Anonymous wrote:Buy a large tin of great quality caramel corn and divide to smaller portions. Pretty ribbon. No one expects caramel corn to be made from scratch.

Even better, just dump some Nilla wafers in a Ziploc bag. Seriously, don’t sign up for a cookie exchange and do this. This kind of baking takes time, effort, money. Nobody wants caramel corn you bagged into plastic in exchange for some time intensive family cookie they spent hours making.

Buy a large tin of great quality caramel corn and divide to smaller portions. Pretty ribbon. No one expects caramel corn to be made from scratch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing is going to "pass" as homemade. In your situation I would buy the best cookies I can get that are considered a "treat." Anything lesser than that is a let down to your fellow cookie exchangers.

My first, and last, cookie exchange resulted in store bought cookies, one batch of burned on the bottom cookies, and the rest were a bland, cheap selection of cookies. All of the cookies went into the trash. "Anything less than..." is subjective. Cookie exchange at work, hard pass. Cookie exchange among good home cooks out to impress each other, yes!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next time you’re in a bind, consider making rice krispy treats. I know technically they aren’t a cookie but I consider them cookie adjacent. And you can assemble a batch in 5 minutes.

They’re a fine substitute for cookies as a dessert. They’re not okay for a cookie exchange, except maybe if you decorated them individually in an especially adorable way.

Why not? Genuine question. I’ve never done a cookie exchange.

It’s like showing up at a fancy dinner party with a bag of Lays potato chips as your hostess gift. Something that’s perfectly fine for you to eat at home, but not elevated enough for a special occasion. A lot of Christmas cookies require extra effort. They’re special because they’re not baked goods you make the rest of the year. They’re doughs that you have to chill before handling or they’ve got an expensive nut filling or you’re taking the time to roll, cut, decorate them individually. I’ll eat Oreos, but if I’ve spent a long time mixing, rolling out, cutting, baking and decorating adorable gingerbread men, I’m not going to want to trade them for Oreos.

Anonymous wrote:I guess "not having time" buying cookies is the baking version of "the dog ate my homework."

Now that I have a young dog, I believe that the dog ate the homework, the sneakers, the toothbrush, the pen, couch leg, the everything.

I'm fine with a "regular" homemade chocolate chip cookie but someone who brings Rice Krispie treats to a cookie exchange didn't understand the assignment and wouldn't be invited back next year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next time you’re in a bind, consider making rice krispy treats. I know technically they aren’t a cookie but I consider them cookie adjacent. And you can assemble a batch in 5 minutes.

They’re a fine substitute for cookies as a dessert. They’re not okay for a cookie exchange, except maybe if you decorated them individually in an especially adorable way.

Why not? Genuine question. I’ve never done a cookie exchange.

Meh: I’d eat them but I see the point. This is also why I don’t do cookie exchanges: I know I’m not willing to put in the effort required. There should be some pride and effort, you’re bringing YOUR special homemade cookie. The same way you really shouldn’t bring just a regular chocolate chip cookie, you shouldn’t bring Rice Krispies treats. The idea is everyone get a bag of special, seasonal cookies that they otherwise would never have the time to bake themselves. Anyone can throw together Rice Krispies treats. They’re not special.

Do not participate in a cookie exchange with non-homemade cookies!!

I think rice crispie treats are fine as the “cookie” though.

I guess "not having time" buying cookies is the baking version of "the dog ate my homework."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next time you’re in a bind, consider making rice krispy treats. I know technically they aren’t a cookie but I consider them cookie adjacent. And you can assemble a batch in 5 minutes.

They’re a fine substitute for cookies as a dessert. They’re not okay for a cookie exchange, except maybe if you decorated them individually in an especially adorable way.

Why not? Genuine question. I’ve never done a cookie exchange.

https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/snickerdoodle-blondies/

These snickerdoodle bars are my go to for a very fast easy dessert people rave about. I usually have the ingredients on hand too.

Anonymous wrote:That happened at one of my exchanges and people brought store and bakery cookies and that was the last time I did an exchange with them. Me and my friend did a smaller exchange after that. I think just apologizing and bowing out is better than bringing a subpar cookie.

Agree, it’s not fair.

Anonymous wrote:Next time you’re in a bind, consider making rice krispy treats. I know technically they aren’t a cookie but I consider them cookie adjacent. And you can assemble a batch in 5 minutes.

They’re a fine substitute for cookies as a dessert. They’re not okay for a cookie exchange, except maybe if you decorated them individually in an especially adorable way.

Next time you’re in a bind, consider making rice krispy treats. I know technically they aren’t a cookie but I consider them cookie adjacent. And you can assemble a batch in 5 minutes.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is old, but I wanted to say thank you to the ladies on here who advised that special cookies bought at a bakery are okay! I was searching “cookie exchange dcum” looking for some suggestions on what to bake, but not really wanting to bake.

I also revived this thread to share my mom’s story, from the 80s probably, of going to a cookie exchange and someone had brought an Entemenn’s (sp?) glazed coffee cake that she had spread peanut butter on top of. I don’t know if she was claimed it was homemade. No shame to her, just funny.

Hilarious!