WIBU to give baked goods as Christmas prezzies??

[PancakesOnATuesday]

I have a large family and often struggle to think what to buy them all, I like to bake and although I'm not a professional baker I do feel confident the things would come out nice. Things like chocolates and truffles, gingerbread men I can decorate with the little ones.
OH thinks that people might not like it knowing it's not store brought and might prefer a box of celebrations instead.
I've never received any home baked stuff as gifts so I don't know if it's a good idea or not.
My question really is would you prefer a store brought box of chocolates, over something maybe not as perfect but still nice??
I know it's only November btw I just get way to excited then an adult probably should over Christmas
Thanks for any replies xx

I would love to receive baked goods :) much, much nicer than store bought stuff!

I do this every year. It had never crossed my mind that people would prefer something from a shop, you have got me thinking.

I always put whatever it is in a nice box/tin/jar. I have made family hampers too- a box or basket lined with paper with biscuits, cake and chutney for example.

Last year I did chocolate truffles. I wrapped them in foil sweet wrappers from Lakeland.

From a person I knew well I'd love something home baked. I'm a bit of a food hygiene freak but add long as I'd been in your kitchen once I'd happily eat it yes I know I'm a freak

I'm making some of my food gifts this year too! I think anything made is better because it shows the time and effort put in more than 'we picked these up from the garage on the way here'. I do food ones, my DSis knits, other friends make gifts as well and I've never heard anyone complain they weren't shop bought.

Just for sheer noseyness what are you thinking of making?

I would love to receive home baked presents! That sounds lovely - much more personal than bought boxes.

But it's quite normal in our family - I often give homemade jam or that sort of thing - and its something people get quite het up about. If it's your family and you're confident they'll like it, go ahead - if your OH is saying that his family would be about it, maybe give them boring boxes of bought biscuits.

I'll test them for you !!!

Sounds like a lovely thoughtful gift ! I'd definitely appreciate them ! Some lovely gift boxes or cellphone wrap or add a new tea towel as part of the wrapping ?! and ribbons etc too ?!

Happy creating !!

Home baked goods tends to have a very short shelf life and by the time Christmas Day comes people already have plenty of food so they are likely to go to waste.

Also not keen on generic presents, I like to find something the person will like rather than gift everyone the same thing.

Depends entirely on the recipient. We always have a houseful at Christmas and a box of lovely homemade gingerbread men would go down really well. If I was living alone not so much.
Some people are funny about home made stuff, some would prefer that so much thought and effort had gone into it.
Things with a short shelf life should only be given if you know they will get use from it, otherwise it is a waste of your effort.
There was a post on here recently where someone had been asked to craft gifts by the extended family because she was really good at it and then was accidentally copied into an email string describing the gifts as crappy and her as smug. Some people are unpleasable (and just horrid), and it would have been a lot less hurtful if she hadn't put in so much effort. Ultimately it's your choice.

I'm really sorry about what I'm going to say here.

I never eat any of the things people give me. There's just so much stuff to eat at Christmas, that gifts will get stuffed in the fridge, then forgotten about.

Sorry again. I know it's awful to confess this.

Yes. Yes - I'd love home made baked goods as a pressie!

There are a couple of considerations though:

How will you package them? Presentation will make all the difference. It's lovely to receive them in a nice little box, tin or cellophane bag tied with ribbon.

When will you give them? We have a family 'do' on 27th Dec with the wider family and often get given foodie gifts, however by then eating chocolate/rocky road/biscuits/marshmallows is the last thing on our minds as we've been feasting away for three days by then. It's best to give foodie gifts in advance of on the day, I reckon.

Either way, a home made gift is always VERY much appreciated by us, much more so than a box of chocs!

I agree - lots of effort and a short shelf life so likely to just get binned if they have lots of stuff already. Chutney, jam, stuff that keeps then not a bother.

Spanner in the works - sorry.

What's the shelf life of what you're making? When will you be seeing these people? Are gifts likely to be under a tree for a week? Do they have a dog that will sniff it out and open the box (yep - really)?

Not sure about getting the little ones to help decorate either, sorry.

Giving homemade gifts has become a tradition among us and our closest friends.
We make pickles, onions,cabbage, cucumber etc, one set of friends give baked goods - Christmas shortbread, fudge or similar, another set make delicious chutneys and jams and my dsil brews fab flavoured vodkas.

Means so much more than a shop bought gift although my mum is a bit sniffy about it and says it's "a typically middle class middle England thing"

I do this for the adults in my close family, everyone goes mad for my macaroon and tell me to pass some on whenever I made it so I now make wee bags for everyone at Christmas, I do truffles as well.

As a PP said the hygiene issue is the only thing I'd have reservations about but that's just because I work in the food industry and have all my relevant training and up to date certificates so I guess I'm maybe more aware. DP would happily munch anything anyone gave him though. It's a nice gesture and I'm sure it'll be well received by most people.

Agree about shelf life. I'd appreciate chutney or jam, but not anything which had to be eaten within a couple of days

I do for some people, who now place requests

Long shelf life things rather than cake - florentines, fudge, tablet, etc.

And don't let the DC anywhere near

Ooh Florentines :) I never make them but do love them. Also macaroons? We usually give apple jelly to quite a few people, we don't really do presents for adults but if we see them at Christmas, handing over a jar of something home made just makes it a bit festive.

When I say we, I mean 'made by DH'

I wouldn't - short shelf life would mean a lot is wasted.

Also, I'm not sure about getting the little ones to help - I know it's cute when they are yours but the biscuits aren't likely to look very nice, and I wouldn't eat anything decorated by a child due to possible hygiene issues. Children stick fingers in their mouths etc. And I'm as far from a clean freak as you could get.

...can i have some?

Sorry it's a no from me too

Seen it at cake sales etc.... hairs in food. Kids 'helping' and making it worse

I'd bin it also..... same with jam/chutney. Hygiene concerns mainly

No.

It is a selfish gift which is more for the giver than the receiver. Really you are doing it for you. You enjoy making them fair enough but are not considering if the receiver likes to get them.

Make them because it gives you pleasure and share them with friends and family by all means but not as a gift.

Chocolates of any kind are a pretty thoughtless gift unless it is for someone you see once a year.

Think about the people you are giving gifts to and what they like. If you cant do that then you probably shouldn't be giving them a gift- do maybe discuss stopping gift exchanging with them.

Another spanner from me, sorry.

Whilst I am knee deep (literally- I have just put two batches in the oven and still have about 3kg of mincemeat to use, I made a bit too much!) in homebaking for me and my family, the homebaking is not going to be Christmas presents. I, personally, (and obvs, given this thread, there are others who don't agree) would think anyone who gave me a home baked anything at Christmas was a bit of a cheapskate.

Obviously, if your recipients are fine with it, go ahead. Beware of shelf life though.

As long as it was something I liked eating normally, it'd be fine with me (e.g. I rarely eat jam /chutney, so wouldn't appreciate a jar of that, no matter how it was made or where it was bought).

So as long as you know the recipient well enough to know their tastes and give them something they'll like, great. Although the point about shelf life is worth bearing in mind, there's usually lots of food around at Christmas, and you don't want your gift going off before the recipient has a chance to eat it.

What if the kids help with the packaging? So they put ribbons on the jars etc but has a disclaimer on the tag 'Packaging from DCs, made by DM '. Just from what people are saying here about made by children food...