You know me.  I often like to bake at Christmas.  This year?  Not so much.  Last year was minimal, and this year, even more so.  Maybe it’s the baking hangover.  Maybe it’s being a little tired of tradition.  Maybe it’s wanting to sleep until 1 p.m. on a Sunday without worrying about a day of baking ahead of me… In any case, I did find a little bit of inspiration last week.  Some friends and I attended Follow Me Foodie‘s Christmas Gelato night at Bella Gelateria in downtown Vancouver.  All guests received a massive goodie bag full of Nature’s Path products on their way out.


When I got home and looked at the 1-kg bag of cornflakes I received,  I couldn’t help think, “What the f–k am I going to do with 1 kg of cornflakes?”  You see, cornflakes aren’t my cop out of choice on cereal-for-supper evenings.  A quick Google for cornflake recipes made Inspiration #1 appear:  rice krispie squares.  Swapping the rice krispies for cornflakes seems to be a pretty common trick.  It’s also an ingenious one.  With less surface area for the marshmallow to coat, you end up with chewier squares that have a stronger marshmallow presence.  Who doesn’t like that?  But how to make it Christmas-y?  Inspiration #2.  One of the special flavours at Bella was Cranberry Pistachio Pound Cake.  If green pistachios and red cranberries don’t spell December 25, I don’t know what does.


I know I technically didn’t bake.  But there was lots of love mixed in with every turn of the spatula.  And as you have to put lots of elbow grease into ensuring your flakes are coated evenly, Santa was surely looking down on me and giving me strength.  An almost full (the baker needs to test for quality) pan’s worth made it into work the next day and enabled Santa to see that I was being nice, not naughty.  My reward being a very easy clean up.  A giant pot of hard marshmallow and chipped flakes might bring on tears.  Might.  Sugar dissolves easily in water.  Score!

Here’s another little Christmas treat to accompany these cornflake bars…


Cranberry Pistachio Cornflake Bars

10 cups cornflakes
1 400-g bag of mini marshmallows
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup plain, unsalted pistachios
butter or cooking spray for pan

Grease a 13” x 9” pan with butter or cooking spray.  Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over low heat.  Add marshmallows and continue to stir over low heat until marshmallows are completely melted, about 10 minutes.  When melted, take off heat and add vanilla.  Then stir in cornflakes, cranberries and pistachios.  Continue to fold mixture until cornflakes and add-ins are evenly coated.
Pour (and scrape) entire mixture into prepared pan.  Lightly grease palms of hands with cooking spray or butter.  Pat mixture down with greased hands so that mixture is evenly sitting in pan.  Cool completely and cut into squares.  Store in airtight container for up to two days.  I found the squares easy to cut after the mixture had been cooled and then refrigerated for about half an hour.