I love getting presents in the mail!
This is the second year I have participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, so delicious pressies have been arriving periodically in the mail. If you haven’t heard of a “Cookie Swap,” the idea is that each participant gets matched with three food bloggers. The food bloggers send their matches 1 dozen cookies and wait to receive 3 x 1 dozen different cookies from their match ups.
It is almost as much fun waiting to find out who you will be sending cookies to as it is to receive them. This year I was baking for the following food bloggers.
Sara McCleary
Belly Rumbles
V Vien Lee
We Dare Food
http://wedarefood.blogspot.com
Daisy Wong
Never Too Sweet For Me
I have met Daisy and Sara previously so I was thrilled to be cooking for them. V Vien Lee from “We Dare Food” I have never met so that was equally exciting for different reasons, naturally I dashed over to her blog and had a read.
Christmas means shortbread to me, and this year I had a delicious stash of Pistachio’s courtesy of Lucky Nuts so I knew instantly what I wanted to bake, Pistachio & Cranberry Shortbread.
The flip side of sending out three dozen cookies is that in return I receive delicious home baked cookies from three other lovely food bloggers.
I can’t explain the joy it gives me each year to participate in the cookie swap. There is something very special about a total stranger going to the trouble of hand baking such a beautiful treat for someone they don’t even know. This year is even more special because the signup fee goes towards helping children with Cancer.
Below are images of the gorgeous cookies I received from my food blogger matches:
The first to arrive were these;
Manuela Zangara
Manu’s Manu
Have a look at Manuela’s recipe for chocolate cookies with orange and mint glaze.
Yesterday I received these all the way from Perth!
Catie
Sweetly Baked
Have a looked at Caties gorgeous website below for the recipe.
www.sweetlybakedperth.blogspot.com.au
I am still hoping my final dozen cookies arrive in the mail shortly.
In the meantime her is my recipe:
Pistachio & Cranberry Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients:
- 250gm butter
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1/4 cup rice flour
- 1/2 cup caster cugar
- 3 Cardomon pods ground
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup “Lucky Nuts” Pistachios
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Method:
Use a food processor to combine the butter and sugar until creamy.
Add the flours and cardamon to the food processor and combine briefly until the mixture just comes together.
Remove the mixture from the bowl and stir through the lemon zest, pistachio and cranberries.
Roll the cookie dough in plastic wrap forming it into a sausage, refrigerate until firm.
Preheat oven to 160 degrees
Cut rounds from the cookie dough and place on to a prepared cookie slide.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
These can also be drizzled with white chocolate for an even more special treat.
If you would like to be a part of this massive cookie swap next year go to http://eepurl.com/qCABj, and sign up early!
The Lucky Nuts component of this story is a ”Product Talk by Nuffnang” Whilst this is not a paid sponsored post, Gourmet Getaways has received product in exchange for writing a review. All opinions in this story are honest, and accurately reflect the writer’s opinion.
Merry Christmas wonderful people!!
