Cookie Exchange

I've heard about cookie exchanges for years and have seen a lot about them on Pinterest lately.  I decided to host one this year.  I thought it would be a good excuse to get some friends together around the holidays and we all would end up with some great cookies.

Along with the cookies, I made some appetizers and holiday drinks.  Although its not that cold in California in December, I thought hot chocolate would be a yummy drink.  It also gave me an excuse to make some cute marshmallow stir sticks.  I put out some Kahlua if people wanted to add it to their drink.  It's my favorite!

I also made a Candy Cane Cocktail.  This was delicious.  It was a mixture of strawberry vodka, cranberry juice, and creme de menthe.

I had some appetizers for people to snack on and I made a dessert for everyone to eat while at my house. 

These Peppermint Oreo Rice Krispie Treats were amazing.  They had Trader Joe's Peppermint Jo Jo's in them. On top they had crushed candy canes and were drizzled with white and semi-sweet chocolate. 

All the cookies that my friends brought were delicious also.  I put out all of my white platters for them to put the cookies on before we did the exchange.
 

I found some super cute mini spatulas at Target that I got for a party favor.  I tied a mini cookie cutter to each one also. 

For the exchange, I made Peppermint Meringue Drops.  I found the recipe last year in Sunset Magazine.  I made them twice and everyone loved them, so I thought I'd make them again.  I always thought that meringue cookies would be difficult, but they were pretty simple to make. 

Peppermint Meringue Drops
From: Sunset Magazine

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature 
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp. coarsely crushed peppermint candies

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 250°. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a deep bowl with a mixer, using whisk attachment if you have one, just until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and salt. With motor running and mixer on high speed, pour in 1 tbsp. sugar and beat 10 to 15 seconds, then repeat until all sugar has been added. Scrape inside of bowl and beat another 15 seconds. At this point, meringue should form straight peaks when beaters are lifted. Fold in chocolate chips and 1/3 cup candies with a flexible spatula.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, using a bit of meringue at corners as glue. Using a soup spoon, drop meringue in rounded 1-tbsp. portions slightly apart onto sheets, scraping off with another spoon. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tbsp. candies.
3. Bake until meringues feel dry and set when touched but are still pale, 30 to 35 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through. Turn off oven, open door, and let cookies stand about 10 minutes. Let cool on pans.
4. Make ahead: Up to 2 days, stored airtight.

I realized after I made these that they might not last very long, so I started searching for another recipe that I could also make.  I found a recipe for a soft gingerbread cookie.  Luckily I had all of the ingredients.  They were good and I'll definitely make them again next year.

White Chocolate topped Ginger Cookies
From: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
2 tsp. Ginger, Ground
1 tsp. Cinnamon, Ground
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, Ground (I used fresh)
1/4 tap salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preparation:

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.
Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press about 5-6 white chocolate chips into center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of my cookies up close:( 

The exchange was fun.  Hopefully everyone will want to do it again next year.  It was a nice way to start the holiday season.

Better Than Crack Brownies

Here is another treat that includes Rice Krispies.  I had no idea how many different types of Rice Krispies Treats there were.  They make for some very yummy treats!  They were called Better-Than-Crack-Brownies on the blog that I found them.  I may need to come up with a more family friendly name if I make them again:)

I made these for a bake sale at my husbands school.  They were pretty easy to make.  It was made in layers and had to cool between layers, so that took some time.  No difficult baking techniques involved.

Better Than Crack Brownies
From How Sweet It Is

1 batch brownies (boxed mix or your own brownie recipe)

1/2 cup salted peanuts (if don’t have salted, add sea salt)

1 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups

1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Instructions:

1. Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. 2. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.

3. While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. 

4. Stir in cereal. 

5. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

6. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

I never actually got to eat one of these, so I hope they were good.  I packaged them up for the bake sale thinking they would sell them each individually.  They decided that since they were already packaged they would sell them as a batch.  My husband said that when he went by the sale they were gone within a few minutes.  I guess that's a good sign. 

Rice Krispies Treats

I had to present at a district wide grade level meeting.  This is an after school meeting and I knew that a treat would make the teachers happy.  I was looking for something simple, but a little different.  I found some great Rice Krispies Treats on my favorite blog, Glorious Treats.

One batch would not be enough to feed everyone, so I decided to make two different types.  I went with S'mores and Cookies 'n Creme.  Both were a big hit.  Teachers may not remember what the presentation was about, but they remembered my treats.

Cookies 'n Creme Rice Krispies Treats
From Glorious Treats

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

20 regular oreos, crushed/chopped (about 2 1/2 cups crushed)

5 cups mini marshmallows

3 Tablespoons butter

Directions-

1.  Put rice krispies treats into a large bowl.  Spray a 9x13" casserole dish or cake pan with non-stick spray, set aside. 

2.  In a large plastic (ziplock type) bag, crush oreos (I used a large, flat bottom mug).  You want to have some crushed into small pieces, and some bite size chunks.  Add oreos to rice krispies and stir to combine. 

3.  In a large microwave safe bowl, heat butter and marshmallows together (about 3 minutes).  They expand a lot, so make sure you use a BIG bowl.  When the marshmallows are puffy and mostly melted, carefully remove from microwave and stir to fully combine the butter, and make sure the marshmallows are fully melted.  

4.  Pour melted marshmallows over cereal and oreos and use a spatula sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to quickly combine all the ingredients.  When everything is combined, spread mixture into the prepared 9x13" dish.  Use the spatula to press the mixture around the dish, and flatten as needed.

5.  Allow to cool (about 20 minutes) before cutting into squares.  

Makes about 24 (2 inch) squares

S'more Rice Krispies Treats
From Glorious Treats

3 Tablespoons butter

4 cups mini marshmallows (or about 40 regular/large marshmallows)

5 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup Golden Grahams cereal

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

(Top layer)

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (or about 1 cup chocolate chips)

10 full sized graham crackers, broken in half (slightly more or less, depending on the pan you use)

40 large marshmallows (approximately)

Directions-

1.  Butter (or spray lightly with cooking spray) a 9"x13" pan.

In a large microwave safe bowl, place 3 tablespoons of butter (cut into a few pieces), and 4 cups of marshmallows.  Microwave about 3 minutes (stirring after 2 minutes)  watch the microwave, cooking times may vary.  Cook in microwave until butter and marshmallows are melted.  Stir gently. 

2.  Add Rice Krispies and golden grahams cereal and stir to combine. (try using a plastic or silicone spatula sprayed with a bit of cooking spray).

Add mini chocolate chips, stir quickly, and immediately pour mixture into prepared 9"x13" pan.  Press into pan (with spatula). 

3.  Melt semi-sweet chocolate (or chocolate chips) in a microwave (at 50% power), in 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals.  Heat until just melted.  Spread chocolate on top of Rice Krispies Treats in pan.

4.  While the chocolate is still warm, lay graham cracker squares on top, leaving a tiny bit of space between each cracker.

5.  Put entire pan of treats in the fridge or freezer (or a cool location) until the chocolate has set (about 10-15 minutes).  Cut into squares with a sharp knife, using the lines between the graham crackers as a guide.  Place treats on a large baking sheet, separated slightly. 

6.  Cut large marshmallows in half, (just a couple at a time), and place cut side down onto graham crackers, (as shown below).

7.  When all the graham crackers are topped with marshmallows, use a kitchen torch (or propane torch) to toast the marshmallow.  If you don't have a torch, this would be a great excuse to get one... OR, you can toast the marshmallows in the oven.  Preheat your oven to broil.  Place baking sheet of treats in the oven, leaving the oven door slightly ajar.  Broil about 30 seconds, watch them, they can burn quickly!


I think that I'll have to find some other Rice Krispies recipes because they are easy and yummy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Roll

I love peanut butter.  If a dessert has peanut butter in, I will eat it.  When I saw this recipe, I knew that I had to make it.  It is a nice twist on a Rice Krispie Treat.  As I was making these, I realized that I don't think I've ever made Rice Krispie Treats before.  I don't think I'll ever make regular ones after having these.  They were delicious.  They were also pretty quick to whip up if you need a dessert and don't have a lot of time.

The recipe came from MADE, one of my favorite blogs.

Prep:
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Generously spray it with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, microwave for 2 min:
1 package mini marshmallows - 10.5 oz (appx 6 and 2/3 cups)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
 

                          

Stir ingredients and add:
5 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

Mix well and spread mixture on the greased waxed paper. Coat hands with non-stick spray and flatten out Rice Krispie mix until it is even and compressed. Set aside.

Melt Together: 

1 1/3 cup Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips

I used a double boiler on the stove, but she recommended microwaving in 20 second intervals.  I wanted to make sure that I didn't burn the chocolate.

Spread the melted peanut butter and chocolate onto the Rice Krispie mixture.

Roll the Rice Krispie mixture horizontally into one log--lift the wax paper at one end to help. Refrigerate for appx 30 minutes. Slice and serve.

My brother was kind of hovering over me as I was making them.  I think he was disappointed I went to bed before I cut them!