December Cookie Exchange

Back in December, right before the holidays, I had a cookie exchange. It was, fortunately, a success. I had nine girls over, and one wanted to participate but had to work, so she gave me her cookies earlier in the day and we collected a plate for her. This means that there were a total of 11 of us who each baked between three and eight dozen cookies. (Yes, one girl made about eight dozen, because she doubled a recipe that was already very large in and of itself.)

There was a great variety of cookies, including dark chocolate pistachio biscotti, oatmeal butterscotchies, sugar cookies, easy-as-cake chocolate cookies, world peace cookies, chocolate dipped peanut butter balls, split second cookies, and many more. They all look delicious, and the ones that I've tasted, the looks have not been deceiving. :)

I ended up making Martha Stewart's sour cherry dark chocolate cookies. They didn't quite puff up as I'd have liked them to, but that's okay. (Actually, I just looked at Martha Stewart's cookies, and they're only puffy in the middle. Most of mine did that, too, so maybe that's how they're supposed to be. Yay!) The recipe can be found on Martha Stewart's website. The only thing I changed was that I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the bittersweet chopped chocolate, as that's what I had on hand, and I only used 7 ounces of dried cherries, as that's the only size I found at the store (Whole Foods, the only place I could find them) and I did not want to buy two containers.

For appetizers, I made nachos (with cheese, spicy chicken, beans, and the option of topping them with sour cream, black olives, and salsa), bread with a cheesy bacon and onion dip, and some rather strange wraps.

I liked that everyone mingled, which doesn't often happen when I mix different groups of friends. I had fun, and it seemed like others did, too.

Here is a photo of all the cookies I collected from everyone, minus two that I've eaten. :D While the photo does not make it seem like a lot of cookies, there are between four and five dozen there. Wow!