Cookie Exchange with Duncan Hines

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing.

There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On!

www.duncanhines.com

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One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is getting together with my friends for a cookie exchange. I mean, how can you pass up good friends and good cookies?!?

Because one of the major parts to a Cookie Exchange Party is well, cookies, I searched through the Duncan Hines recipe index until I happened across these beauties: Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies. Swoon, right?

Of course, I can’t just leave the recipe as-is; I had to put my own spin on it!

I followed the recipe to a T all the way through the formation of the dough. It was super easy. I did honestly have the best intentions of following the recipe exactly, but once the dough was all nice and thick, I had an epiphany. Hello white chocolate chips!

I added around a cup and a half of the white chocolate chips to my dough; you can use as much or as little as you’d like.

 I did come up with a few helpful hints that aren’t in the recipe as I was baking.

1. If you don’t have a 1 inch scoop, use a tablespoon scoop — it worked great!

2. The red velvet will stain your hands. I touched the dough as little as possible by using spoons and forks to help me. I was still able to make little balls:

Along with the white chocolate chips, I also took the recipe a step further by creating a Red Velvet Whoopie Pies. I put a good helping of Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting into a plastic sandwich bag, cut off a little bit of the tip, and swirled it on the bottom of one cookie. Press another cookie on top and you have a super rich and yummy whoopie pie to share!

Now that the cookies are finished, it’s time to party! I used an adorable *free* printable set courtesy of ellinee. It has a rustic, homey Christmas feel which is exactly what I was going for. Here’s my finished table set-up:

The cookies were the piece de resistance of the table decor and the tent cards were a perfect way to label each type of cookie.

Each guest had a sugar cookie in the shape of a gingerbread man piped with their name on it as the place card and found a special gift from me at their seat: a large mug filled with hot chocolate and mini marshmallows tied with pretty ribbon and adorned with a coordinating gift tag.

Recipe cards were out to share and write recipes on.

 Some rustic Christmas decor added the perfect final touch. I used the round tags and drink flags to create a small garland to wrap around the small Christmas tree.

Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together!

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

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