Winter is the perfect season to fire up the oven and make some tasty treats to enjoy with friends, family or even yourself as you’re curled up on the couch watching movies.

My family has a sweet tooth for winter dishes, but they also believe in treats that pack flavor with convenience. These recipes can be made without any fancy equipment, so you can whip these up in almost anyone’s kitchen.

Here are some of my favorite family-vetted holiday dishes that may become your next go-to sweet treat.

Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These cookies were a fan favorite in The State Hornet newsroom and were fun to make, as well. They’re sweet, chocolatey and reminiscent of a brownie.

While the recipe does say to use a handheld or stand mixer, using a rubber spatula or even your hands to break up the dough is fine.

These cookies are worth the 3 hour chill time. They’re great on their own or with add-ins like candy cane pieces.

Special K Bars

My mother always said this recipe reminds her of her grandma and Christmas. Like always, she’s correct because eating these sweet and crispy bars take me back to Christmas as a child.

The customizable sticky bars topped with sweet chocolate make it hard to have just one.

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The bars are similar to a Rice Krispie treat and made in a similar way. My mother loves to add red, green and white sprinkles to the tops of the bars.

The recipe takes about 20 minutes to prepare due to melting the ingredients, which makes it a perfect treat to make on short-term notice.

Grandma’s Spicy Orange Cranberry Sauce

This recipe from my grandmother is homemade, quick, easy and tasty every time. It’s perfect for a holiday party or a weeknight dinner.

The orange cranberry sauce only has five ingredients and takes about 15-20 minutes from start to finish, with most of the cooking time being spent on the stove. The recipe is versatile and has lots of ‘wiggle room’ for personal preferences.

It can either be served as a sauce for meats like pork or chicken, or you can add it on top of room-temperature cream cheese and serve with crackers for a festive dip.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ah yes, a spin on the classic chocolate chip cookies. Baking them into bars requires less work than rolling into balls and worrying about spacing; just flatten these into the pan and bake.

The only changes I made were omitting the eggs, by accident, and using half a tablespoon of vanilla instead of a full tablespoon.

The bars came out chewy and soft, without any wait time like the crinkle cookies. These cookie bars are a perfect dessert to end your day with.

Sugar Cookies

Another classic holiday activity will always be making and decorating sugar cookies. They’re sweet and light, which makes them a perfect cookie to have after dinner.

Just like the crinkle cookies, the recipe calls for creaming the butter with an electric or stand mixer, but a whisk or your hands work fine. You can melt the butter, but the cookie dough will be crumbly, so using softened is best.

The recipe takes about 30 minutes to make and is well worth the time.

Whatever you choose to make for the holidays, make it festive and with ones you cherish!