Quick and easy chocolate Christmas candy making for kids

Kids can easily make chocolate Christmas candy with a few basic items.

Chocolate candy is the best, easy present ever for kids to make and give at Christmas time. It's fun too. I've done this with my grand-kids many times. They end up with gifts everyone will love that they can make on a budget. If your kids are too young to use the stove, melt the chocolate for them and allow them to do the rest. Here's a few recipes we use here at Grandma's house to get you started.

Almond bark

Oil a cookie sheet lightly and set to one side. Melt 2 bags of semi-sweet, milk, or white chocolate over low heat. Stir in 2 cups of almond slivers or whole almonds. Spread mixture evenly on the greased cookie sheet. Let cool and break into random pieces. Package and freeze.

Rocky road drops

Oil a cookie sheet lightly and set to one side. Melt 2 bags of semi-sweet chocolate over low heat. Add 2 cups chopped peanuts and 1 cup mini marshmallows. Stir in quickly so the marshmallows don't melt. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the greased cookie sheet. Let cool before packaging and freezing.

White chocolate pretzels

Oil a cookie sheet lightly and set to one side. Melt 2 bags of white chocolate chips over low heat. Dip small pretzels in the chocolate one by one and lay on the cookie sheet to harden. (Dip pretzels using a fork so as not to get sticky fingers.) This candy is pretty with multicolored sprinkles too. Let cool before packaging and freezing.

Chocolate coconut wreaths

Oil a cookie sheet lightly and set to one side. Melt 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 bag butterscotch chips over low heat. Add one bag of coconut and stir in. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Use a spoon or clean fingers to make a center hole in each candy and shape into wreath. “decorate” the wreath with candy bits of your choice. Let these easy Christmas candy treats cool, then freeze for Christmas.

The make ahead factor saves holiday stress.

The best part about all these easy chocolate candy Christmas treats is that they can be made a month ahead to save last minute stress. They can be used as gifts or served at a Christmas party. Make a couple assorted bags of chocolate Christmas candy for unexpected guests and just leave them in the freezer.

Note: Kids learn what they live. Consider buying fair trade chocolate and other cruelty free ingredients for this Christmas project so that kids learn the importance of using their buying power for peaceful, positive change.