Candy exchange?

[KELLY]

I love to do Christmas candies, truffles, p.b. snowballs, ,etc. Have you ever had candy is addition to the cookies or inplace of? I have never done an exchange but would like to this year. I love this site!

[Bonnie]

I think different is nice - why not mix it up from year to year.

Last year I was not able to host my cookie exchange BUT I did attend one. Some of the ladies brought bars which surprised me but I guess that was fine with the hostess (which I had known in advance).

Are you planning on asking each guest to bring 6 dozen or whatever dozen of each candy? I don't know if candy freezes well but when I do my cookie exchange I usually end up freezing my cookies (I group them accordingly of course) and they last a long time. My daughter loves to pull out the bags from the freezer as needed (or desired).

You could ask each person to fill a cello bag (or box) with their homemade candy and provide one for each guest. If you invite say 12 or 16 ladies or whatever number that is a lot of candy to go home with and I'm sure they would be happy with the take.

This year everyone I know is trying so hard to cut down on their baking which will lead to their eating. For me I think December should be a diet free month.

If you decide to do the candy exchange let us know how it turns out.

[bettynotsuzy]

I have attended exchanges where I made peanut butter balls (took forever, but were wonderful), and I just made however many dozen everyone else was making of their cookies.

The only time I didn't make the same amount was the year I made individually wrapped, and decorated, homemade mini breads (pumpkin & banana). That year I just brought enough for two of each kind for each person.

I felt like I spent too much on the breads, and worked too hard on the pb balls.

The woman who hosted the swap never had any rules, and some people brought some gross, cheap, quick recipes. We all agreed the hostess could do slice-and-bake if she needed to, since she was the one who had to cook, and clean, and prepare for the party, but other than that everyone else should've done the same work/spent the same money.

Guess some people will never "get it"!

[Denice]

We often mix things up at our 'Cookie Exchange'. There is a small group of us (usually less than 10) so we aren't too picky. Most of us are just glad for a nice assortment of cookies and treats in the end that we didn't have to make batch after batch, recipe after recipe. There is often a candy type recipe or maybe a Pumpkin Cream Cheese log thrown into the mix. Our thinking is we end up with an instant 'party tray' assortment and only had to make one recipe. We do however make a dozen cookies (or whatever) per guest attending and an extra one to sample. For 10 guests we make 11 dozen of our cookies and package them 12 to a bag, styrofoam plate or bakery bag to make sorting easier, quicker and with less 'casualty' of broken cookies. When something like the Pumpking roll or perhaps a quick dessert bread like Zucchini Bread is made a whole loaf/roll is traded uncut as a dozen. When it's your party you can do whatever you'd like.

Denice
(from Ohio) ;D

[Susan]

Last year I had someone bring toffee to my cookie swap and it was a pretty big hit. I'm ok with treats like truffles or fudge, but when you start making cakes, I think you stray from the cookie swap idea. A friend asked if she could bring some kind of pretzel/chocolate kiss/mnm thing that goes in the oven. I've never seen it but she says it's popular with her kids' crowd. Anyone seen that one?

[Jana]

I moved into a new neighborhood this past year and am attending our street's cookie swap for the first time. I love to cook but am not a great baker--however, I make seriously wonderful pralines and have been wondering if I could take those instead. Reading this thread has helped me make the decision to live on the edge, risk breaking the rules in favor of taking something I know will be delicious, instead of attempting a potential cookie disaster. I'll let you know how it goes!