A baker's dozen - the Virtual Cookie Exchange round-up

I think it's safe to say that the Virtual Cookie Exchange was a success!  We had participants from all over the country--California, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington.  We even had a couple of international bakers, from Germany and the Netherlands!  And as I hoped, we now have a whole bunch of cookie recipes that have been tested and approved.  So if you have cookie baking on the agenda for this weekend, here are some great ideas...

Abby of Stir it! Scrape it! Mix it! Bake it! starts us off.  Being snowed in gave her the perfect excuse to stay home and bake, and she had fun baking along via Twitter with some of our other bakers.  I bet her  Chocolate Peppermint Sandwiches are very kid-friendly, and I can't wait to try them with my girls.

Andrea of Family & Food & Other Things decided to try her hand at something new, Biscotti.  You can't go wrong adding chocolate chips, and I'm looking forward to using up some of my large stash of cranberries in this recipe!

Caitlin of Engineer Baker reminds us what the holiday season is all about.  It means making cookies that a loved one really enjoys, even when you don't particularly like them yourself.  In this case, it was these yummy Chewy Sugar Cookies.  And I don't know about you, but sometimes it's nice to bake something that I won't really be tempted to eat...

Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen was kind enough to share a treasured family recipe with us.  As she puts it, "favorites are favorites for a reason" and I can definitely see these Swedish Vanilla Cookies, (aka Thumbprints) becoming a favorite in my house.

Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table shares another minty cookie with us.  Her recipe for Candy Cane Peppermint Cookies started as a recipe from a friend, but Kayte made it her own.  And just think, if the stress of the holidays is getting to you, you can vent your frustrations by crushing candy canes!

Leslie of Lethally Delicious came up with a fabulous recipe that pairs cinnamon chips with browned butter.  I can't wait to make her Cinnamon Cookies for Grownups!

Margaret of Tea and Scones started baking cookies and just couldn't stop!  She shares three wonderful recipes with us: Nutmeg Meltaways, Graham Cracker Pralines & "S"anta Cookies.  I love nutmeg, so those meltaways are first on my list to make, though I'm thinking of trying them with pecans.

Marthe of Culinary Delights was the first one I talked to about this virtual cookie exchange.  She jumped on board immediately, and before I knew it, we had a whole list of participants. She picked a cookie that is very popular with her family & friends, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.

Mike of Good Things About Living Out West brings us another minty treat. It's part shortbread cookie, part peppermint bark, and looks totally delicious.  I can't wait to try this Virtual Bark. No Bite.

Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs was a huge help in getting this cookie exchange off the ground. I really wanted a badge for the event, but didn't know where to start, and she offered to ask her daughter to design one!  And then she baked one of my favorite types of cookies, Triple Ginger Cookies.  I can't wait to try baking them.

Phyl from Of Cabbages and King Cakes had trouble getting into the holiday spirit this year.  Once he did, though, he baked not one but two cookies for us--Cranberry Pumpkin Biscotti & Gingerbread Biscotti.  One he had made before, and one he came up with this year.  Both look fantastic, but I think I want to sample the gingerbread ones first.

Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures combined two of my favorite flavors, chocolate and caramel, for her Chocolate Turtle Cookies.  She assures us that they're good without the pecans, too, if you don't like nuts.

Last but not least, we have my contribution.  Like many others, I did a minty cookie, combining peppermint crunch chips with some amazingly chocolatey cookie dough.  I also made some festive lemon wreaths (not pictured here).  You can find both in my post All's well that ends well.




So there you have it, a baker's dozen (plus a few extras) worth of wonderful cookie recipes.  The only question now is, where do I start, and when can I find time to make all of these? =)  Thanks so much to everyone who participated, and I look forward to making this an annual event!

Oh, and one more thank you to Nancy's daughter Allison for making our beautiful logo.  I hope she'll do another one for me next year!