FAST AND FUN TO MAKE WITH KIDS!! I made milk chocolate ones: one batch with salted cashews, one set with rice crispies.. then I made a batch with white chocolate with cranberry raisins (red color is so pretty at Christmas) and salted chopped cashews.. SOO GOOD!!!!!!
Thanks for the great idea! We tried our own variations and the best one was Peanut Butter Cups!! Just cover the bottom of the tin with the melted almond bark and put a dollop of peanut butter on top and then cover with more melted almond bark. Yum-o! Definitely our favorite!
What is Almond Bark? I live in Hawaii and have never seen it before. Is it like chocolate baking squares? Thanks, Margaret
Margaret – It is a big slab of choclate either white or brown.
Thank you! Thats what it looked like to me!
I think you could also use candy melts; its basically the same thing only almond bark is usually a better value for your money
I just came up with a fun mix-in for these: S’mores! I added mini marshmellows and Golden Grahams cereal into the dark Almond Bark. It was rich and delicious. I blogged about it here (with kudos to Christy, of course!:
http://bitsofwhitt.blogspot.com/2009/12/holly-jollies-christmas-treat-on-budget.html
Sounds like another fabulous version … can hardly wait to make all of them!
These are wonderful!! I made about 100 tonight! I crushed up pretzels and mixed with the chocolate; those are my new favorite!! I also mixed andes baking bites in the vanilla favor which were also wonderful! This is one of my new favorite holiday treats! Thanks!
I am making a load of these this weekend. I plan on rice crispies, candy canes and peanuts. I have thought coconut and almonds would be good too!
Mmmm, crushed candy canes with white chocolate. Very Christmas-sy.
I just made these I used white chocolate and cranberries! look super yummy not sure how many will make it out of the house
I made some of these last night and added 1 cup coconut,and one cup chopped pecans. Turned out pretty good
[...] Continue Reading >>> [...]
Thanks for the great idea! We used chocolate chips and mixed in Cocoa Krispies – you can never have enough chocolate.
I’ve made these before with chow mein noodles (but just making “haystacks” on waxed paper. Never tried with the mini-muffin liners). The crunch of the noodles goes perfect with chocolate, too — just another idea. I like Alyssa’s hint about making them with coconut. Have to make one more batch just to try it!
These were a hit! I made the white with cranberries, and the chocolate with peanuts and raisins. YUM! They tasted like Chunky candy bars. I didn’t think my oldest son was going to be able to stop eating them! Thanks so much!
[...] Holly Jollies, Christmas Candy On A Budget [...]
Love the recipe. Thank you sooooooo much. Everyone I know received Holly Jollies for Christmas. Including myself.
Our WalMart isn’t a ‘super’ store. Stupid of Central California, huh? Anywho, this will probably sound silly, but I don’t know where to find almond bark. Ideas?
I just love your recipes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Shirley
Try using milk chocolate chips with a little parafin. I know it sounds crazy but it will keep the chocolate a little more firm (that’s what my granny used to do).
Hey Christy,
When I was growing up my dad would always make pretzels covered in almond bark. My mom was the cook but dad would help out in the kitchen every now and then.
Barb
[...] Continue Reading >>> Christy Jordan of Southern Plate specializes in classic southern dishes and quick and easy family favorites. Christy has a home ec degree and tries to make Southern Plate something of a home ec class online for folks who perhaps didn’t pay attention the first time around! [...]
[...] Jollies! Holly Jollies – Christmas Candy On A Budget, In A Hurry! | Southern Plate I made these last year for co-workers and friends and everyone loved them. SUPER cheap too! [...]
Every Christmas I love cooking my own candy and cakes with the kids. It teaches them and it can turn out to be cheaper. The candy looks delicious and thanks for the really helpful tutorial. I will print it out later on for this Christmas.
Hey Christy,
Just wondering how far in advance you can make these? I’m preggo (due Dec 24th) so I’m looking for fast, easy treats I can give as gifts but also make several weeks ahead of time. Will the holly jollies stay good for a couple weeks in an airtight container?
Thanks so much!!
Kelly
Hey Kelly,
I’ve made these with peanuts and frozen them. They turned out fine.
Hey Christy!!
My grandma always made something similar to these for Christmas… she would toast coconut and add that to the chocolate. I haven’t thought about those in years… I may have to make them this year!!
Love the s’mores idea! How ’bout rocky road with marshmallows and nuts?
I’m so confused about the almond bark. I’ve seen it at Walmart, but is there one brand that is better than another. Also, does it have an almond flavor to it, or is that just the name. I am looking for something that tastes like milk chocolate and they have a candy shop where I can buy the wafers but the almond bark is so much cheaper.
Thanks for your help!
Jo
I bet if you used raisins and peanuts together it would taste kinda like the square “Chunky” bars. I’m going to try that!
What a cute idea! I love the idea of white chocolate and cranberries! I wonder if white chocolate and crushed peppermints would be great too?
Thanks for sharing
P.S. I bought my ticket to Food Blog South because I heard you would be there. I’m so excited to meet you!
Re: the peppermint idea, Christy does have a recipe for peppermint bark. Do a site search! I plan to try it this year!
Last year I melted both the chocolate and white chocolate bark. Added a layer of chocolate and let it set up. Then I added chopped peppermints to the white chocolate and added a layer on top. A lot like the expensive peppermint bark from a well known store.
such a cute idea!
Christy,
I ALWAYS love your posts! They take me back to when my mama & grandma were still alive. I was only 17 when my mom died, so a lot of her recipes I had not yet learned, but yours are so similar, I can always count on you to take me back to the good ol’ days! You even use the same Corelle plates that I ate supper off of every night growing up (the white with the green flower border). Anywho, my grandma always made these for me at Christmas. She made some with white chocolate & some with milk chocolate. However, she mixed a few dry ingredients together & dropped them by spoonfuls. She would mix cheerios, salted peanuts, sometimes pretzel sticks, and those little crispy chow mein noodles! I know the noodles sounds weird, but they were soooo good! Thanks for sharing so many great recipes with us all!
Erica
Are you kidding, girlfriend, those chow mein noodles rock, they are totally not weird!!
And the pretzel sticks are a fabulous idea…I’ll be getting those ingredients tomorrow at the store! Well, I already have the chow mein noodles in my pantry!
Christy
Love your email. I must have very picky eyeballls that have a very hard time deciphering (big word:) the print when printed with a red background. Grrrr getting less young is a pain! Thanks for all You do!
My mom would make these every year and used white bark with crushed peppermint- this was way back almost 40 years ago lol- I use half brown almond bark half chocolate chips and use peanuts or crushed pretzels…yum!!
I make this all of the time using dry roasted peanuts, my recipe makes about 100 pieces, so much so that I store them in zip lock bags in my extra fridge in the garage for my hubby, but never thought to use other ingredients till now. What a super idea. I love the idea of mixing the peanuts with the raisins to create something similiar to the chunky candy bar. I just ordered a case of chunky candy bars for my husband from amazon.com. now I know I can make them much cheeper. Thanks for sharing your great ideas. We all need easy recipes, and what could be easier than this.
Christy, these are perfect! I was trying to figure out what my son could give his bus driver and now I know!! She is totally awesome and deserves something yummy….he picked out a necklace/earring set for his teacher, but I’ll be putting some of these in along with that gift for sure!
I wasn’t sure what the almond bark was but now I see (from someone’s comment) and will definitely have to try these for the holidays.
I bet there are just so many different variations you could have a dozen different kinds without going crazy! These will so be on my cookie plate this year.
My brother made these with the dry roasted peanuts when I was going through chemotherapy .. it was one of the few things I could eat without getting nauseous .. I still love these and especially since we’re so tight on money this year, I think this will be awesome for gifts to my fellow bakery workers ..
oh my, have to try these…hope i can find the right chocolate…
Thanks for another quick and simple recipe. This is surely a keeper!
Hey…thanks for ANOTHER great recipe ! White choc and cranberries is gonna first to try, but my mind started thinking about adding cherries to a batch. or maybe those candied ones like you use in fruit cake!
And I still owe you my peanut butter fudge recipe. I can’t seem to get a clear picture of a ‘bird’s eye boil’ without the steam fogging it up, but I’ll try again.
Maybe I’ll try to explain it and You can figure out the tutorial part, lol.
ho ho ho…
Phyllis
Hmmmmm, these look delicious! I can’t wait to try them. It seems like the varieties are endless. Yesterday, at our local Dollar Tree store (my favorite dollar store), I bought a grinder bottle of crushed peppermint (looks like crushed candy canes). That would be an easy way to just incorporate some mint flavor. Thanks for another winner, Christy!
You’re right. It IS hard to keep a muffin tin looking food. Glad you have a stunt one. If you ever need a really ugly one for something, I bet I have the worst one in town! But it still works. Thanks for this great idea. Really makes me wish my daughter was still at home to get in the kitchen with and make these.
am giving s’mores kits as party favors for a church group next week. I printed the label on red paper. So easy-thanks!
Yum! I have a feeling the hardest part about making these would be making sure they actually make it out of the house! When I am making stuff like this I tend to taste all the way through the process. I think I am going to make some with:
Cashews
Pecans and might try a dollop of caramel sauce in the middle
Peanuts
Coconut and Almonds (like an almond joy)
Crushed pretzels with a dollop of peanut butter inside
Crunchy Chinese noodles
Peppermint candy canes
Then I may go crazy and do an ‘Everything but the kitchen sink’ with cashews, pecans, peanut butter and pretzels!
Oh, wait… someone mentioned s’mores… maybe I need to do graham crackers and marshmallows too.
Jeeze, wonder why I am craving chocolate now?
Oh my goodness!! I have just discovered my ‘go to’ treat for not only Christmas, but year round. How great to just buy some of that bark – store it – and when I crave sweets I know that in a few mins and with some creative pantry searching for add-ins, I’ll have just the right treat for me – oops..meant for my family. teehee. Thanks so much Christy for sharing this great ideas and thansks to everyone for the ideas of things to add in. Merry Christmas to All you Sweethearts!
just made these with my two grand daughters ages 9,and 10 very easy they loved it..making more for christmas
I’m so glad I was browsing the website today. I have made these in the past but completely forgot about them. Will definitely be one of my go-tos this year for Christmas gifts.
I love making candy with the barks. I make one with white bark and crush up peppermint and put in the white one.