I went to my first cookie exchange in 1999 when I was working in San Francisco and was invited to a Saturday cookie baking party by my new coworkers. I was 24 and was doing a lot of firsts that year - first time living in a big city, first full time job, first time navigating an office work environment. Being invited to a Saturday afternoon holiday cookie exchange was another first - and it felt so adult.

‍

At the time, I knew two cookie recipes. One was my mom's oatmeal raisin (which to this day, are still my favorite cookies), and one from off the bag of chocolate chips. I don't remember what recipe I brought (it was probably the oatmeal raisin, but two recipes I brought home with me post exchange (along with a tin full of cookies), was the recipe for those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's Kisses, and the recipe for these cookies which are so deeply tasty with the wintery warmth of the maple and the heartiness of the walnuts and oatmeal.

I hadn't made these in years but was sifting through my recipe box on December 2nd as I was preparing to go to a neighbor's cookie exchange and was debating on what to make. I found the recipe filed under desserts, written in my handwriting on a holiday recipe card. In the line where you can fill out "from the kitchen of..." I had written in "Ingrid's cookie bake 1999". I opted to revisit this recipe and had the best afternoon, filling my kitchen with the rich fragrance that comes with gently heating butter and maple syrup on the stove. It was a rainy Saturday, my two dogs sat nearby watching my every move, holiday tunes on the stereo - a perfect day for cookie baking.

‍

Thank you Ingrid, for hosting at your home near the ocean and introducing me to such a fabulous thing as the cookie exchange. These are a great option to bring to events where you are sharing cookies and desserts because it is unlikely there will be another cookie like them.

‍