LONDON, ONT.

Cutting back on spending doesn't have to mean doing without, even when it comes to indulgences such as fancy Christmas cookies and squares.

The seasonal treats can be pricey to make by the time you purchase specialized ingredients such as chocolate, coconut, maraschino cherries, sprinkles and other items that might not be staples in your pantry, especially for the cook who wants to make several different recipes.

Savvy bakers who want to limit the expense and the work while ending up with a tasty variety of treats that suggests they've been baking for weeks might want to opt for a cookie exchange.

The organization of a basic cookie exchange is simple. Each person in the group bakes one kind of cookie, with the quantity depending on the number of people in the group. For example, if there are six cooks, each one makes six dozen of one kind of cookie and then packages them in six packs of one dozen each. When the group gets together, each person gives the other five a dozen of her cookies. So each participant ends up with six kinds of cookies, a dozen of each variety.

Pfeffernusse (German Pepper Nut Cookies)

These cookies are an interesting twist on gingerbread.

2 1/4 cups (550 ml) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. (2 ml) salt

1/2 tsp. (2 ml) ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. (2 ml) crushed aniseed

1/2 tsp. (2 ml) ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. (1 ml) baking soda

1/4 tsp. (1 ml) ground allspice

1/4 tsp. (1 ml) ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. (. 5 ml) ground cloves

1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup (175 ml) firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (50 ml) light molasses

1 egg

2 cups (500 ml) icing sugar, for dusting

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, pepper, aniseed, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg and cloves.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar and molasses until light and fluffy, about four minutes. Beat in egg.

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture.

Cover and refrigerate for several hours.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 F (180 C).

Butter two baking sheets.

Scoop up pieces of dough and roll between your palms into balls about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter. Place balls on baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Bake for about 14 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on the bottom and firm to the touch.

Transfer baking sheets to racks and let cookies cool slightly on the sheets.

Place icing sugar in a sturdy paper bag, drop a few cookies into bag, close top securely and shake gently to coat warm cookies with sugar. Transfer to racks and let cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Makes 24 cookies.

Contributor: Cookie exchange member Susan Buxton.

What it means, of course, is that each baker has only to buy the ingredients for one recipe. And it's much less work to make one recipe rather than several.

To realize even more savings, group members could plan in advance what cookies each wants to contribute, pool their money and buy ingredients they have in common, such as butter, eggs, flour and icing sugar.

London, Ont., lawyer Sue Carlyle has participated in two cookie exchanges. The first began at her law office and involved employees and former employees who liked to bake. At its height, about 15 women took part, she says. Each would bake 15 dozen cookies and then they'd make the trade at a pre-Christmas office lunch.

But as personnel changed, enthusiasm for the exercise waned and it eventually stopped. So last year, Carlyle and her walking group -- four professional women and one stay-at-home mom who meet regularly to walk and run together -- decided to start their own exchange.

Theirs is set up a little differently. Instead of baking at home, they make a day of it. They gather at one woman's house a few weeks before Christmas, armed with "laundry baskets full of ingredients and recipes,'' and spend the day together baking, socializing and sipping the occasional glass of wine.

Each woman makes two kinds of cookies or squares -- five dozen of each -- and they trade at the end of the day, ending up with 10 dozen sweet treats each.

While Carlyle says their efforts could be organized more economically, the social interaction is the reason they get together.

"It really is such a fun way to do it,'' she says. "And it's a very efficient way to get a bunch of stuff that makes you look like you're a domestic goddess. And it saves a lot of work.''

Nellie Smith, a freelance editor from Campbellford in eastern Ontario, says the social aspect was also the biggest part of the cookie exchange she took part in for seven or eight years. It began with a handful of her mostly rural neighbours who would get together one evening before Christmas to make their exchanges and catch up on one another's lives.

"So often, you don't keep in touch with your neighbours enough. It's a nice social outlet. That way, you make a point of getting together.''

Smith left the group when she moved. But by her way of thinking, it had become a victim of its own success. It had started with six people but had grown to 12 and baking all those cookies had become a "chore,'' she says.

Her advice for anyone starting a group would be to keep it to a manageable size.

In terms of the types of sweets to create, Carlyle says the plan is to make something different each year, although one of her sons is a big fan of biscotti, so she usually tries to ensure she has some of those. But there are group favourites, including shortbread and gingerbread, which usually show up in some form.

Carlyle says she scours cooking magazines looking for new recipes to try. Her personal favourite is rugelach (which has many alternate spellings), a Jewish pastry that can be made with cream cheese dough or without dairy ingredients to make it kosher. Fillings can include raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, marzipan, poppy seeds or apricot preserves, which are rolled up inside.

For this busy mother of three, who doesn't have much time to bake the rest of the year, there's another important aspect to the cookie exchange.

"I think you start it because you have this idea from when you were a kid, part of what your role is at Christmas,'' Carlyle says.

"It does make you feel like you've done some traditional female task -- and I'm sure there are some guys that do it too -- but some gender-role thing like my mom used to do at Christmastime. I'm always juggling things, but for this one moment in time, I've got this cookie tray that looks like it's 1965.''

The Canadian Press

London, Ont. lawyer Sue Carlyle has this advice for others interested in starting a group.

Do it with people you like. It also helps if they are good cooks.

Try something new every year and make sure it's something fancier than you would bake for everyday use at home.

"Don't stress about it because nobody really cares if your stars are perfect.''

Package the cookies in cookie tins or on fancy paper plates. Carlyle says many in her group use tins handed down from their mothers or grandmothers.

Give a printed copy of the recipe(s) you used to each participant in the exchange.

CHRISTMAS RUM BALLS

Rum balls are a traditional Christmas treat and will quickly disappear off your cookie tray.

12 oz. (375 g) semi-sweet chocolate or chips, melted over low heat or in microwave

1/2 cup (125 ml) almond paste

1 cup (250 ml) sour cream

Salt

8 cups (2 l) finely crushed vanilla wafers

3 cups (750 ml) icing sugar

Pinch salt

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) melted butter

2/3 cup (150 ml) cocoa

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) white rum

2 cups (500 ml) finely chopped pecans

Chocolate sprinkles

In a bowl, combine melted chocolate, almond paste, sour cream and pinch salt. Cream well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine wafers, icing sugar, pinch salt, melted butter, cocoa, rum and pecans. Mix until it holds its shape. Add chocolate-sour cream mixture and knead with hands until soft.

Refrigerate until firm enough to form small balls in the palm of your hands, yet soft enough to pick up sprinkles. It is advisable to remove cookie dough from refrigerator a bit at a time. Roll all the dough into balls, then roll balls in chocolate sprinkles.

Place on a tray lined with waxed paper and put in the refrigerator to harden overnight. Refrigerate for two weeks in tins to mature. Remove from fridge two hours before serving.

Makes about nine dozen.

Contributor: Cookie exchange member Kelly McNeil.

MARY WILKS' LITTLE HORNS

This recipe is a version of rugelach, a traditional Jewish pastry, but the inclusion of dairy products means it is not kosher. Mary Wilks is the wife of Sue Carlyle's business partner.

4 cups (1 l) flour

1/2 lb. (250 g) butter

4 egg yolks

1 cup (250 ml) sour cream

1 tbsp. (15 ml) yeast

1 tsp. (5 ml) salt

1 tsp. (5 ml) vanilla

Filling

4 well-beaten egg whites

1 lb. (500 g) ground walnuts

1/4 to 1/2 cup (50 to 125 ml) sugar, to taste

In a large bowl, cut together flour and butter as you would for a pie crust.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks until thick. Blend in sour cream, yeast, salt and vanilla.

Pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Mix well, divide into two parts and place in a plastic bag. Close tightly and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, roll dough on a pastry board sprinkled with granulated sugar. Roll pastry into a circle 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Cut into eight to 12 wedges.

Place rack in centre of oven. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).

Filling: Beat egg whites until stiff. Add walnuts and sugar and stir. Put about 1 tsp. (5 ml) of filling on the wider end of each pastry wedge and roll it toward the narrow end. Form into crescent shape. Put crescents on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool on wire racks and store in airtight containers. They freeze well.

Makes eight to 12 cookies.

Variations: Many other fillings can be used for these cookies, including marzipan or apricot preserves.

Contributor: Cookie exchange member Sue Carlyle.