Leave it to the Barefoot Contessa to fancy up even the most basic of recipes. Her English Chocolate Crisps, known to the rest of the world as Cornflake Candies, Cornflake Cookies, or Birds Nest Cookies, are nothing more than clusters of cereal covered in chocolate, but they taste like they came from a fancy chocolatier.
What Makes Them Special?
Ina cleverly upgrades this childhood treat in a few easy ways. First, she doesn’t use a bag of any old milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Because there are so few ingredients in this recipe, quality chocolate really makes a difference. Ina goes for the good stuff, and recommends the brands Lindt or Perugina. The recipe also calls for two kinds of chocolate—in this case, milk and bittersweet—to create a more complex, sophisticated flavor that’s not overly sweet. If you can’t find either of those brands, feel free to substitute chocolate from Ghirardelli or Guittard.
And to add a little extra something, she folds in dried cranberries, which add a nice burst of tartness to the crispy, candy-coated cornflakes. (Dried cherries would work equally well.)
How To Make English Chocolate Crisps
Although these treats are as easy as stirring cereal and melted chocolate together in a bowl, Ina provides detailed steps on melting the chocolate in the microwave. She recommends heating and stirring ¾ of the chocolate at 30-second intervals until it is just melted, then adding the remaining chocolate and stirring until smooth. This might sound fussy, but it will result in smooth and glossy chocolate that will coat the cornflakes more evenly and look better when it sets.
Instead of letting the crisps set at room temperature, I recommend popping them in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to make sure that the chocolate firms up completely.
Lisa Cericola/Southern Living
What I Would Do Differently
My family devoured these treats, so I wouldn’t change the recipe much. The next time I make it, I will sprinkle a very small amount of flaky salt on top to balance out the sweetness, and chop up the dried cranberries so they distribute more evenly throughout the crisps.
The recipe makes 8 very large crisps, but you can easily make a batch of 16 (I prefer them smaller because they’re easier to eat.) by spooning the cornflake mixture in smaller portions. And it goes without saying that you can easily double or triple the recipe for a crowd. Or yourself—they’re extremely easy to eat, too.
