OK, after talking to my sister, who reminded me that her daughter is allergic to all nuts, I have given up on my idea of including pecans in the creation of my 7th Christmas cookie.

Instead, I have decided to make a bar cookie I sort of "invented" about 5 years ago. It's pretty easy, looks festive, and makes a fair number of delicious cookies.

I'll need to come up with a cool name for them but for now we'll use the working title Peppermint Topped Frosted Chocolate Bars.

"Anne's Peppermint Topped Frosted Chocolate Bars."

Here the concept:
Bake a devils food cake in a half sheet pan (or in my case, I will be using a large cookie sheet that has low sides to it.)

Cool the cake and frost with a lovely vanilla buttercream frosting. I recommend making it "from scratch" using a stick of butter, a bit of milk, half and half or cream, (depending on what you have in the fridge), plus about a teaspoon of vanilla and plenty of powdered sugar. (I never use a recipe to make this frosting, I just sort of "wing it," but I know recipes exist for this sort of frosting.)

Grab a handful of peppermint candy canes (I had them on hand, but you could use any red and white peppermint flavored hard candy) and smash them up. Don't turn them totally to powder, leave a few small chunks, so the striped coloration is still visible.)

Liberally sprinkle the candy bits on top of the frosting, and allow the cake to set a few hours, so the frosting firms up a bit and it will be easier to cut neatly.

Cut the "cake" into small pieces, perhaps 1 x 2 inches, and add to your cookie trays.

These were a real hit on my cookie trays the year I made them, and I am sure they will be again.

By the way, if you don't have an appropriately flavored box cake mix in your cupboard, you can certainly make a dark chocolate cake from a recipe.