• Jar gifts such as jams and marmalades make tasty food gifts.Martin Poole/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Whether you need several small gifts for the holiday season or an idea for party favors or you just want to give a little gift to someone celebrating an occasion, food gifts are always a pleasing choice. Homemade or store-bought, food gifts can be selected from a large selection of varieties. Select your small food gifts based on how many you need and the favorite foods of your recipients. Consider the ease of preparation and the time and cost comparison of homemade versus store-bought.
  
  

Jarred Foods

• Whether you purchase them from a gourmet retailer or create your own with homemade fillings, jarred foods are small gifts that can be customized to suit the tastes of any recipient. Suggestions for jar contents include jams, caramel, salsa, soup mix and baking ingredients. Affix recipe labels to jars packed with the ingredients for a cake or cookies. Wrap the jar in a patterned cloth and tie it closed with ribbon or simply add a ribbon and tag to the jarred gift that stands pretty on its own. Soup mix ingredients, such as dried beans and colorful pasta, can be layered for a decorative effect.
  
  

Candy Brittle

• Brittle is a candy item that can be purchased in several flavors or made at home in any variety you prefer. Peanut brittle is considered the traditional variety and can be nicely packaged to make a small food gift. Brittle can be made with almost any kind of nut, dried fruit and even pretzels. Create a brittle based on the likes of your recipient. Consider Aloha Brittle made of macadamia nuts and coconut for the Hawaii enthusiast or chocolate brittle for the "chocoholic."
  
  

Cookies

• Homemade cookies are most often well-received. Give them in a ribbon-adorned decorative tin or small basket for a gift that serves double duty. The recipient can enjoy the cookies and reuse the carrier to store other baked goods or use it as a decorative accent in her home. Write the "to and from" information on the back of a recipe card that contains the cookie recipe. Tie this recipe gift tag to the ribbon.
  
  

Mini Cakes

• If you have several people on your gift list, invest in a mini cake pan. Available in different cake shapes, such as fluted or flowers, these pans work similar to cupcake pans; you can pour your mix into each mold and bake a few mini cakes at one time. When your cakes are ready, simply decorate, place on paper cake plates, wrap with cellophane and tie with ribbon. These mini cakes can then be gently stacked in a box for easy transport to the office, school or even door-to-door delivery.
  
  

Bread Mix and Dipping Oil

• Dipping oils are olive oils that have been infused with flavorful herbs. Purchase a small decanter of dipping oil and pair it with a package of gourmet bread mix. Place the dipping oil in a decorative gift bag. Punch two holes in the folded part of the bread mix package (take care not to punch where it will expose the mix) and tie with ribbon to the top of the gift bag.