my breakfast choice + a cookie swap with friends

I had this (see picture above) for breakfast Sunday morning. After hosting a cookie swap at our home where we were left with 100's of cookies (plus, after getting less than 2 hours of sleep that night due to our smallest child continuously getting up for whatever reasons)...why not?! ;) After our 10 1/2 inches of snow that our area was blessed with that prior evening, the yummy winter treat just added to the outside morning ambiance.

 

What a great group of friends we have from our church!!! Thanks guys for coming out; you are all awesome!! (and so were your cookies! :0)

Like last year, the kids decorated their own Reindeer Cookies. Several of us parents joked that this year's event seemed busier than the last...might it be because of the ages of our kids. Nah, couldn't be that! :)

On Friday, prior to the cookie swap, the boys and I got in the kitchen to start our double batch of Oreo Cheesecake Cookies. This year, my cookie choice was based solely on EASE of baking with two little boys. Last year, I made delicious Gingerbread Cookies, but oh.my.goodness. The time that those took was unbelievable. We were literally finishing up the icing still as people were walking through the door. Yeah, that was totally not happening this year.

This year, I was determined to ensure that this season was peaceful and simple...stressfree (most days!) Not the continual harried, busyness that we had last year and the year before. This peace and simpleness included our 4th Annual Cookie Swap. :)

 

These Oreo Cheesecake Cookies were yummy....different than the classic cookies that I usually make but super easy and really good. They bake to a slightly crisp on the outside and moist and chewy on the outside. By Day 3, they are pretty crispy...same great flavor but crispy. So, depending on whether you prefer chewy or crisp cookies, you might take this into consideration before baking. This recipe is a great one to do with your kids. Parker and Cooper took the "Big tasks" of smashing the oreos (mostly Cooper...this helped keep his hands out of the dough!) and rolling the dough into balls then rolling the dough in the oreo crumbs (mostly Parker). In the end, I had to put Cooper on the floor when I caught him shoving a fistfull of oreo crumbs in his mouth.  It's all fun and games until they start shoving their fiesty little hands into the goods. ;)