Make and Take Party

Mix flour with friends and have some fun….bake cookies together! By dedicating a day or an afternoon for baking, you and your friends could produce several kinds of cookies, all while enjoying each others company. This is a party for a small group, three or four friends would be ideal.

Here’s what to do:

• Select a Date
  • See what works best for your group. Baking will take some time, so consider setting aside a whole day or at least four to six hours.
• Invite Guests
  • Your kitchen size and number of ovens will determine how many friends to include. Three to four bakers could be the maximum.
• Decide on Recipes
  • Check with everyone to find out what they would like to make. Suggest some recipes that might utilize other appliances such as stovetop or microwave. You might include some candy making while cookies bake.
  • Coordinate what ingredients are needed for the recipes. As the host, you could provide staples such as flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla extract. Your guests can bring any other ingredients specific to the recipes that they want to make.
• Prepare for Baking
  • Make sure you have enough equipment. Assemble cookie sheets, rolling pin, cutting boards, knives, mixer, cooling racks and other utensils. Don’t forget to purchase plenty of Reynolds Parchment Paper to make baking and cleanup easier.
  • Line your cookie sheets with Reynolds Parchment Paper so there’s no need to add extra grease or spray.
  • Use Reynolds Parchment Paper to speed up cookie baking: While the first batch of cookies bakes on a parchment lined cookie sheet, prepare another batch on a second sheet of parchment. When first batch is done, slide parchment with baked cookies off cookie sheet onto a cooling rack. Slide second sheet of parchment with unbaked cookies onto cookie sheet and bake.
  • Ask friends to bring extra utensils, if necessary.
  • Get everyone’s recipes ahead of time and consolidate as many tasks as you can. For example, if two recipes require chopped pecans, add the amounts so they can be chopped at once.
  • If making dough that requires chilling, prepare that ahead so it’s ready to roll or slice when the group arrives.
• Type of Recipes
  • Encourage a wide variety of cookies. Include some easy bar cookies that are quick to mix.
  • Since there won’t be a lot of time for decorating baked cookies, consider making recipes that are decorated before baking such as sugar cookies with sprinkles or gingerbread kids with raisin eyes. Different shapes work well too like pressed or stamped cookies.
• Baking Day
  • Set up stations for everyone to work. Provide festive aprons if you have them. Make sure the dishwasher is empty and there’s room to cleanup as you go.
  • Create a festive mood with music and beverages.
  • Provide containers for everyone to take their cookies home. Pack the cookies between layers of Parchment Paper to protect them in transit.

Have Fun!