Frosty Christmas Trees

It’s a family tradition: the annual cookie exchange. My mother hosted one for many years. Afterward we would all swarm into the kitchen to sample the goodies. Her friends were good bakers and those cookies didn’t last long!

I started hosting my own cookie exchange some years ago. Now my friends count on this annual event to simplify their holiday entertaining and as a source of homemade food gifts for family and neighbors.

Think of a cookie exchange as “instant baking”. The premise is simple: each person bakes many of one kind of cookie, then swaps these for many different kinds made by someone else! Here’s how we do it.

Invite a dozen or so friends to bake twelve dozen cookies. This number may seem daunting (if so, try six or eight dozen) but usually requires only a couple of batches, especially if you encourage small cookies ideal for cookie trays. We also encourage each other to bake things that are 'delicious and festive' rather than 'delicious but every-day'.

Whether or not there’s a cookie exchange on your calendar this year, your family will love the delicate ginger-chocolate flavor of Frosty Christmas Trees.

They make a colorful addition to a cookie plate and are a favorite of grandparents and grandchildren alike.

This time of year, I make Christmas tree cut-outs with white icing and green sugar – very pretty. The base cookie is so good, however, that the same recipe can be used for other holidays. A few weeks back, this same recipe turned out blaze-orange pumpkins. (These cookies are too good to be used just at Christmas, see Cut-Out Spice Cookies!)

Many cut-out cookie doughs are just too fussy. But after chilling overnight, this dough rolls out very easily – so easily, in fact, that children can handle it with just a little help.

And of course, kids love to get in on the decorating process! If so, you might make extra icing in different colors. Place each color in a small zip-lock bag with a corner snipped. Have plenty of colored sugars, sprinkles and sparkles on hand.

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Do you have a favorite Christmas recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. Become a Kitchen Parade fan on Facebook!