Editor's note: This recipe appears as part of our editors' Christmas Cookie Swap, 10 beloved holiday recipes from the editors of Epicurious and Gourmet Live.

　　I first encountered this old-time recipe fifteen years ago, when I worked in the test kitchen of Ladies' Home Journal. I was a bit of a food snob back then and questioned how anything with marshmallows and cornflakes, not to mention green food coloring and cinnamon red-hots, could be considered edible. To my surprise, the crunchy, wheaty, sticky sweetness of these wreaths was quite pleasing when freshly made, and the air-dried wreaths were shiny, adorable, and perfect for adorning the mantlepiece as well as hanging from window frames and on the Christmas tree.

　　

Ingredients

Makes 1 1/2 dozen 2-inch wreaths

　　1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter

　　30 (7.25 ounces) large marshmallows

　　1 1/2 teaspoons green liquid food coloring

　　1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

　　4 cups (5 ounces) cornflakes

　　2 tablespoons (1 ounce) cinnamon red-hots (candied)

　　Equipment: flat counter or cookie sheet, lined with wax paper, sprayed with nonstick vegetable cooking spray or lightly greased or buttered; 2 small spoons sprayed with nonstick vegetable cooking spray or lightly greased or buttered.

　　

Step 1

Spray a medium saucepan with nonstick vegetable shortening or lightly grease it.

　　

Step 2

Melt the butter over low heat.

　　

Step 3

Add the marshmallows and melt them over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth (about 6 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the food coloring and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir in the cornflakes to coat them well. Keep the mixture warm by placing the saucepan in a large pot or skillet filled with 1 inch of very hot tap water. Replace the water as it cools.

　　

Step 4

Working quickly so the mixture does not harden, use the 2 spoons, or lightly greased fingers, to drop small (1 heaping tablespoon) mounds of the cornflake mixture onto the wax paper. With lightly greased fingers, quickly form cornflake mounds into wreaths with holes in the centers. Immediately, while the wreaths are still sticky, decorate the wreaths with red-hots.

　　

Step 5

When wreaths dry, they may be strung with nylon string or gold ribbons as tree ornaments.

　　Cooks' Note

　　Store: In an airtight container.

　　Keeps: For eating, about 1 month; as ornaments, indefinitely.

　　Reprinted with permission from Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum, (C) 1990 William Morrow