There's nothing like the Christmas season and the fun of all the festivities that go with it. In addition to secretly amassing great piles of gifts and stocking stuffers we always find the time to bake and share our Christmas cookies.
This year, in addition to our usual decorated Christmas Sugar Cookies, we also made Christmas Wreath Cookies, which are not only really easy to make and delicious to eat but also a real treat for the eyes, looking just like miniature versions of the real Christmas wreaths! Plus the kids just love these chewy gooey yet surprisingly crunchy sweet treats!
This no bake Christmas wreath cookie is actually a twist on the classic childhood Rice Krispies Treat that combines marshmallows and rice krispies cereal to make a chewy yet crunchy treat.
Switch the rice krispies for cornflakes cereal and add in a dab of green food coloring and it's transformed into the very showy and comfortingly delicious Christmas cookie.
There's no baking for this cookie, it's all done on the stove. Melt your butter and marshmallows. Stir, stir, stir...
Once the marshmallows are melted it's time to make some poison! Just kidding. It's just that this green reminds me of the poisonous potions that the villains in movies are always waving around.
Regarding the color don't be afraid to make the color more intense than your final desired color, as we have found that the color is lightened considerably once mixed with the cornflakes. You can use liquid food coloring but personally I find gel food coloring better for both the color and the ease of use.
The cornflakes are tossed in and mixed with the green marshmallow goop. The mixture will begin to harden up quickly as it cools.
Here's a great tip to give you more time to mix and shape the cookies: Prepare a larger pot with a bit of hot water and plop your pot of now green cornflakes in. The hot water bath will keep the cornflake mixture from cooling down too fast, giving you time to thoroughly mix and then shape the wreaths.
When shaping the wreaths you will find the stuff sticks to your fingers. Keeping your fingers cleaned and buttered up will help keep the stickies away. Remember to stick on your red candies while the wreaths are still warm.
If you decide to pipe the berries on with royal icing, wait till the wreaths are completely cooled.
And that's it. Pretty easy stuff and a really special Christmas treat to share with friends in this holiday season. Merry Christmas to all!
Christmas Wreath Cookies Recipe
(makes 15 nos 2.5" wreaths) (adapted from the recipe here)
Prep time: 1 mins Cooking time: 12 mins
Ingredients:
(makes 15 nos 2.5" wreaths) (adapted from the recipe here)
Prep time: 1 mins Cooking time: 12 mins
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter, 113g
- 30 large marshmallows, 7.25 oz, 200g
- 1 1/2 tsp green liquid food coloring or 1/8 tsp green gel food coloring
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 cups cornflakes, 125g
- 2 tbsp mini red M&Ms or cinnamon red hot candies (or you can use red royal icing like we did)
Directions:
Lightly butter a cookie sheet or a couple of large pieces of lightly buttered parchment paper for placing the wreaths while they harden. Prepare a large pot that can fit a medium pot inside and add 1" of hot water into large pot.
Melt butter in another medium pan over low heat. When melted add marshmallows and stir until marshmallows are completely melted.
Remove marshmallows from heat and place entire pot into the larger hot water filled pot. The water in the larger pot will keep the melted marshmallows from cooling and firming up. Add in vanilla extract and food coloring to the desired color (should be deeper colored than you want the final wreaths to be as the color will lighten once mixed with cornflakes) and stir until evenly mixed.
Scoop up a heaping tbsp with your fingers and quickly shape into a 2.5" wreath shape. Place onto cookie sheet and add on the candies right away if using. The mixture will stick to your hands so use butter to keep fingers slippery and cornflake free.
Lightly butter a cookie sheet or a couple of large pieces of lightly buttered parchment paper for placing the wreaths while they harden. Prepare a large pot that can fit a medium pot inside and add 1" of hot water into large pot.
Melt butter in another medium pan over low heat. When melted add marshmallows and stir until marshmallows are completely melted.
Remove marshmallows from heat and place entire pot into the larger hot water filled pot. The water in the larger pot will keep the melted marshmallows from cooling and firming up. Add in vanilla extract and food coloring to the desired color (should be deeper colored than you want the final wreaths to be as the color will lighten once mixed with cornflakes) and stir until evenly mixed.
Add in cornflakes and stir until the marshmallow mixture is evenly distributed.
Scoop up a heaping tbsp with your fingers and quickly shape into a 2.5" wreath shape. Place onto cookie sheet and add on the candies right away if using. The mixture will stick to your hands so use butter to keep fingers slippery and cornflake free.
The wreaths will harden as they cool. If using royal icing to make the berries, pipe on when the wreaths are completely cooled. Once cooled, about 15-20 mins, store in parchment paper separated layers in an air tight container.
Christmas Cookies at The Hong Kong Cookery:
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