One of my very favorite parts about Christmas is all of the baking. I know a lot of people dread firing up the oven and staying in the kitchen for days on end, but it’s relaxing to me. True baking is definitely an art form that takes patience and practice, but sometimes you just don’t have the time. Being short on time doesn’t mean you still can’t create plates of delicious Christmas goodies. There are tons of recipes out there for impressive-looking holiday desserts that do not require any baking at all! I have scoured the Internet for 50 of the best no bake Christmas treat recipes out there, and combined them here in one convenient blog post. Scroll through and take a look, but try to not get too hungry!

Candy Cane Reindeer Pops from Finding Zest

Christmas Tree Oreo Cookies from Midget Momma

Chocolate Torrone from An Italian in my Kitchen

I just love pumpkin-flavored anything, and I love chocolate chip cookies. What better way to combine the two than with this chocolate chip pumpkin cookie recipe? The cookie itself is fluffy and light, but packs a warm flavor due to the aromatic pumpkin pie spices. If you do not like pumpkin pie spice, you can use an equal amount of cinnamon. You'll still have that delicious spicy warm flavoring, just not as strong.

If you are using a nonstick baking pan, do not grease it, or your cookies will spread too much, and not be fluffy. I use a stainless steel baking sheet, so I use parchment paper as a liner. This not only keeps cleanup simple, but it also keeps the cookies from sticking.

As far as measuring out the cookie dough, I use a medium-sized cookie scoop. If you do not have one, no problem. Just measure out roughly 1 1/2 Tbsps of dough, and drop that onto your baking sheet.

For the chocolate chips, you can use any kind you like, but I use semi-sweet. They seem to balance out the sweetness of the cookie. Of course, you can use milk chocolate if you like, the cookies will just be a bit sweeter. You can also substitute whatever type of milk product you like for the milk.

I hope you enjoy these cookies, and if you would like to support my endeavors, please consider clicking here to visit my YouTube channel. Please subscribe while you're there if you like my content!

Don't you just love a good poke cake? I do, but it can be difficult to find a recipe that doesn't use a nasty boxed cake mix. Also, a lot of recipes call for just vanilla extract to add a bit of flavor. By mixing vanilla and almond extracts, you can add a bit of depth to really make this cherry poke cake extraordinary.

I myself am not a big fan of coconut, but I've seen poke cake recipe variations that included a bit of coconut extract, and even a handful of shredded coconut. Feel free to play around with various flavorings. You never know what you may come up with!

Anyway, enough talk. Let's get on to the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup full-fat buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 (3.5 oz) package cherry jello 
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water


Topping:
1 cup very cold heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Cherries with stems for garnish


How to make it:
1: Preheat oven to 350°.
2: Butter and flour a 9" x 13" baking pan.
3: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
4: In a medium mixing bowl, mix together buttermilk, oil, eggs and extracts.
5: Slowly add the liquid ingredients to the dry, stirring thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated. Use a hand mixer if you like. (Batter will be thick.)
6: Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for roughly 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
7: Let cool, in pan, for 15 minutes.
8: While the cake is cooling, whisk together the boiling water and Jell-O powder in a medium mixing bowl until dissolved. Stir in the cold water. Using a wooden skewer, poke holes all over the cake, then pour the Jell-O mixture on top.
9: Place cake in refrigerator, and let cool for three hours.
10: Make the topping by combining the heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using a handmixer, beat on high speed until it is whipped cream consistency. Spread this over the cold cake, and return to the refrigerator for one hour.
11: Top with fresh cherries, and serve.