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Food Bloggers L.A. Cookie Exchange

Today is a perfect day to make cookies! The kids are home from school, the college students have flown in, any relatives have probably descended, and the family is hovering.

Let’s put them to work and bake for the rest of the holiday!

The Food Bloggers Los Angeles group – a merry band of blogging bakers if ever there was one – met earlier this month for their annual cookie exchange, a frenzy of sugar and nuts and spices. Some of the best morsels in Los Angeles were arrayed on the buffet table, and once we said “Go!” members eagerly lined up with their tins to choose what they wanted to bring home.

Some of everything, please!

Choose a recipe from this array for your own baking pleasure. In addition to the cookies mentioned in the story, FBLA members linked up their other amazing cookie recipes in the photo collection at the bottom. Pick a recipe and fire up your oven!

Chocolate

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Caramel Brownies [1]Valentina Wein of Cooking on the Weekends [2] brought sticky, gooey Flourless Chocolate Espresso Caramel Brownies [3]. To literally gild the lily, she sprinkled them with gold dust!

Super Smoky Scotch Whiskey Truffles [4]Erika Kerekes of In Erika’s Kitchen [5] (our host! Thank you!), contributed impossibly rich and intriguing Super Smoky Scotch Whiskey Truffles [6] that she had rolled in silver sprinkles. FBLA is all about the bling come cookie time!

Hazelnut Shortbread with Custard and Ganache [7]Lana Watkins of Bibberche [8] brought beautiful Hazelnut Shortbread with Custard and Ganache.

Brown Butter Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies [9]Kim Burnell of Rustic Garden Bistro [10] brought Brown Butter Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies. She had us with the name alone.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies [11]Lynne Hemer of Cook & Be Merry [12] brought Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Kisses [13]Judy Lyness of Two Broads Abroad [14] made her Aunt Bea’s famous Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Kisses [15] and Linzer Tortes.

Almond Joy Bars [16]Tina Ferris of The Unprocess [17] brought Almond Joy Bars, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars [18], and Gingerbread.

Dark Chocolate Almond Shortbread [19]Cheri Liefeld of Adventures in the Kitchen [20] brought Dark Chocolate Almond Shortbread [21] and Speculoos Buttons. Love the variety of decorations!

Bars

Best Ever Pecan Pie Bars [22]I (Shockingly Delicious [23]), brought Best Ever Pecan Bars [24], a wonderful pecan pie-ish bar without the HFCS.

Apricot Rosemary Bars [25]Kelli Abrahamian of I Had a Delicious Time [26] brought her famous Apricot Rosemary Bars [27], which were one of the winning cookies in the L.A. Times Cookie Contest this year. (I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit!)

Festive Bars [28]Gisele Perez of Pain Perdu [29] brought her mother’s unique Festive Bars [30], like a little fruitcake in a bar.

Cranberry Pistachio Blondies and Rugelach [31]Judy Weintraub of Bumbleberry Breeze [32] brought Cranberry Pistachio Blondies [33] and Rugelach.

Macadamia Bars and Lime Bars [34]Ellen Rosentreter of Within My Means [35] brought Macadamia Bars [36], Lime Bars and Chocolate-Macaroon Bars. Whew!

Double Decker Torte [37]Natalie Wiser-Orozco of The Devil Wears Parsley [38] brought Double Decker Torte – apricot, pineapple, mango and walnut with a sour cream crust. Yum!

 A variety

Snow Cookies [39]Christina Conte of Christina’s Cucina [40] brought the impossibly lovely and delicious Snow Cookies [41], another winner in the L.A. Times Cookie Contest this year.

New Mexican Wedding Cookies [42]Nancy Eisman of Adventures of Nancy Rose [43] brought New Mexican Wedding Cookies [44] that packed hidden heat from Hatch chiles!

Russian Tea Cakes [45]Gerry Speirs of Foodness Gracious [46] also brought Russian Tea Cakes. Mmmm…the more tea cakes and wedding cookies, the better!

Spicy Gingerbread Sticks [47]Cathy Arkle of She Paused for Thought [48] brought unique Spicy Gingerbread Sticks [49], not too sweet, quite spicy, and utterly fantastic.  She also brought Ginger Lime Crinkles.

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies [50]Christina Peters of MDR Photography Classes [51] brought classic Peanut Butter Cookies.

Vegan Strawberry Spelt Scones [52]Andrew Wilder of Eating Rules [53] brought a plate of Vegan Strawberry Spelt Scones. If you have ever met him, it won’t surprise you to learn he ground his own spelt.

Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies [54]Quyen Gin of Kitchen Runway [55] brought Texas Governor’s Mansion Cowboy Cookies [56] — yee-haw! It’s Laura Bush’s recipe!

Snickerdoodles with Cinnamon Chips [57]Priscilla Willis of She’s Cookin’ [58]  brought Snickerdoodles with Cinnamon Chips. Yum – double cinnamon!

Almond Cream Cheese Cookies [59]Susan Silverberg of The Home Artist [60] brought Almond Cream Cheese Cookies.

Butter Cookies with Beer and Brown Sugar Buttercream, and Chocolate Stout Crinkles [61]Jackie Dodd of The Beeroness [62] brought showy Butter Cookies with Beer and Brown Sugar Buttercream, and Chocolate Stout Crinkles [63].

For every cookie exchanged, Glad (the plastic wrap people) donated $1 to CookiesForKidsCancer.org in the name of FBLA. We raised $1,427. That’s a lotta cookies!

Merry Christmas everyone!