Christmas cookies come in all shapes and sizes and everyone has a favorite. This is mine!

I found this recipe on a pull-out card in a magazine while traveling in New Zealand. Typical cookie ingredients like flour, sugar, and eggs are not in this recipe. What you will need is:

• 3/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup flaked almonds
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups crushed cornflakes
• 3/4 cup wweetened condensed milk
• ½ cup halved glace cherries
• 4 ounces of semi-sweet or milk chocolate
• 4 ounces of white chocolate

Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees.

Measure ¾ cup of the sweetened condensed milk into a measuring cup with a pour spout.

Sweetened condensed milk is really thick and sticky. If you spray the measuring cup with cooking spray first, the condensed milk will slip right out of the measuring cup.

In a large bowl combine

• ¾ cup of raisins
• ¾ cup of flaked almonds
• ¾ cup of shredded coconut
• 2 cups of crushed Cornflakes
• ¾ cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk

Mix well.

Line a baking sheet with sides with non-stick tin foil. (This stuff is really fantastic! Nothing sticks to it!) If you only have regular tin foil then you have to “grease” the foil, preferably with shortening. You could spray it with cooking spray or smear butter all over the tin foil.

Place 1/8 of a cup the mixture onto the foil lined oven trays.

They don’t really spread or change shape when they are cooking so they don’t have to be really far apart.

Cut the candied cherries in half

Put ½ a cherry on each cookie. Be sure each cookie stays squished together. You may have to pat the edges with your fingers to keep the edges together.

They are now ready to go into the preheated oven.

Bake 14-15 minutes or until light golden.
Cool slightly before removing from tray, cool on wire rack.

While the cookies are cooling, put about two cups of water in the kettle and bring it to a boil. Put the dark chocolate chips into a small baggie. Pour the water into a medium bowl.

Set the baggie of chocolate chips into the bowl. In about 5 minutes the chocolate will be melted. Snip the corner of the baggie.

Squeeze the chocolate into a funnel shape and squirt the base of each cookie with melted chocolate.

With a knife, spread the chocolate into a thin layer on the bottom of the cookie. (If any cherry has fallen off, use the melted chocolate as glue to reposition the cherry!)

Let the bottom chocolate completely harden before flipping them over. (You can set them in the refrigerator to speed this step up.)

Melt the white chocolate the same way you melted the dark chocolate and drizzle it on the top of each cookie.

Store the cookies in an airtight container in fridge.

Happy Holidays!

(Food bloggers: don't forget to submit your beautiful baking creations to Sugar High Friday #26: Sugar Art by December 29!)

Source: Nestle

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