Just Saw This Awesome Recipe / Gift Idea on the Today Show

Hug Bites:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Line pretzel twists up on a baking sheet. I stuff as many as I can onto each one. They are not in nice little rows, more like jam packed, and they can butt up next to each other. I do as many trays as will fit into my oven at one time. I put about 25 in each mason jar, so you can figure that out based on how many people you are giving these to. Be sure to make extra for your family too!

3. Place a Hershey Kiss Hug (the white choc and milk mixed) on top of each pretzel. Unwrapping them is the ONLY part that takes a few minutes.

4. Put the trays into the oven for 2-3 minutes. The Hershey kisses should be soft, but not melted.

5. Remove the trays and put an M&M on top of each kiss and press down to smush it. I do some red and green, some all blue, and some mixed.

You can package these in ANYTHING. I like mason jars because they are inexpensive and make a cute presentation. They can be purchased just about anywhere, but I got mine at Michael’s.

For my packaging:

1. Cut a piece of ribbon approximately ten inches. You can trim it, but you don’t want to waste too much. Try one piece before you cut them all to make sure you like the size.

2. Stick a one inch piece of double sided tape in the middle of the ribbon on the side you want to stick to the jar. Stick that part on the back. Wrap the ribbon around the jar and tie a bow or knot. (You will need less ribbon for a knot.)

3. I got one package of snowflake stickers and one of holly bush, which I just stuck on or above the ribbon. This is optional, but you get about 24 stickers for around $3.50 and it adds a nice touch.

4. I got the ribbon and stickers at Michael’s, and most was 50% off at the time. They are always having sales and coupons so make sure you check before you buy! I also got gift tags that just happened to be the perfect size to slip over the top of the mason jar. I simply wrote To and From in a red or blue pen.

When I tried to figure out how much I spent on this project I estimated a little less than $4 a jar. I don’t think you can beat that price for something this delicious and packaged.