The Appalachian Cookie Exchange

Throughout most of my years in college, you could find me in the Student Union every Monday and Wednesday working as a graphic artist for our school newspaper, The Appalachian . I loved working for the paper and getting to know other peers involved in my same interests. Those peers turned into friends and although we have all graduated and moved on from college, we have kept in touch through facebook and twitter.

One thing that us alumnae of The Appalachian all have in common is that we love to bake. The best baker among us, Chrisan, thought of a brilliant idea to do a cookie exchange through Priority Mail since we live in different cities and states. All that was needed was a $5 Priority Mail Flat Rate shipping box paired with a little organization and {volia!}, you've got a cookie exchange between some awesome ladies! We used drawnames.com, which is secret Santa organizer, to find out which person to bake for and then we packaged and sent our yummy goodies on their way.

I was excited to get my bake on and decided to try a few new recipes. Since the shipping box was on the small side, I packed it full with two types of cookies: Peppermint Sugar Cookies and White Chocolate Topped Gingerbread Cookies.

I have to admit, I had a major baking fail when it came to the Peppermint Sugar Cookies. While cooling, the middle of my cookies fell through the center! Needless to say, it was a late night and I decided to try again the next morning. It turns out, all I needed was a little extra beauty sleep because my next batch turned out PERFECT!  Nom nom nom!

Cookie Fail :(                                   Cookie Perfection :)

The next cookie was my personal favorite. White Chocolate Topped Gingerbread Cookies. Yuuuuuummy! This was my first time ever using the ingredient molasses. I wasn't even sure where to find it in the grocery store (turns out it's with the syrup, Jeremy had to inform me). These cookies baked beautifully and I even made more to share with my co-workers! These little treats are pretty tasty so I decided to share the recipe down below:

White Chocolate Topped Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups Flour
2 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. 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 

1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.
2. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
4. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on un-greased baking sheets.
6. Bake 8-10 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. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

I packaged and shipped my home-made goodies in hopes that they stayed fresh and tasted scrumptious!  A few days later, I received some yummy sweets in the mail from my friend, Ashlee, and OF COURSE they were to die for. Thanks, Ashlee, for the baked goods and thanks Chrisan for putting such an awesome event together! I love that we are all able to stay in touch with each other and do fun things like this around the holidays. I hope to join again next year! Happy eating, ladies!

My Holiday Treats I received in the mail! Thanks, Ashlee!