A cookie swap helps keep your time in the kitchen to a minimum and has the added benefit of providing quality time with neighbors and friends during the busiest time of the year. Host a successful swap with these tips:

· Pick a convenient date. The best time to trade cookies is two to three weeks before the holiday so guests and their families can enjoy the cookies throughout the season.

· Set the mood with festive invitations. Recipe cards make charming, affordable invitations. Or tie a note to a cookie cutter with a pretty red ribbon.

· Tell guests how many cookies to bring. Be specific, and ask them to bring only one kind of cookie. We suggest that each person bring (and take home) 3 to 4 dozen cookies.

· Label each contribution. Ask each guest to bring a plate or basket to display the cookies. Be sure to label each cookie plate with the baker’s name and the recipe name. Each person also should bring a second container to take new sweet treats home.

· Linger over hot tea. Or provide coffee, cider, or other drinks to sip while savoring a sampling of the bakers’ bounty and enjoying good company.

· Keep a stack of blank recipe cards handy. Partygoers are sure to ask each other to share cookie recipes.

· Take the spirit of giving even further. Consider hosting a cookie exchange to benefit a favorite charity or to fill baskets for local nursing homes or homeless shelters.

HOLIDAY SNOWMEN

PREP 40 min. BAKE 10 min. per batch OVEN 375 °F

INGREDIENTS

1 18-ounce roll refrigerated sugar or chocolate chip cookie dough

2 cups powdered sugar

3 to 4 Tbsp. milk

1/4 tsp. orange flavoring or almond extract

Gumdrops and miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut cookie dough into 15 equal pieces. Divide each dough piece into three graduated-size balls (about 1 inch, inch, and inch in diameter). On an ungreased cookie sheet, arrange each set of balls into a snowman shape, placing balls inch apart and snowmen 3 inches apart.

2. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes (9 to 10 on dark cookie sheet) or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on sheet for 3 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool.

3. For glaze: In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of the milk, and the orange flavoring. Stir in enough of the remaining milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make a glaze that drips off a spoon. Spoon glaze over snowmen. Decorate as desired with gumdrops and/or chocolate pieces. Makes 15 snowmen.

TO BAKE AHEAD:
Prepare, bake, and decorate cookies as directed. Layer glazed snowmen between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 1 day. For longer storage, layer unglazed snowmen between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover and freeze for up to 3 months. To use, thaw snowmen; glaze and decorate as desired.

COOKIE SHEET CLUES
The sweet success of freshly baked cookies lies partly in choosing the right cookie sheet.

· Opt for heavy-gauge aluminum with low sides or no sides at all.

· Invest in lighter-colored cookie sheets. If sheets are too dark, cookies may overbrown.

· For most cookies, select sheets with a dull finish so cookie bottoms brown more evenly.

· Use shiny sheets for cookies that should not brown on bottoms, such as shortbread.

· Use insulated cookie sheets selectively. They are fine if you want pale drop cookies with soft-set centers. You may have trouble using them for cookies high in butter, shaped cookies, and some drop cookies because the butter may start to melt, leaking out before cookie dough is set. And because dough spreads before it sets, cookies may have thin edges.