Boston Blogger Cookie Swap

What is better than a cookie swap? A cookie swap with food bloggers. I joined about a dozen Boston bloggers last week to swap sweet holiday confections.  You’d be hard-pressed to come up with an event better than a cookie swap. You gather a bunch of friends. You eat more types of cookies than you can shake a whisk at. And then when the party’s over, you get to take cookies home. Since this was a group of foodies, I knew the spread would be impressive.

My favorite of the evening came from Tania of The Musing Bouche with her caramel shortbread thumbprint cookies. The shortbread was buttery and firm, crispy around the edges and soft and dense inside. Each was filled with a pool of rich gooey caramel. It was not a chewy solid caramel, it was almost a thick caramel sauce. It was the perfect loose texture for such a substantial cookie.

I was very fond of the orange almond chocolate biscotti made by Audrey of Can Do Kitchen. They were nicely crisp with big chunks of almonds and chocolate and a subtle orange flavor.

Another favorite of mine, as well as a crowd favorite, were Lara‘s Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal cookies. They were voted best cookie of the evening by all the other swappers. Lara said her inspiration were the packets of maple brown sugar instant oatmeal. She completely nailed the flavor. They were hearty and dense with intense notes of brown sugar and maple. And for an extra dose of decadence, she topped them with a maple glaze.

Brian was kind enough to send over his chestnut cookies even though he was not able to make it to the swap. Working with fresh chestnuts is no easy feat, so kudos to Brian on a job well done. They were absolutely delicious, soft and moist but dense, with a pleasant chestnut flavor. They were more nutty than sweet but the dusting of powdered sugar on top added a nice level of sweetness. You can can find the recipe here.

I am picky about coconut, but I quite like Kathy’s chocolate-topped coconut macaroons. They were moist but not sticky, with a thick coating of dark chocolate on top. I loved the very tips of the edges where the coconut browned and became crunchy.

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Brian‘s Eggnog Cookies were probably the most unique cookie I tasted that evening. They were soft and nicely chewy and tasted distinctly of eggnog. I am not a big fan of eggnog on its own, but when the flavor is mixed into something else and sweetened slightly, I find it quite pleasing

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Karen‘s snowball cookies stood out with their festive and beautiful presentation. They are a no-bake cookie that I’d never seen before, made with cream cheese, vanilla sandwich cookies, and coconut. You can check out the recipe here.

And because one can never bake too many types of cookies, Kathy also brought these oatmeal lace florentines drizzled with chocolate.

In addition to trying so many unique and excellent cookies, I got to meet a few new bloggers in person. Many thanks to Kathy for organizing a lovely cookie swap as well as the Whole Foods River Street team for so graciously hosting us.

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