(ARA) - Treat your friends to a taste of your baking skills this holiday season with a recipe that yields delicious cookies and lasting friendships. Host a cookie exchange party. These festive swaps offer a time-saving way to share an assortment of baked-from-scratch treats.

Just invite eight to 12 friends and ask them to bring six dozen of their favorite holiday cookies. At the swap, exchange cookies to end up with a variety of six dozen new cookies.

The Secret to Cookie Success

“Reynolds Parchment Paper is my simple step to better baking for cookie exchanges,” advises Robin Olson, celebrated cookie exchange hostess and pioneer of the modern cookie swap. “Lining my pans with parchment paper ensures my cookies bake evenly and slide off the cookie sheet. I also use parchment paper to roll dough and stencil decorations. It’s my tool to keep cookie baking fuss-free.”

For more how-to’s on hosting a successful cookie exchange party, consider these tips from Olson:
* Timing is everything. Choose a convenient date and time, perhaps a weekend morning. Limit the party to two to three hours.

* The more the merrier. Eight to 12 guests provide a nice assortment of cookies.

* Bake six dozen. Instead of asking each guest to bring a dozen cookies for each attendee, pick a quantity that won’t change with each RSVP. I usually ask each guest to bring six dozen cookies.

*Variety rules. To ensure guests don’t all show up with gingerbread men, ask what type of cookie they will be bringing when they RSVP. If a guest wants to bring a cookie that’s already on the RSVP list, help her think of an alternate.

* Make your favorite at home. Ask guests to e-mail their cookie recipes to you in advance. This way, you can print off copies to hand out at the exchange so partygoers can make more at home.

When it comes to baking cookies for the exchange, Olson offers this time-saving advice:
* Roll dough with ease. Roll cookie dough between two lightly floured sheets of parchment paper to prevent sticking and to keep work surfaces clean.

* Speed up cookie baking. Arrange cookie dough on sheets of parchment paper and slide parchment onto the cookie sheet when it’s time to bake. When a batch comes out of the oven, simply swap out the sheets of parchment so there’s no waiting between batches.

* Line pans for brownies or bar cookies. Turn the pan upside down and press a sheet of parchment paper over the inverted pan. Remove the parchment paper, flip the pan over and drop the parchment paper liner inside, pressing folds in corners to fit liner inside pan. Spread batter in parchment-lined pan and bake as directed. When the brownies or bar cookies are cool, lift them by the parchment paper from the pan onto a cutting board. Fold back the edges of the parchment paper and cut into bars.

* Stack cookies with ease. To transport cookies to and from the party, place a piece of parchment paper between layers of cookies. This protects decorations and prevents cookies from sticking to each other.

For more cookie exchange tips and cookie exchange recipes, visit www.ReynoldsSimpleSecrets.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

SIDEBAR

Minttens
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 1 dozen sets of Minttens

Ingredients:

Reynolds Parchment Paper
Your favorite sugar cookie recipe or mix
Red and green paste food colors
1 1/3 cups mint flavored baking chips
2 egg whites
Ribbon

Directions:

* Line 2 cookie sheets with Reynolds Parchment Paper; set aside.

* Prepare your favorite recipe for sugar cookies. Halve dough and tint with food colors.

* Preheat oven following recipe. Roll out dough 1/8-inch thick between 2 lightly floured parchment paper sheets.

* Cut out 48 cookies with a mitten cookie cutter. Place 12 cookies 1-inch apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Use mini cookie cutters to cut out decorations.

* Melt mint baking chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Spread melted mint chips over cookies on the cookie sheets. Top each with another cookie cut-out. Place mini decorations on cookies. (To hold decorations in place, brush underside with egg white beaten with a little water.) Repeat with remaining cutout cookies.

* Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; immediately make a small hole in each mintten with a straw. Slide parchment with cookies onto a wire rack to cool. Tie two cookies together with ribbon.