COOKBOOKS GALORE

I made these for a children's party, having been given the recipe to try. I buy candy canes every Christmas, and then always have some left over, so this is a good use for them. You need: 125g butter 75g chocolate of your choice, milk or plain 200g caster sugar 2 eggs 1 tspn vanilla extract 75g chopped nuts 3 candy canes - chopped Preheat oven 150C/gas2                        Grease a 20x24cm cake tin Melt the chocolate and butter over simmering heat. Don't let the mixture boil or the chocolate will be grainy. Take pan off the heat and add the sugar, mixing quickly. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each. Spoon in the flour, half at a time, beating well, then add the vanilla and nuts. Mix together well. Spoon the batter into the tin and sprinkle over the chopped candy canes. Bake for 20 mins. I love this plate - I found it in a charity shop. The children loved them, but were only allowed one each. They could be cut smaller, into bite-sized pi

This is something for visiting children over Christmas. but I'm sure adults would like them too! I've made peppermint bark for several years, but recently, looking on Pinterest, I saw that you could make cookies with a bark topping. I had to try these, as I wanted to take something for my grandchildren when we visited them yesterday. I decided to make a shortbread type dough. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease a Swiss roll tin and line with a strip of parchment paper down the middle, leaving the ends overhanging to get the cookie out of the tin. Beat 220g butter till creamy and white, then gradually beat in 200g of caster sugar. Keep beating till it's nice and fluffy. Add 1 tspn vanilla extract and a large egg yolk and beat in. Add 240g plain flour plus a pinch of salt and slowly add to the batter till blended. I found it easier to drop spoonfuls of this into the tin as it's a stiff mixture, then using my fingertips I pressed the dough into the tin to make a