Corn Flake Christmas Wreaths

Easy to add tradition

My favorite food memory is making Christmas cookies with my mom. Learning, helping, tasting, decorating, laughing: It's a recipe for good feelings that last a lifetime.

Starting a holiday tradition could not be easier with these festive, no-bake cookies. The recipe is adapted from "Mom's Big Book of Cookies" by Lauren Chattman (Harvard Common Press, 2006).

The author says kids can make these cookies almost without help, except for handling the food coloring. For decorating, mini red M&M's make cute "holly berries" for chocolate lovers; cinnamon candy Red Hots will give the cookies some spice.

Corn Flake Christmas Wreaths

Makes about 16 wreaths

10 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon green food coloring

2 1/2 cups corn flakes

About 80 red mini M&M's or cinnamon Red Hots

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler or medium-sized saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Place the white chocolate in the top of the double boiler or in a stainless steel bowl set on top of the simmering water, making sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Heat, whisking occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted.

Remove from the heat and stir in the food coloring. When the chocolate is a uniform green, stir in the corn flakes.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the corn flake mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Using the handles of a wooden spoon, make a 1/2-inch hole in the center of each cookie, spreading the cookies to about 3 inches in diameter. Repeat with the remaining mounds, working quickly before the chocolate hardens. Apply 5 M&M's or cinnamon Red Hots to the wreaths while the chocolate is still sticky.

Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator until the chocolate is completely cooled, about 30 minutes.

Cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container (separate layers with sheets of parchment or waxed paper to prevent sticking) for 4 to 5 days.