I love cookies so when I heard about Cookie Swaps, I was in HEAVEN! There are many ways you can do your party. I set the date and just asked all my guest to bring a big batch of their favorite cookies. Try to see what kind they are making so you don't end up with all one kind.
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Want to have a large variety of cookies to give away for gifts for Christmas yet only have to make one batch of one kind of cookie?
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I need to make 8 dozen Christmas cookies for a cookie exchange at school. I want something different from chocolate chip cookies but VERY quick and easy. Any ideas?
I love the idea of a cookie exchange, but it seems like it comes at a very inconvenient time, right before the holidays. So, my solution? Whenever I am invited to a cookie exchange, I make fudge.
Easiest Peanut Butter Fudge
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over confectioners' sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth; pour into an 8x8 inch dish. Chill until firm and cut into squares.
Happy holidays!
Bar cookies are the easiest. Just use your favorite search site for recipes.
1 box of any kind of cake mix
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
1 stick of melted margarine( 1minute in microwave)
Mix all ingredients together until consistency of cookie dough. Cool in frig for about 15 minutes.
Roll into balls and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes. Add Chips of any kind or nuts or just make plain.
This is one that I make all the time, very good.
Almond Butter Brickle Cookies
2 cups butter -- softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups powdered sugar
In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add oil, eggs and extract, mix well.
Combine flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture.
Stir in almonds and butter brickle bits.
Shape into balls, roll in granulated sugar. Flatten with fork or bottom of glass
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned.
Turptoo
The easiest cookies I know are called 1-2-3 cookies. Three steps and just three ingredients - 1 box of cake mix (any flavor), a stick of butter, and an egg.
1 - Mix a box of cake mix, 1 stick of butter, and 1 egg.
2 - Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until set.
3 - Dust with powdered sugar.
Peanut Butter Cookies.
These are a favorite around here.
Mix :
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Cup Peanut Butter
Drop by teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet. Mash With fork. Bake @ 400 for 8 minutes. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Makes about 2 dozen. Try and let cool. Bet you can't!
Butterscotch Haystacks are quick and easy.
1 11 oz pkg butterscotch morsels
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 can (8.5 oz) or 2 cans (5 oz ea) chow mein noodles
3 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
Line trays with wax paper. Microwave morsels in large, uncovered microwave safe bowl on medium high (70%) for 1 minute. Stir. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10-15 second intervals, stirring just until morsels are all melted. Stir in peanut butter until well blended. Add noodles and marshmallows; toss until all ingredients are coated. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared trays. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (min 30 mins in fridge). Makes 6 doz.
You could go to allrecipes.com also. They have tons of recipes and also some different variations on Haystacks. There is one made with peanuts but I don't remember it right now. Merry Christmas.
you will need 1#real choc (3 hershey bars r cheaper right now, the large ones)
12oz choc chips
melt these 2 ingred. in 20 sec. intervals in micro till melted
then beat 1 8oz. pkg soft cream cheese and 1 egg tog till creamy
slowly stir in choc and nuts.
quickly spread into buttered cake pan and let sit for 1/2 hr.
cut into squares. excellent fudge. and done in 10 min.
Pretzel cookies are so easy
small knot pretzels
hershey kisses
red and green m&ms
put the pretzels on a cookie sheet, put the kisses on the pretzels bake in oven just until kisses get soft, remove from oven and put one m&m in the center of each kiss. Chill till chocolate is hard.
My family's all time favorite is pretzel sticks dipped in melted chocolate and/or melted almond bark! The big pretzel sticks, not the skinny little ones - although any pretzel will work!
I will put two that I made yesterday with my mom.
Chocolate Marshmallow Snowballs
1 bag of chocolate chips, melted
1 bag of colored mini marshmallows, the best ones are the flavored ones by Great Value
About a cup of walnuts
Powdered sugar in separate bowl
Pour marshmallows and walnuts in bowl and pour melted chocolate over them and mix thoroughly. Scoop out a handful in a sort of ball shape and drop into a bowl of powdered sugar, cover well with sugar and then really form them into balls, squeezing kinda hard. Put them onto a cookie sheet and put in fridge for about an hour and then you can transfer them to a bowl.
Butterscotch Rice crispy treats
6 cups rice crispys
1 bag of butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
Melt the peanut butter and butterscotch chips together and pour over rice crispys. Mix well and pour into a well buttered 9x13 inch pan and put in fridge about an hour. These are so good we fight over them. I should make them more often.
1 bag oreos
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 bag chocolate chips
Crush oreos. Combine with softened cream cheese. Shape into balls. Refrigerate at least one hour. Melt Choc. chips. Dip balls into melted chocolate. If you want to get fancy, drizzle melted white chocolate over the balls after the chocolate chips have hardened.
I believe the above recipe for peanut butter cookies is missing one important ingredient, FLOUR!
Actually, that peanut butter cookie recipe without the flour, is completely correct. I've been baking these cookies for years and they turn out perfect every time. And yes, withOUT flour. I originally got the recipe out of my kids cookbook when I was 12 years old. The only addition in the recipe I have is 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I have also made these using crunchy peanut butter with spectacular results and rave reviews.
I like to make an easy recipe that I can just pull from the memory every year. My family LOVES these and they are so very easy!
1 box Ritz Crackers
1 jar peanut butter
1 package chocolate almond bark, melted
spread peanut butter between 2 crackers and dip in the melted almond bark. Cool on wax paper. It's that easy!
This one is so easy and my family LOVES it. Here's what you will need...
1 box Ritz Crackers
1 jar peanut butter
1 package Chocolate Almond Bark, melted
Spread peanut butter between 2 Ritz crackers, dip in melted almond bark, cool on wax paper. It's that easy!
I host a cookie exchange every Christmas season and part of our fun is the way we package our cookies. It has actually become a contest. This coming year we even have a theme of fa la la la la. We must come up with some cookie and packaging combo related to Christmas music, angles singing, or a choir. Any suggestions? This was my idea, but I am stumped on this one.
By Jane from PA
How about putting them in a box, cover with Christmas wrapping paper and put a CD on the cover that has Christmas music. You can find them for like a dollar in the stores, especially this time of year. Doesn't have to be a best seller but any holiday music cd, the recipients get cookies plus holiday music too!
There are lots of plastic canvas Christmas patterns for boxes of different sizes. Plastic canvas is easy to do.
You can put them in plastic containers,or use plastic packaging and tie a ribbon,or pack well and put them in small baskets.or get a glass jug and pack them or in biscuit tins,in a casserole,which ever way you pack make sure it stays fresh and crisp.
www.mygrafico.com/
This is a cookie tower template free from mygrafico. Use the template but get you some scrapbooking paper that matches the theme you want and you got it. Also look for digital stamps. you can find tons and tons for free and then you print out what you want in the size you want, color them or have kids color them and attach to your cookie tower. Email me if you want more details about digital stamps and where to find them.
Copy some of your favourite xmas sheet music using a photocopier or your printer/copier or better yet, go to a used book store and get some inexpensive sheet music in a Xmas theme. Roll large cone shapes from the music, taping them together if needed and to keep the cone in place. Line with tissue on your theme or waxed paper then add cookies, being sure to leave enough at the top to fold over and seal.
You could use a new, unused paint can. They can be purchased at paint stores. Lowe's and Home Depot type stores may also carry them. You don't have to completely cover the can. Using wrapping paper, sheet music, or something you've designed yourself using graphics or clip art, you can make a circle to fit the top of the can and a label sized cutting for the can itself. Or, you can cover the whole outside of the can. Use your imagination and I'm sure you can come up with something pretty and unique. Whatever you do, post a picture and directions on the Thriftyfun Crafts newsletter.
Good luck and have fun.
Margaret from Denton, Texas
What ever you use, remember food safety and putting something you eat against something not meant to be food decorations. Think of how many people have touched the cutsie and in storage/shipment from other areas, vermin also get to be part of the act.
How about printing a sheet of music and putting 3 or 4 round cookies into the center, front to back (like Ritz crackers are stacked in tube form) and rolling them up in the sheet, twisting the ends closed. You May or may not choose to tie the twisted ends with a thin ribbon and curl it. In the end it should look nice, sort of like a little firecracker. Have some cookies out to taste too since yours will be packaged! I made up one quickly to show you since a photo is easier but I am not sure if it this site loaded it...
Enjoy the holidays!
I need ideas for a cookie exchange, how to present the cookies.
By flbradosky from Claridge, PA
To keep the emphasis on the cookies, not on a glitzy packaging, many exchanges specify:
12" paper plates, may be Christmas themed; cookies piled evenly, so that an empty test paper plate set on top does not slide off; a business card size label with the name of the cookies plus your name and phone number; the whole thing covered with Saran or similar shrink wrap.
To prevent sampling out, the shrink wrap should be sealed at the bottom by putting the wrapped plate onto an upside down iron set for Perma Press for a few seconds.
You can find plastic holiday treat bags at dollar stores. These will hold a dozen small cookies or 6 larger ones. These sold well at bake sales. I also found aluminum (sometimes holiday) pans with plastic covers that would hold 1-2 dozen. I have also used baskets, lining them with holiday tea towels or tissue paper covering securely with plastic wrap. You can wrap the bottom of a cardboard box, line with tissue paper and cover with holiday plastic wrap.
At our local dollar store, I saw some holiday-themed boxes that would make a nice presentation for probably a dozen small cookies. I believe there were five in a package. You fold them into shape and the handles "lock" into place. I bought some of this same type box that were plain white and I plan to decorate with scrapbook paper and embellishments. Also I believe the goodie bags come in a few sizes. Check at your craft store or dollar stores for the size you need.
