<p>I would also LOVE to see the Baklava bar recipe if you can find it and care to share. I made the real thing last year - it was delicious but would consider a bar cookie to save time. :)</p>
<p>Here’s a cookie recipe for those of us who don’t make cookies (ever):</p>
<p>Macaroons</p>
<p>3 cups shredded coconut (*unsweetened coconut)
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract</p>
<p>Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together. Drop by the teaspoonful onto cookie sheet lined with parchment.
Bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and eat.</p>
<p>For chocolate chip macaroons, substitute 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips for 1 cup of shredded coconut. **</p>
<p>*My daughter bought sweetened shredded coconut once and the cookies were still good though a tad sweet for my taste.</p>
<p>**We’ve never tried the chocolate chip version, so I can’t comment on it. We may make it this Thanksgiving though as everyone has to bring a dessert. </p>
<p>My son (definitely a non-cook) makes these on occasion for the family. The recipe is hard to mess up. We usually double the recipe in order not to have a half can of sweetened condensed milk left … just waiting for us to make the cookies again. We also are relaxed about measuring the 3 cups coconut … it translates fairly close to one bag of shredded coconut.</p>
<p>I’ve been to two – one where I wasn’t working and we all cooked together – there were some great cookies – Italian “knots”, almond crescent cookies, spritz cookies — best cookie swap ever.</p>
<p>Then I attended one with my daughter, where everyone put theirs out on the table in baggies of 5-6 cookies and everyone picked up a bag. There were some clunkers (ones from the grocery store bakery that were thick and hard with icky frosting) but some tasty ones.</p>
<p>How about rum balls or bourbon balls? I haven’t made them in a while but there’s really very little alcohol in them and the chocolate is always a hit.</p>
<p>I also made these once and everyone* loved them:
[Double</a> Chocolate and Espresso Cookies Recipe : Giada De Laurentiis : Recipes : Food Network](<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/double-chocolate-and-espresso-cookies-recipe/index.html]Double”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/double-chocolate-and-espresso-cookies-recipe/index.html)</p>
<p>*“everyone” means me, H and S – talk about gone in 60 seconds</p>
<p>Ah-ha! I knew I’d find it deep in the recesses of my email. Thank goodness for search, I just had to remember the right key words to search on. 
Funny, after saying our rule is no mixes, this one actually does use a mix as a base for the bar cookie, but it’s the hostess and they are to-die-for so no one would ever hold it against her!!</p>
<p>Baklava Bars</p>
<p>Cookie Base
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 egg</p>
<p>Filling
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 frozen mini fillo shells (from 2.1-oz package)</p>
<p>Glaze
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla</p>
<p>Garnish
5 tablespoons honey</p>
<p>Directions:
1 Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
2 In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes.
3 Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir walnuts, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the salt with fork until mixture is well mixed and crumbly.
4 Sprinkle nut mixture evenly over partially baked base. With hands, crumble frozen fillo shells evenly over nut mixture. Bake 18 to 20 minutes longer or until golden brown.
5 Meanwhile, in small microwavable bowl, microwave 1/3 cup honey, 2 tablespoons butter, the brown sugar, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon uncovered on High 1 minute or until bubbly. Stir in vanilla.
6 Drizzle honey mixture evenly over fillo. Cool completely, about 2 hours.
7 For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Before serving, drizzle 1/2 teaspoon honey over each bar. Store covered at room temperature.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the baklava bar recipe! After seeing it, I went ahead and did a search for “Baklava Bars” on Pinterest and was able to find the same recipe and “PIN” it for save keeping!</p>
<p>Chocolate chip cookies can be a bit boring, but my daughter made them with an Oreo cookie in the middle. Wish I could figure out how to link the pic of it. I’m not a sweets person, but would eat that!</p>
<p>abasket - Pinterest can be addictive for recipe digging! I’ve found some real winners on there…a jalape</p>
<p>^^^ That recipe is on Pinterest too! </p>
<p>If you really want to make chocolate chip cookies and have a great recipe, try throwing some holiday M and M’s in along with the chocolate chips and they will be more appealing. If kids are eating the cookies (even big kids ) they will love the M and M’s!</p>
<p>I’m finding it kind of funny that this thread is eliciting such strong opinions! The exchanges I’ve attended haven’t had any guidelines; but then I’m in the northwest, where things tend to be pretty relaxed. </p>
<p>My only advice to the OP is to consider whether the cookies will hold up when they’re piled onto plates or into boxes. It would be a shame if they’re too soft or fragile to remain intact and people end up tossing them.</p>
<p>Yum blueiguana! Thanks for the recipe. I am totally stealing it for my book club’s cookie exchange. Now to just read the book selection …</p>
<p>Hmmm, the point about if they will crush is well taken. They are sort of like candy due to the choc coating, so they should be fine. I might make these as well. [Divine</a> Halfway Bars |](<a href=“http://www.graciousrain.com/2011/05/25/divine-halfway-bars/]Divine”>http://www.graciousrain.com/2011/05/25/divine-halfway-bars/)</p>
<p>It’s not the exact recipe I have but it has photos and is pretty close to what I remember. I started making them when I was 8 or 9 at my grandmothers and I still have the cookbook the recipe was in. Haven’t made them in a while. I might make both! I have to make choc chip for thanksgiving because my brother likes mine better than his wife’s.</p>
<p>I enjoy reading everybodys ideas.</p>
<p>When people have made things that tend to break more easily I have seen them place them in paper or foil muffin liners. They come in different sizes so you just choose what fits your cookie/bar/treat. Sometimes those delicate ones are really yummy and worth it. :)</p>
<p>Twenty year cookie exchange hostess with my sister. I have done this because I am not a baker and by concentrating on one cookie to share with a dozen people and receiving a dozen different types is very appealing. Ours is a great deal of fun and includes candies, savory treats as well as cookies.</p>
<p>Heading over to Pinterest!</p>
<p>Wow! Cookie Exchange rules? lighten up people!
The cookie exchanges I have been to are about fun and socialization and celebrating the season! The cookies are fun…and yes, some are more fun than others…but whatever!
I say a little of this and a little of that is perfectly okay at a cookie exchange! I would say the only requirement is SUGAR! Or a nice sugar substitute like honey if that is you thing!</p>
<p>Also, I would rather have a bad baker make regular old chocolate chip cookies, than a bad baker go for something beyond their baking abilities!</p>
<p>^ My goodness, how about leave the judgement somewhere else. Our group mutually agrees on everything and have enjoyed this tradition for years. It’s full of close friends that have plenty of fun and socialization, just like any other group. It works for us, but I don’t believe I did anything but wish the OP a good time. I don’t know why it would warrant a comment from anyone else.</p>
<p>It’s all about the socilal aspect for me. I’m not a big cookie person but love the exchange I attend.<br>
Getting all anal about the cookies misses the point.</p>
<p>Make what you want, have fun, and don’t worry.</p>
<p>Every year I attend a cookie exchange party. There is always a chance to win a prize… best presentation, yummiest, best holiday theme, etc. One of the cookies that is rather different but has won several prizes is a potato chip cookie (try allrecipes.com) My family’s favorite is an old fashioned toffee bar baked in a 9 X 13 glass baking pan cut into individual servings and placed in cup cake papers. I look for snowmen or other holiday decorations for the plater and often win best presentation. The awards are fun and help guests to realize “who brought what.” The kids choose the winners. Last year someone placed mini lights on the platter and it was beautiful. Have fun!</p>
<p>Everyone has such great ideas! I’m going to try the “halfway bars” that I recently posted a link to for Thanksgiving and see how they come out. I’d like to take them if they are as good as I remember.</p>
<p>I don’t know if there will be kids or prizes at this party. I only know the hostess so it might be a little awkward for me as the other guests probably know each other, it’s her 4th annual party…</p>
<p>The hostess is a really upbeat person so I have a feeling it will be a good time because her friends are probably upbeat people as well. I am enjoying having a party topic…keep it positive because there are enough threads about worries and problems…we all have our share of those.</p>
<p>I made these last year for our book club cookie exchange. (My book club is pretty relaxed about the cookies as well as reading the books - I attend for the wine & chit chat. :D) I made the dough a day ahead, then baked the day of our exchange. But I think I might expand my cookie horizons this year with the baklava cookies. </p>
<p>Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
ingredients:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup hershey’s cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
powdered sugar</p>
<p>directions:
in a large mixing bowl, combine sugar & oil. add cocoa; blend well. beat in eggs and vanilla. combine flour, baking powder & salt; add to cocoa mixture blending well. cover; chill at least 6 hours. heat oven to 350. shape dough into 1 inch balls. roll in powdered sugar. place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. bake 12 to 14 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched. remove from cookie sheet; cool on wire rack. makes 4 dozen.</p>