Ho! Ho! Ho! 2013 Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap
This post should be titled “OMG It’s Raining Cookies” after Wednesday’s lengthy Food Bloggers Great Cookie Swap of 2013. I’m literally drowning in delectable delights.
I was really excited when Julie from White Lights on Wednesday announced there would be a cookie swap going on. I figured I was already doing one, why not another.
Right? The more the merrier this time of year.
Only, things just did not go as planned.
My partner in crime was Raquel who blogs over at Organized Island. For this particular swap we were to send our partner a recipe we enjoyed so they could make it for us. I was really excited about this until I kept reading. No butter balls, which most people know as Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes. Funny, that is what Raquel request. I was actually pretty happy to make these anyway but time was not on my side over the weekend and we didn’t get to make them. I had planned on sending Raquel anyway. It made me sad I was not going to be able to send her some, nor was I going to be able to eat any. It’s been years since my mom has made these tasty treats.
Raquel then requested some Betty Crocker Red Velvet Pinwheel Cookies. I was really excited about these because they were so pretty and something I have never made before. I purchased the cream cheese and sugar cookie dough to get started a few days later.
Well…the morning didn’t get off to a good start. No matter what I did that cookie dough would not set. I stuck it in the freezer and many hours later still nothing.
This is what I ended up with……
I was messaging Julie on Facebook literally in tears because I desperately wanted to make a good impression with these cookies. I was so afraid people did not like my Michigan Oatmeal Cookies from the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap because NO ONE had contacted me by this point and these cookies just did not want to cooperate and I knew Raquel deserved to have a great cookie because I had sent her my childhood favorite White Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Cookies. I had not had these since my grandmother passed in 2007.
Finally I came to the conclusion that this was not going to work so we all agreed since I was already in the process of putting together Christmas baskets and had ingredients on hand & due to limited grocery budget I would be sending out more Michigan apple cookies. This time I fattened up the batch a little bit.
But……as I sat here scrolling through my photos I realize it’s craptastic that I didn’t take ANY photos before my frazzled self packed them up and got them to the post office.
Great.
But hey….
I did get a photo of Raquel’s pretty Christmas cookies. She took my simple recipes and make them festive for the holiday by using white chocolate and peppermint! <3!!
THANK YOU RAQUEL!
So what have a learned this week? That maybe I am a cooker and not a baker.
That frozen red dough actually tastes pretty good 😉
That maybe even with months of careful planning things don’t always work out as planned.
I should have a plan B , C, and D.
Maybe cookies are not my thing. 🙁
Be sure to check out some of the other cookies in the swap! I’m pretty sure they had a lot of success (LOL)
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Aack, sounds like a stressful day! Glad that things eventually all worked out. It seems that baking is always harder when the pressure is on (and of course that’s when things most likely go wrong too)!
I’m always so worried about baking, especially recipes I have never made before. It was fun and quite a learning experience.
Awwwhh, Chrystal, sorry to hear it was such a stressful experience but I appreciate your positive take aways!
I am definitely a cooker and not a baker so I sympathize completely. I can only make one treat and I do it at Christmas time and that’s it, lol.
Hope the rest of your week is going better!
We don’t know until we try, right? I don’t know what in the world was going on with that crazy dough not wanting to come off the paper and stick together. So crazy. But hey, it sure tasted good all frozen and creamy. Maybe thats some recipe in itself somehow. lol
Awh… I wish I could give you a hug…my Red Velvet Cake I’ve made to take to the in-laws for Christmas was very trying to say the least. I don’t know how your weather has been but the crumbs from the cake where extremely moist and good. Humidity must be effecting our recipes. Isn’t that the way it is when we are making something to take or send somewhere…ugh…but if we’re just baking something off the cuff it will be great.
Maybe YOU really deserved that cookie dough!
Have a great weekend!
Michigan weather is cold and damp this time of year. I have an older farmhouse with forced hot water heat. There is no temperature control. It’s on or it’s off. LOL. I am wondering if that had something to do with it. Even still, after being stuck in the freezer for the day it still should have came off that wax paper! I even double checked to make sure it was on the right side!