The Recipe to a Perfect Baking Party HOLIDAY COOKIE EXCHANGE

WRITER: PATRICIA CARLSON | BEN NASH PHOTOGRAPHY

Sugar cookies. Krumkake. Cupcakes. Oh my!

The holidays are known for an abundance of sweet treats. Who hasn’t found a platter of pumpkin bars in the break room? Or had a bundle of brownies delivered from the nice neighbors?

“Who doesn’t like brownies?” joked Tolgonai Tugazieva, an exchange student from Kyrgyzstan, who is attending Moorhead High School this year and her first ever American holiday baking party.

But baking dozens of these delicious delectables at one time takes work. That’s one of the reasons why baking parties are so popular around the holidays. Of course, having awesome friends around helps, too!

“It takes a job I don’t like and turns it into a really fun day,” said Rose Dunn of Moorhead. “And a group of women just makes everything more fun. Whether it’s painting your house, getting a pedicure, or baking cookies, it’s always more fun with your friends.”

The five women featured here each have their own favorites - “I like making homemade peanut butter cup cookies the best,” said Trisha Giddings of Dilworth - and they all have varying degrees of baking experience. So we asked them to help us create a recipe for the perfect baking party.

Trisha’s number one tip? “Delegate, delegate, delegate!” Here’s the result!

Holiday Baking Party makes: four to six dozen cookies organizing prep time: 1 - 2 hours (we found Facebook messaging easiest) actual party day time: as long as you’d like number of recipes: 2 - 4

Area Woman Tips:

*The women avoided duplicating ingredients and kept costs low by each bringing one of two ingredients. For instance, Tami Dowers, owner of Sweet Haven Bakery in Fargo, provided the sugars (white and brown).

*Once the baking started, they found an assembly line format worked best - as cookies came out of the oven some women decorated them, while others continued to make new batches.

*Although this event was held in a kitchen with one oven, you may want to consider having the party where a double oven is available. This is more efficient because it allows the group to simultaneously bake different types of cookies at different temperatures. Another option is to see if you can use your local school’s Home Ec room for a couple hours on a weekend - more ovens and more counter space equals more productivity in less time.

Ingredients

*Between 4 - 6 people (men, you’re welcome too in some circles!)

*A kitchen with plenty of counter space and equipped with basic baking needs like a mixer, rolling pin and decent-sized oven

*A few yummy recipes (see the sugar cookie and krumkake recipes below)

*Holiday music mix

*Drinks and snacks on hand to keep the energy up!

*Seasonal platters, gift boxes, tins, and/or plastic wrap in which to dole out and deliver the finished product

Directions

1.) Have each person pick a work station: preparation, mixing, oven/timer duty, decorating, packing, etc.

2.) Pick the order in which you’ll complete the recipes. Heather Syverson of Fargo, who provided the Krumkake recipe, says if you only have one oven you can still create other desserts like Krumkake because it uses a separate hot iron.

3.) Bake! Bake! Bake!

4.) HAVE FUN! [AWM]

Easy Sugar Cookie

Recipe Courtesy: Tami Dowers, Sweet

Haven Bakery in Fargo

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

2.) In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3.) Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Krumkake

Recipe Courtesy: Heather Syverson of Fargo

Ingredients

3 beaten eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1.) Combine eggs and sugar, beat well. Add melted butter, flour and vanilla.

2.) Preheat electric or stovetop

Krumkake iron until hot. Drop one teaspoon of batter per Krumkake onto the center of the hot iron. Close iron and let it cook for about 30 seconds.

3.) When lightly browned, gently peel Krumkake off of the iron with a spatula and wrap around the Krumkake cone.

4.) Gently slide it off of the cone and let cool with the seam of the Krumkake on the underside.