Christmas Traditions: Fresh cranberry choc chip cookies

These are a recent Christmas tradition for me. A discovery from Rose Levy Beranbaum's festive book: Rose's Christmas Cookies. They are by necessity a seasonal treat in a world where you can have anything you want year round, as they require fresh cranberries which we can only get for a couple of weeks in early December. Frozen cranberries don't work and dried cranberries just don't cut it for these jewelled wonders.

Just a gentle suggestion, but you might want to double the quantities. That's if you're willing to share. But the heavenly smell wafting from the oven of chocolate, orange and toasted walnuts will mean that your secret won't be safe for long!

Makes 30

Preheat oven to 170C
50g walnuts, toasted
160g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Zest of one orange, removed with potato peeler and finely chopped
75g granulated sugar
80g soft light brown sugar
110g soft butter
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
150g fresh cranberries
150g dark or white choc chips or chunks

Cream the sugars and butter with an electric whisk till light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and orange zest. Add flour and baking soda, mix till combined. Chop the cranberries (the bigger they are, the juicier, and therefore soggier, the final cookies) and walnuts, add and stir by hand to combine.

Spoon mix out onto lined baking sheets, a heaped tablespoon for each. Don't overcrowd. It will make 30, so you will need to use 3-4 baking sheets.

Bake for about 12-15mins, turning the sheets halfway through cooking. They should be golden and still soft. Leave to cool for a couple of mins on the baking sheet before tranfering to a wire cooling rack.

Choc-orange-cranberry-almond-oat bars!

These are crammed with goodness and easy as pie to make.No easier. Absolutely NO cooking skills needed. The original recipe come's from the speedily super Nigella Express  where she calls them breakfast bars- because that's what they really are - oats, milk, sugar and nuts and seeds. But I had to add chocolate. And orange. And change the nuts. So now they're all mine!

Do note the low oven temperature.
And the oats. DO NOT whatever you do use the powdery, crumbly porridge oats. You must use rolled oats, the thicker, jumbo oats that all keep their shape. Otherwise... yuck!

And be sure you have condensed milk - which is thick like syrup, not the runny evaporated milk.

No, I don't think you're stupid. It's just easy to skim read recipes. Especially easy ones!

Up-cycled Easter Egg Cake

There comes a time when the excitement of Easter eggs has worn off and the children are less interested in them but there are still odds and sods and bits and pieces scattered around looking lonely and unloved. Cue chocolate biscuit cake to breathe yummy new life into these no longer glossy bits of choc.

This makes a big batch, so take it to someone's house, have a party, be self-restrained OR make half quantities!

Apologies for the lack of picture - no excuse except gluttony!

400g chocolate - mix of milk and dark
175g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup (corn syrup)
200g digestive biscuits (graham crackers)
100g nuts (pecan/ brazil or hazelnuts - toasted is best) - roughly chopped or smashed
150g dried cranberries (the sweetened type) or raisins or glace cherries or a mix
100g chopped mixed peel- or mini marshmallows if you hate peel

Break all choc into small pieces and put with the syrup and butter into a pan over simmering water. Mix and DO NOT let the water touch the bowl, DO NOT let it get too hot, keep mixing and remove from heat when about 2/3 melted and continue stirring till all melted.

In a plastic freezer bag put the biscuits (and nuts if wanted) and smash to smithereens with a rolling pin. You want a mix of small chunks and crumbs.

Add the fruit, biscuit and nuts into the choc, mix well and tip out into a brownie tin (about 25cm by 30cm). Flatten down, leave to cool (this takes about 2 hours) and cut into squares. Keeps for about 10 days in a biscuit tin or extra yummy cold from the fridge - though it never lasts that long!