Chocolate lover gift basket ideas

Gift basket ideas for the chocolate lover! Combine purchased items with some home made items to satify the chocolate lovers' cravings.

Gift Baskets are a wonderful idea to give any person that you need to purchase a gift for. They have become extremely popular in recent years, and they are a wonderful way to give a different variety of items to the recipient. With the costs of purchasing premade gift baskets, it is much more cost effective to make up your own. Many people will enjoy a gift basket that you have put together for them. Chocolate Lovers are no exception, a wide array of chocolate items are available to fill a gift basket. While I do place some purchased items in my gift baskets, I also enjoy making home made items to fill my baskets also.

The first thing you will need to do is to choose a container in which to place your items. Since we are dealing with a chocolate lover here, let us find a wonderful base with which to start. What about a decorative tin? They can be purchased in numerous department, discount and craft shops. Not only will these make a wonderful container in which to place your items, you can purchase smaller tins to fit inside. I also am always on the lookout for baskets, you can find these very inexpensively at craft shops, department stores, flea markets and yard sales.

No matter what you choose, just be sure to pick a container large enough to hold all the wonderful items for your chocolate lover.

Several purchased items that I would include would be gourmet hot chocolate mixes, along with several new mugs. You can even place the packets of hot chocolate mix right inside of the mugs. A new teapot may not even be a bad idea, the recipient will need to boil the water to make their hot chocolate.

A box of chocolate candies would also most certainly be appreciated, along with Hershey Kisses, Chocolate Covered Cherries or Strawberries or other sinfully delicious chocolate candies. Or if you have a favorite candy shop near by, a gift certificate would more than likely be greatly appreciated. That way, your chocolate lover can make their own selections of the chocolates of their choice.

What about including a brownie mix with your basket? There are a lot of different brownie mixes available from plain, to mixes with caramel added. Not everything has to be premade, this will give the recipient a chance to prepare his or her treat when the mood strikes. Perhaps even a chocolate cake mix along with a can of prepared chocolate frosting. If this gift is for a new home owner, the pans in which to bake the cake or brownies could also be included in this gift basket.

Another thing that I have seen a various coffee shops are plastic spoons that have been coated with chocolate. You can use these to stir your coffee, the chocolate will melt in the hot coffee, to add a chocolate flavoring to any coffee.

Other items that you can add for the over 21 set, would be some chocolate liqueurs. There are chocolate flavored vodkas being made now that make a delicious martini. Also there are several chocolate flavored liqueurs being made by Truffles and Godiva. These both come in white and dark chocolate varieties. These last two liqueurs can be used to make a variety of mixed drinks, or as an addition to hot chocolate or coffee. Just add a bit of whipped creme, and perhaps some chocolate sprinkles to the top of one of these hot drinks to send you on a trip to chocolate heaven.

MICROWAVE FUDGE- this recipe is so simple, as long as you follow the directions exactly, there is no way to goof it up.

4 cups sugar

? cup butter

1 can evaporated milk

1 12 ounce bag of chocolate chips (try substituting chocolate/mint chips here)

1 7 ? ounce jar marshmallow creme

1 to 2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

chopped nuts, if desired

Cook the sugar, butter and evaporated milk in a large microwave safe bowl, on high for 22 minutes. Stir this mixture every 5 minutes. Remove from the microwave and add your chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, peanut butter and vanilla. Beat well until chips and marshmallow creme are melted. Stir in nuts. Pour into a buttered 9 x 13 inch pan, and refrigerate until set. Cut into squares after completely cooled.

HOT CHOCOLATE SAUCE- this is excellent on ice cream.

3 1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate

1 3/4 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

? cup nuts

Melt chocolate in milk, in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Combine the sugar, flour and salt. Add the melted chocolate, and stir this until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan, and cook a few minutes longer until thickened. Add the nuts. Store this in a glass jar. To serve heat in a pan filled with water or place the jar in your microwave until the sauce in heated. Pour over ice cream.

ORANGE CHOCOLATE COOKIES- believe it or not, orange flavoring and chocolate taste wonderful together

2 ? cups flour

? teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

1 cup sugar

? cup brown sugar

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon orange extract

8 ounce dark chocolate bar, coarsely chopped

In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt and the orange peel. In a second larger bowl combine the sugars using medium speed on an electric mixer. Add the butter or margarine, and beat until crumbly. Add eggs and the extract, beat now until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and chopped chocolate bar. Blend until just combined.

Drop by a tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 18 to 22 minutes in a 300 oven. Remove from cookie sheets immediately.

CHOCOLATE RUM BALLS- A new twist to no bake cookies.

1 ? cups finely crushed chocolate cookies

? cup powdered sugar

? cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons rum

? teaspoon shredded orange peel

1/4 cup powdered sugar

In a bowl stir together the crushed chocolate cookies, the ? cup powdered sugar and the nuts. Stir in the corn syrup, rum and orange peel. Using a level tablespoon for each cookie, shape mixture into 3/4 inch balls. Roll in the remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Store these in an air tight container.

CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS- While the recipe calls for pretzel twists, try substituting pretzel rods, and roll them in candy sprinkles. Kids will adore these.

1 small package milk chocolate chips

2 tablespoons shortening

small bag of pretzel twists

Combine the chocolate chips and the shortening in the top of a double boiler, bring the water in the bottom of the double boiler to a boil. Reduce your heat to low, and simmer until the chocolate melts, stir this occasionally. Remove from the heat, but leave the mixture over the hot water. This way it will not set as you work with it.

Dip each pretzel in the chocolate, use a fork for this. Hold the dipped pretzel over the double boiler for a few seconds to let any excess chocolate drip back into the pan. Place pretzel on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm. To store place pretzels in layers of waxed paper in an airtight container.

Try these recipes and my other suggestions in making a gift basket for your favorite chocolate lover. Even if that may happen to be you!