Cookies Galore!

 

Christmas and cookies go hand-in-hand, right? I've baked cookies at Christmastime for for-EVER. And I enjoy it, too .... this is not a complaint. And, I have previously admitted that I have a problem when it comes to assembling Christmas goodie trays. It's always a delicious problem to have, though, right??

 

 

So, a friend of mine throws an annual Cookie Exchange party every December. There are different approaches to this kind of a party but here is how hers works:

 

13 people are invited. Every guest slot must be filled for this to work right, and when you agree, it's a commitment. Once you're on her guest list, you have an automatic "in" to the next year's party. Anyone who pulls out at the last minute, doesn't get another invitation ... it's just too stressful for her to find replacements.

 

Each person bakes and brings 12 dozen of the same kind of [holiday] cookie, divided into 1-dozen packages. Copies of the recipe and your name are to be included with each dozen cookies. (Most are usually put in pretty bags or boxes, sometimes in tins.)

 

She serves a sit-down dinner, which is soups, bread bowls, and salads. Several invited guests help with the meal. The guests eat and visit together -- she decorates her home beautifully, and the tables with Christmas place settings, so it's really quite nice.

 

At the end of the evening, each guest brings home a packaged dozen of each of the other ladies' cookies (and recipes), but not their own cookies that they brought.

 

So, the final result is that each guest has 12 dozen different cookies that she didn't have to bake, herself. What do you do with 12 dozen cookies? They are given to friends, neighbors, taken to work parties, visiting teaching ladies, .... Seminary students ... [wink, wink]

 

If it sounds like a lot of work, well, .... granted, it is. Which is why I sidestepped her invitation for a number of years. However, I am now on my third year of doing this cookie exchange. Every year in December, I think to myself, "I am never going to do this again." And every year in October-November, I get amnesia and I agree to it. I get grand plans of baking early and freezing my cookies -- but it doesn't really happen that way.

 

(Plus, if you think it's a lot of work -- think about this: my same friend actually throws the same party TWICE. She does it for a group of women from her husband's workplace, and then again for a group of her own personal friends. Now that, my friends, is dedication!!)

 

So, this year, I didn't get real inventive with my cookie dough for the exchange. It's just your basic shortbread. In the past, I have done spritz cookies, which are dang easy to knock out 5 or 6 dozen in a short amount of time. Especially since I have an electric cookie press. This year, thinking I would freeze in advance, I got a bit more ambitious -- if not with the type of cookie, then with the method.

I did the basic shortbread cookie -- but as a roll-and-cut cookie. What was I thinking??? This was more time-consuming than I left time for. I did freeze 5 dozen a few days in advance.... but I was baking the rest the night before!

 

 

And then, the afternoon of the exchange, I started to dress them up, dipping them in chocolate....

 

Well -- half-dipped. Which, with me is not really dipped, but schmeared. (It's a technical term.) I am not a fan of having the chocolate on the underside of the cookie, so instead, I spread it on top to make it *look* like it was dipped. I know -- I overthink this stuff WAY too much. Then add sprinkles for color and interest:

 

Yep. One cookie down, 143 others to go...... 

 

Lined up like little soldiers on the counter. This was only half of them. Even with my long counters, I couldn't fit 12 dozen on at the same time.

And then packed into 12 individual boxes.

 

(I found these Christmas tree boxes at the dollar store. No photo of the lids for you, though.)

 

And there you have it! 12 dozen Christmas cookies. And that was just the start of my baking.  Since I still had our own trays to do, there were also 5+ dozen gingerbread, another 2 dozen shortbread, pineapple spritz, pecan tassies...... well just add about another 14 dozen of my own cookies. And 3 pounds of fudges.

 

Talk about a sugar high.

Whew!!