Tiny treats for the holidays

This festive time of year calls for a little something sweet.

These fanciful desserts are small in size, but sure to make a big impression this holiday season.

HOLIDAY TREATS RECIPES

Mini Marshmallow Snowmen

Mini marshmallows

White chocolate chips (or white candy wafers)

Chocolate chips

Red candy wafers

Fruit leather

Parchment (or waxed paper)

Toothpicks

Slide three mini marshmallows onto a toothpick.

Melt white chocolate chips or candy wafers in a heat-safe bowl according to the package directions. Dip the marshmallows in the melted candy to coat them. Place on a sheet of parchment and let the coating set.

Melt chocolate chips and red candy wafers in two separate small bowls. Use toothpicks to draw details on the snowman with the melted candy and let it set.

Trim a scarf from fruit leather and wrap it around the snowman's neck.

Teensy Gingerbread Houses

Graham cracker

Hard-drying icing (or white chocolate chips)

Small candies, such as shaped sprinkles, Red Hots and gumdrops

Brownies (optional)

Lollipop sticks (optional)

With a serrated knife, cut the graham cracker pieces as shown. Tip: To create the pairs, cut one piece, then use it as a guide for the second.

To assemble, use icing or chips (melted in a heat-safe bowl according to the package directions). Spoon the icing or melted chips into a zip-close bag and snip off a corner. Pipe it along the house's seams and assemble as shown. Let the icing set.

Use icing to attach sprinkles and other sweet decorations and let it set.

To place the house on a stick, trim a piece of brownie to fit inside the house. Slide the brownie onto a lollipop stick, then carefully slide the house on top.

Cranberry-Apple Two-Bite Pies

2 medium tart apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped

4 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon orange juice

1 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie crust

Egg wash (1 egg plus 2 tablespoons milk)

Makes 24 pies.

In a medium bowl, stir together the first five ingredients. Set the mixture aside.

Dust your work surface with flour. Unroll one of the pie crusts and use a circular cookie cutter or the rim of a cup to cut it into 12 (2 3/4-inch) rounds. Gently press each one into a well of a mini muffin tin. Fold any excess dough over the well's rim. Repeat with the second pie crust.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Gather the dough scraps and roll them out to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use tiny cookie cutters to make holiday shapes or cut the dough into thin strips for a lattice top. Add a generous tablespoon of filling to each pie shell. Arrange the dough pieces on top. Seal the edges of the lattice tops with a toothpick.

Brush the tops of the pies with egg wash. Bake them until the filling begins to bubble and the crust turns golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let them cool in the pan before serving.

Snowman Buttons

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Hard-drying icing (optional)

Makes 9 dozen cookies.

Use a hand or stand mixer at medium speed to blend the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla extract. Slowly add the flour and cocoa powder and mix until a soft dough forms.

Halve the dough and flatten each portion into a large disk. Cover each disk with plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Tip: The dough can be made up to two days ahead. If it's been chilled for several hours, let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before proceeding to the next step.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Unwrap one portion of dough. Sandwich it between two sheets of plastic wrap, then roll it out to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use a circular cookie cutter or the lid of a small spice jar to cut the dough into small rounds (our cutter was 1 3/4 inches). Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. Use the rounded edge of a slightly smaller cutter or the rim of the spice jar to make an indentation around the perimeter of each cookie. Poke four button holes in each cookie with the flat tip of a bamboo skewer.

Bake the cookies for 6 minutes. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat the rolling, shaping, and baking steps with the remaining dough portion and scraps. To pipe stitches onto each cookie, use hard-drying icing (find our Vanilla Decorating Icing recipe at www.familyfunmag.com).

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Tiny treats for the holidays ."