Like most other people, our family is pretty busy. I love the idea of my kids leaving something for Santa (I think it shows respect and hospitality - not to mention gratitude for all those presents he leaves!)

But with school finishing so close to Christmas and my work commitments, we have limited cooking time. So I buy some shortbread - just plain basic stuff form the supermarket - and we decorate it. I melt some chocolate (white and brown) and put out 100s & 1000s, coconut and crushed nuts, and let the kids decorate shortbread biscuits.

We do enough for Santa and for gifts from the kids to their grandparents - and for us to eat all the broken ones

It’s easy, fun, messy and a family tradition for us now. Maybe this year we’ll bake the shortbread first - nah, probably not!

This is the other form of Spanish almond nougat - the other one is hard but this one has egg yolks in it so is a bit softer.

Ingredients

300g icing sugar

300g ground almonds

6 egg yolks

grated rind of one lemon

grated cinnamon (or ground if you haven’t got any fresh cinnamon to use)

Directions

Fold the egg yolks with the almond.

Heat the icing sugar, cinnamon and lemon rind until you have a brown syrup.

Slowly stir in the almond and egg mixture.

Once it has thickened and isn’t sticking, press it into a baking tray. Some people like to add a weight on top, such as a wooden chopping board.

After two or three days, tip the nougat out of the  tray and cut into pieces.

Turron is a Spanish almond nougat that they make especially for CHristmas.

Ingredients

1kg honeyÂ

500g sugar

1.5kg almonds

rind of 1 lemon

2 egg whites

Directions:

Heat the almons in the overn

Slowly heat the honey in a suacepan until all its water is gone

 Add sugar and mix with the honey

Whisk the egg white until it forms peaks. Gently fold this into the sugar/honey mix.

Stir rapidly for 8 - 10 minutes (less if using an electric beater) then slowly over a low heat until it caramelises.

Add the leomn rind and hot almonds, and mix thoroughly.

Cook for 3 - 5 minutes, but be careful it doesn’t stick.

Line baking trays or moulds with rice paper.

Pour the mix onto the rice paper and leave to set for 2.5 hours. Cut into pieces.

Store in airtight containers once it has completely cooled. Yummy!

Leave some out for Santa and use some as Christmas gifts.

Santa is a very busy man on Christmas Eve - he has a lot of houses to visit and many presents to deliver. So it’s understandable he gets hungry & thirsty along the way!

Santa appeciates having a snack waiting for him when he visits - and it’s good manners to offer him something in return for all those gifts, too.

There are some recipes and ideas in our snacks article, but maybe you have a special snack you leave out for Santa every year. We’d love to hear about it, and even better, we’d love to have the recipe if you know it.

To add your story and/or recipe, please register on the site by clicking “register” under the meta heading on the left, and then log in using your password. Go to the “write” page and type in your story - simple! Stories are all moderated before they go live (just to ensure it stays family friendly) but your story should be live not long after you post it.

Love Santa’s Elf