Elizabeth Manning/Editorial Illustrator
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The start of the holiday season means parties, gifts and festive decorations. But best of all, it means baked goods, and lots of them. Although starting from scratch can make cookies and cakes feel a little more special, there’s no shame in starting from a box and adding special touches to make your creations really stand out. Here are four simple holiday-themed recipes that not only taste great but are sure to impress.

Mini White Chocolate Mousse Pies

Pie is delicious, but what’s even better is getting a pie all to yourself. For this recipe, start by melting a white chocolate baking bar with 1 tablespoon of milk in a saucepan over medium heat. While this is heating, make a package of white chocolate pudding according to the instructions on the box. Once the pudding is set, fold about half of a container of Cool Whip, along with the melted white chocolate, into the mixture. Fill pre-made mini pie shells with the pudding mixture and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Top it off with extra Cool Whip if desired, along with red and green sprinkles. Add crushed candy canes if you want an extra festive crunch.

Adapted from The First Year

Peppermint Brownies

Start with a packaged brownie mix to save time and follow the instructions to make the batter, adding in semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract for extra decadence. Once the brownies are out of the oven, heat a quarter cup of heavy cream for about 30 seconds until it starts to bubble. Then, add in about 4 ounces of dark chocolate and stir for one minute until smooth to create a ganache for the top of your brownies. Spread the ganache over the cooled brownies and top with crushed candy canes, then place in the refrigerator for one hour so that the ganache can set.

Adapted from The Bakerita

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Using a traditional sugar cookie mix, prepare the dough as instructed on the packaging. Add in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon extract, along with ½ a teaspoon of nutmeg. Make sure the ingredients are well mixed. If desired, use cookie cutters to make festive shapes. While the cookies are baking, whisk together 1 ¼ cups of confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon until smooth to create a cinnamon glaze to top your cookies. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and top with sprinkles if desired.

Glaze adapted from My Recipes

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Starting with a chocolate cookie mix, prepare the dough as instructed. If you prefer a less intense chocolate flavor, start with a sugar cookie dough and add a ¼ cup of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients. Roll the dough into small balls — about 1 tablespoon each — and then roll the balls of dough in a bowl of granulated sugar. Do the same in a bowl of confectioner’s sugar. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and lightly flatten each cookie, making sure to make a deep thumbprint in the middle of the flattened dough. Bake as instructed and, once cooled, fill the center with anything from candy to your mom’s homemade jam. You can also make your own chocolate ganache to fill the cookies, but make sure to top it with any extra decorations before the ganache cools.

Adapted from Food Network