Our clean cookie exchange was a delicious success! Everyone brought dozens of clean cookies. I made a pot of Peppermint Hot Cocoa. The movie, Elf, was ready to go in the player. We were set. One member of our party had never watched Elf, so that made it extra fun for us. It’s always fun when one person has never seen a movie that you enjoy so much. It’s fun to hear them laugh and smile at some of your favorite parts in the movie.
The idea was to grab some cookies and hot cocoa to have while watching the movie. However, this is when the party came to a halt. There were four different households in attendance thus the request to bring 4 dozen cookies each. (Omg! I just realized that I had almost 200 cookies in my house at one time! Awesome!) Each household was going home with 4 dozen different cookies. So, as the cookie munching began, all you had to do was keep track of how many of each cookie stash you ate. You needed to keep track so that you could go home with the correct number of cookies. This cookie exchange thing was a first timer for all of us. So, I wanted to be sure everyone used and understood the system, so they would go home with their allocated cookie amounts even after eating away from the pile. But, for some reason, this stumped our guests. I tried to explain the concept, the formula, a number of times with no success. I must’ve been saying it wrong. I desperately resigned gave the task of explaining the cookie allocation riddle to the scientist in the group. After all, the movie was waiting. And I really wanted to dig into the cookies while maintaining some dignity as the host. Did I mention I love cookies?
Anyway, we finally figured it out (not really). And the night began. We had a blast. Here are the cookies and corresponding recipes for you.
Jam Thumbprint Cookies by With Food + Love
Paleo Peppermint Chocolate Crinkles by The Healthy Maven
Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookies by delighted momma
“Peanut” Butter Blossoms by Against All Grain’s Joyful
I had to curb my cookies binge because I had to leave space for my Elf-movie-inspired menu. I even had a bottle of maple syrup on the table just in case we had any true elves at the table. The dish that got the most raves was the Tomatoless Meat Sauce. Everyone at the party asked for the recipe (included below). I was able to make the main dishes, salad dressing, and dessert all ahead of time. All I did the day of the dinner was throw the salad together and cook the spaghetti squash. I had enough reserved “spoons” (i.e. energy) to enjoy the day and our company. I am so grateful for such a good-natured and fun-loving group. I reminded everyone that they could give away their cookies as gifts. We all looked at each other and laughed cookie crumbs!
“We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.” —Buddy, the elf
Elf Movie Menu (Paleo)
Enchanted Pear and Pomegranate Salad with Cranberry Champagne Vinaigrette
Angel Hair Spaghetti Squash “Pasta” with North Pole Tomatoless Meat Sauce
Turkey, Zucchini, and Sweet Potato Lasagna
Sugar Plum Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
I highly recommend hosting a clean cookie exchange if you like cookies (who doesn’t?). Clean cookie exchanges don’t just have to be during the holidays. You can have them anytime of the year. Seriously, they are a great way to stock up on your cookie supply. And you know what? I love muffins! Why couldn’t we do a clean muffin exchange?