One thing I love doing in December is walking around the posher side of my neighbourhood (aka the part I don’t live in) checking out all the Christmas wreaths. When baby H was small, my friend and I made a ‘wreath snoop’ part of our weekly routine. We’d push our prams down the roads, discussing the merits of each and whether it matched the front door or not, willing our babies to nap.

I’ve never had a Christmas wreath, partly because I’m Jewish (although we do most definitely have a Christmas tree) but also partly because they’re not cheap and I’d want to get a nice one so I’d probably end up spending a fortune on something I’d only see a couple of times a day. I know it’s possible to make them yourself, but what with baking and mum-ing I don’t really know when I’d find the time.

So this year I decided to bake some wreaths instead. Obviously donuts came to mind, the perfect wreath shape. So I came up with some suitably festive tasting donuts and adorned them in a super simple but pretty front-door-worthy decorations. So whilst you still won’t see a wreath on my front door this December, you’ll most certainly see multiple wreaths in my kitchen. Except one things for sure, they won’t be there for long!

Ingredients

• 1 cup cacao powder
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 5 medjool dates
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 large ripe banana
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

For the glaze and wreath decorations

• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• Mint leaves
• Dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 180C. To make the donuts, place all the ingredients except the cranberries in a food processor and whizz for about a minute, until smooth. Stir in the cranberries and spoon into donut moulds. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Leave to cool completely, then make the glaze by combining the coconut oil maple and cacao powder in a bowl and stirring well. Carefully remove the donuts from the mould and dunk each one in the glaze, then arrange dried cranberries and mint leaves on top to make it look like the most delicious wreath you’ve ever seen.

Love, Mrs H xx