Last weekend, a friend and I spend nearly all of Sunday baking cookies.  The bake fest lasted about 7 hours and resulted in nearly 20 dozen cookies.  We each made 3 different types of cookies.

I’d never baked with anyone before, other than my mom and sister that is, but it really was lots of fun.  Before we met, we both picked out a list of recipes we wanted to make and then we finalized it the day of the bake fest.  We then went to the store for all the miscellaneous items we didn’t have.  The actual cooking lasted about 5 hours.  We each made our own recipes but helped each other with ‘issues’, tray rotations, timing, and so forth.  Having someone in the kitchen to talk too and bounce ideas off was great.  Husband was around, but he wisely left the kitchen to the women for the day – although he did help with some mixing, dish washing, and of course periodic tasting!

The cookies?  We each made a variation of white mice (aka Mexican wedding cakes, Russian tea cookies, etc).  I used the recipe in Elizabeth Falkner’s Demolition Desserts.  The result?  Absolutely fabulous cookies that were slightly crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside -  or as my neighbor said after trying one from her gift box “they were like a drug!”. 

I also made the Vanilla Roll-Out Cookies from the article by Dorie Greenspan in this month's Bon Appetit and I made the 'Mike's dark chocolate black bottom bites"  from I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas.  Both of which were great.

What we did we do with all of these cookies?  I gave tins to my neighbors, kept about a dozen, and then (bravely) had Husband take the rest to work so we wouldn’t eat them!

My friend wrapped hers in gorgeous little gift plates and gave them as gifts to friends.  I don’t have the patience for that but she did a great job and the gifts looked wonderful!

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