Community Ed Cookie Swap

Continuing on the theme of all things cookie related…

Last Thursday was the date that I taught my monthly cooking class for Community Education. (Check out my November recap here) I debated on doing some sort of “How to Make Your Christmas Meal Memorable” class, but then I got the brilliant idea of hosting a cookie swap instead, where I not only teach how to make a few of my favorites, but have every student bring 2-3 dozen of their own favorite Christmas treat and recipe cards to swap. I wasn’t quite sure how it’d go over being that so many people are already overwhelmed by all the to-do’s during the month of December, but luckily I had a great handful of students sign up. I love the group of people that keep attending, they are some of the nicest people I’ve met, and definitely make teaching enjoyable!

I finally got some pictures of where the classes are held and how things are set up!

 

I really like having one volunteer to help out with each recipe too—it keeps things more interactive!

I really enjoyed not only sharing my 3 top Christmas recipes of 2010, but it was so much fun to see all the goodies everyone else brought—they blew me away in both presentation and taste! Some people made more than one kind, and I am planning on featuring each recipe in the coming months, so keep an eye out for those—you won’t want to miss them, trust me!

Here’s the trays for everyone to fill…

All the goodies brought by the students..

Loading up their trays…

 

And now a drum roll for the final results..

What a great selection, huh? I told you that you’ll want to stick around for the recipes!!

And I suppose you’re wondering what recipes I chose to make/share with the class. Two of them you’ve already seen..

• Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies (recipe here)

• Cinnamon Roll Popcorn (recipe here)

And the third recipe I decided on is new to the blog—short, sweet, and simply stunning on cookie platters!

Holiday Gift Package Cookies

Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4
  cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

Frosting

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half or milk
• Food color

Line 8-inch square pan with plastic wrap. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat all cookie ingredients except flour at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour, scraping bowl occasionally, until mixture forms a dough. Press dough firmly and evenly in pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350°F. Using edges of plastic wrap, lift dough from pan. With sharp knife, cut into 8 rows in each direction to make 64 squares; carefully place squares 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.

In medium bowl, mix all frosting ingredients except food color until smooth, adding enough half-and-half for desired spreading consistency. In small bowl, mix 1/3 cup of the frosting and enough food color until desired color and well blended; place in small resealable food storage plastic bag and partially seal.

Spread uncolored frosting over cooled cookies. Cut small hole in bottom corner of bag of colored frosting. Squeeze bag to pipe frosting onto each cookie to resemble bows

And here’s a behind-the-scenes shot after all is said and done.

I think it’s time to call it a night!

Have you ever attended/hosted a cookie swap?