How does a holiday cookie exchange work?

[Anonymous]

Haha. I love the peanut butter and Hershey's kiss cookies and the Russian/Mexican teacakes. For me, the gingerbread cookies that you all rave about are a waste. I'd rather take a picture and dump the cookie, because I'd rather not eat them.

And there needs to be at least one good cookie with chocolate or it is a waste.

[Anonymous]

The peanut butter/hershey kiss cookies are the most popular at my house!

That said, you bring X dozen cookies, where X is the number of people participating +1. Everyone gets a bag of each type of cookie. I like them, but I don't do them with people who bring store-bought cookies. That's really frowned upon. Even a very simple homemade cookie is better--the idea is that you make one kind of cookie but end up with a variety. Some common cookies in my experience are gingersnaps, peanut brittle, chocolate crinkle cookies, spritz cookies, sugar cookies, shortbread, fudge, thumbprints, pinwheels, and crescents.

[Anonymous]

OK, you with the delicious gingerbread cookies -- could you PLEASE share your recipe? I am having no luck on my own -- they're either bland or mouth-numbing. And I think I am using the wrong kind of molasses.

[Anonymous]

PP with the great sugar cookie recipe - can you please post?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP with the great sugar cookie recipe - can you please post?

http://www.marthastewart.com/354106/valentine-cookies

I use store bought cream cheese frosting (the consistency is better than I can do at home) and dye some green for tree shaped cookies, some blue for six point star cookies, yellow for regular stars etc. Then put the little ball sprinkles on. Nothing fancy but they look goo, taste great and are always very popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, you with the delicious gingerbread cookies -- could you PLEASE share your recipe? I am having no luck on my own -- they're either bland or mouth-numbing. And I think I am using the wrong kind of molasses.

I use this one and my DH likes it a lot.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/gingerbread-cookies/92eccbd8-33d2-4f05-a09e-ea6722d67786

[Anonymous]

I like the peanut butter cookies with a little Reese's cup inside of a Hershey's kiss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the peanut butter cookies with a little Reese's cup inside of a Hershey's kiss.

They are the BEST.

[Anonymous]

Question for the folks who are worried about hygiene: Do you eat out in restaurants, ever?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the peanut butter cookies with a little Reese's cup inside of a Hershey's kiss.

Argh -- INSTEAD OF, not inside. It would have to be a very little Reese's cup to fit inside a Hershey's kiss. Like the candy version of a turducken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the peanut butter cookies with a little Reese's cup inside of a Hershey's kiss.

Argh -- INSTEAD OF, not inside. It would have to be a very little Reese's cup to fit inside a Hershey's kiss. Like the candy version of a turducken.

Hahaha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Ugh, hate them. Another opportunity for catching germs.

Basically you bake a ton of cookies, bag them up according to the number of participants, and go to your Exchange where you trade them for somebody else's bag of home-made cookies.

Can't imagine somebody with this thought in their head wouldn't have a bundle of fun at a cookie exchange - strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the peanut butter cookies with a little Reese's cup inside of a Hershey's kiss.

Argh -- INSTEAD OF, not inside. It would have to be a very little Reese's cup to fit inside a Hershey's kiss. Like the candy version of a turducken.

You could put a mini kiss on top of a Reese's cup. Mmm....

[Anonymous]

I once went to a neighborhood cookie exchange where the host's sick kid walked up to the cookie table then explosively and wetly sneezed over it. We all politely took an assortment and most of us threw them out as soon as we got home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once went to a neighborhood cookie exchange where the host's sick kid walked up to the cookie table then explosively and wetly sneezed over it. We all politely took an assortment and most of us threw them out as soon as we got home.

off topic but along the same vein. I went to the UK for the first time this past October and you can get tea and pastries nearly anywhere. What surprised me was all the pastries were out in the open, mostly at a fairly low (eye level to a kid) level with no cover on anything. You just go up and grasp the slice of cake, or scone etc that you want. No one is stopping anyone from sneezing on them, wiping a booger on them, touching the work dirty hands etc. I'm not a germophobe but that struck me as rather surprising.