Cheap and delicious gift ideas

Being broke for Christmas is unfortunately inevitable for most university students, who spend far too much on alcohol and Pizza Pizza, and far too less on virtually everything else.

Since buying presents with a OneCard isn’t an option, I spent the last few years making various baked goods for my family and wrapping them in festive dollar store tins and baggies. These items got the best response from family and friends and were the easiest to make.

Oreo Truffles

You’ll need a package of Oreos, a package of cream cheese, and two packages of baker’s chocolate. Crush the package of Oreos using blender or hands, add the cream cheese once the Oreos are crumbled, use your hands to make small rounded shape and put them in the fridge for about an hour. Melt chocolate using the microwave. Using a toothpick dip the Oreo balls into the chocolate and then put them back in the fridge.

These truffles are easy to make decorative. The dollar store usually has Christmas themed tins to put them in. If you’re feeling really creative you can use white sticks, placing the truffle on top, use small circular candies of your choice to make eyes and nose. Then use the mini Oreos for a hat and you’ve got yourself a snowman.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

You’ll need two packages of cream cheese, ½ can of pumpkin, one teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of vanilla, ½ sugar, a piecrust, one cup of thawed out Whipped Topping, and two eggs.

After preheating the oven to 350 degrees, use an electric mixer to mix all of the ingredients until well blended. Pour into the piecrust and bake for about 40 minutes, then refrigerate over night.

To make this dessert look festive you can find decorative cellophane paper at the dollar store. Gather a large amount of cellophane and surround the cake carefully, bundling the extra at the top. Gather the extra and use bows and ribbons to make this cake a great holiday gift.

White Chocolate Bark

This is the absolute easiest and most loved recipe. For this recipe, you will need to use a package of white chocolate chips and ½ cup peppermint or crushed candy canes.

After crunching the candy canes, melt white chocolate in the microwave and then pour chocolate onto a baking sheet with aluminum foil (make sure it is even), sprinkle the crushed up candy canes on top, put in the fridge for around an hour and then break it into pieces.  Place the bark inside small red boxes, and use green ribbon to tie the boxes shut.

These ideas are sure to please your loved ones and all cost around ten dollars to make. This might even take the attention off the fact that you failed most of your classes this year.