August Bakin Friends
I just started participating in a great and very fun endeavor called Bakin Friends. A group of cooks are given an ingredient and are paired with another cook who participates, we make something that uses the ingredient and send it to each other, kind of a Food Pen Pal of sorts. I was paired with Jeanette from Houston, Texas and the ingredient was pretzels. I sent Jeannette some cookies, everything I wanted to send sounded great until I thought about how hot it is in Texas and the thought of chocolate melting while waiting to be delivered didn’t sound appealing. So I decided to do cookies and also went out on a limb and did some white chocolate covered pretzels. I used my chocolate chip cookie recipe and went a little wacky, adding crushed pretzels and chopped snickers, I also threw in some nice dark chocolate. I think they turned out pretty nicely and I got a lovely note from Jeanette saying that she really liked them.
pretzel,snickers Cookies
White Chocolate Pretzels
Packaged and ready for their trip to Texas
Now that is what I sent, here is what I received from Alex, totally delicious blondies that had pretzels and peanut M&M’s in them. They were moist and delicious and I loved them. Thank you so much Alex for baking those fantastic blondies, along with the super cute Kitty card and hand written recipe. I really enjoyed them as did a few of my close friends.
Blondies
If you are interested in participating in Bakin Friends click on the link above that will take you to Stephanie’s site for more information. It’s fun and a great way to meet other bloggers and taste their delicious baked goods. You can send an email to stephanie; stephsbitebybite@gmail.com with Bakin Friends in the subject line and let her know you would like to participate. On the 6th of every month you will be paired with another cook/baker and you will find out what the secret ingredient is. Your packages should be mailed by the 16th of the month. It’s a lot of fun to participate!
Bakin Friends
apuginthekitchen 
Yay! So glad you enjoyed your first Bakin’ Friends experience! The shipping is always a challenge. My first month I wanted to do cupcakes then I realized shipping to CA was not really an option. I haven’t read the other posts but considering I sent and received brownies and you got blondies I’m predicting a lot of pretzel brownie combos.
It was fun, shipping really is difficult especially in summer. When the weather is cooler it will be a little easier to send things that would melt in the summer. Thanks so much.
This is such an amazing idea! I think it’s even better than a regular Foodies swap! Going to look into this.. thanks for sharing the link!
It is a great idea and I love having to use a common ingredient. Makes you think outside the box and be creative. Thanks Pamela!
What a great idea! Your cookies look very tasty!
It was great, love getting to know other bloggers and cooks. Thanks so much the cookies were really nice!
How fun! Can’t go wrong with getting yummy baked goods in the mail.
It really is and in this case you both give and receive, it’s the best!
Definitely!
I once sent a very nice box of chocolates as a thank you gesture to someone in Texas … in the summer … I’m sure it arrived in a very not-pretty state so yeah, shipping food is for sure challenging. Between the posts of you and Melissa I’m really craving some good baked goods. I love that you and Jeanette both ended up with some – by the sound and looks of it – truly spectacular and delicious things. White choc pretzels sound amazing in particular and look really cool!
Really enjoyed my treats from Alex, they were delicious! I think the pretzels look like skulls, maybe something for Halloween, not sure anyone else would get it though, it’s open to interpretation.LOL
What a fun and yummy project, Suzanne!
Have a great long weekend! 🙂
Thanks so much Stefano, I had fun doing it and it truly was yummy!
Definitely looks and sounds fun to have baking pen pals. Gorgeous looking treats that you sent and also received. Haven’t had anything with pretzel in a while. Gotta go get some now 🙂
I hadn’t had a pretzel in years, it was fun and I remembered how much I like pretzels!! Thanks so much.
Ingenious to put the pretzels in the cookies. What a fun idea to have a food pen pal.
I had to think of a way to use pretzels but had to be something that would travel well given the heat. They tasted good so I was pleased with how they came out. The salty pretzels with the candy and chocolate was a nice combination. Thank you very much.
Going to have to bake some cookies, as I don’t think I’ve had them. Going to check out your recipe index right now!
These cookies are not on there but there are others that are really good. These are simple I’ll post the recipe if you need it. Thanks
Yeah, just looking at them now. Is it true that it’s best to leave the batter for 24 – 48 hours? That’s what I’ve read a while back.
I always do that, 24 in the fridge or indefinitely in the freezer. It always tastes better in my opinion.
I was so happy to send you treats! Looks like you also sent out some delicious cookies! you really can’t beat cookies right? glad you joined the group!
Thanks Alex and I was even happier to receive them, I shared with my friend who said they were the best he had ever tasted and I concur. Thank you again, I now have also discovered your blog and am following. Look forward to seeing more from you.
Sounds like a fun club to be in! If only I baked more 🙂 Your food looks great and I bet the blondies were good. You are always doing such fun things, I love that about you! Have a wonderful weekend Suzanne!
You have a wonderful holiday weekend Suzie. thank you so much.
What a fun idea! I look forward to reading about your future experiences.
Thank you so much!
so sweet! love that you exchanged cookies. Both kinds looked fantastic. And I also love the personal touch that you each added, with the notecards and fun wrapping. Am looking forward to more of these reports from you 🙂
Thanks Liz, it was fun for sure!
Sounds fun. Awwww. Cookies and white chocolate pretzels! I have only had them store bought, bet they don’t compare to your homemade pretzels!
The pretzels were good, I am partial to dark chocolate but thought the white looked nice. Thanks so much.
What a great idea! Everything looks delicious! I was just thinking about pretzels and dessert today and then look at your post…yummy! Man, I’m in Texas…too bad they weren’t at my house, lol! 🙂
Wouldn’t it be funny if you knew Jeannette! Texas is a big state and Houston is a really big city. I had forgotten how much I love pretzels, this reminded me. Thanks Brandi!
What a fun project! Everything looks delicious!
It certainly was. Thanks so much!
What an excellent idea – your goodies are beautifully packaged. The white chocolate pretzels look soooo tempting. 😉
They were good, love pretzel and chocolate, it’s one of my favorite combo’s Thanks so much.
This is a great idea and strengthens the bonds among food bloggers! Your cookies look delicious!
It really does. thank you so much. I love getting to know other bloggers, we do have a common thread/ I enjoy your blog so much, Greek food is one of my favorites and you present everything so beautifully.
This is such an awesome idea! I love the look of those pretzels… I would love to receive those in the mail!
Thank you. I am partial to pretzels especially those covered in chocolate!
That’s such a cute idea!! I love it! Foodie Pen Pals! 🙂
It really is a great idea, thanks so much.
The white chocolate pretzels look sooooooooooooo promising! The idea is great and ppl can simply make more friends.
Yes the chocolate pretzels were really good , it’s so nice meeting people through food, from another state and you never would have met them except through our love of all things food. Thanks so much.
Pretzel cookies?! Sound crunchy delicious! The whole project looked like like a lot of fun. great post.
Yes, love the crunchy pretzels in the cookies with the chocolate. Thank you so much.
This sounds like SO much fun! Can I ask, though – is it expensive to ship the baked goods? Or just a few dollars?
I’m kind of in love with these cookies. They’re on my must-try list, officially.
I sent in one of those flat rate boxes and it was less than $10 can’t remember exactly but it was pretty cheap. It was a lot of fun and the cost is low to ship, if you don’t use flat rate it would be even less I am sure. Thanks so much.
Oh, that’s not bad at all! I might need to research this and become a participant 🙂
How fun!
You never stop amazing me, Suzanne! Do you ever sleep? 😉
What a cool idea! Anything including pretzels sounds good to me!
Thank you! Me too, love pretzels especially the soft kind with mustard. YUM!
What a genius idea! LOVE it! I will definitely check it out. Your cookies and pretzels look fabulous!
Thank you so much, it was fun.
Love the thought of food pen pals, Suzanne! Your treats sound absolutely wonderful.
Thanks Hannah, I did the best I could given the difficulty shipping any perishable food in the heat of summer. They turned out well though.
What a great idea – like a nationwide cookie exchange! Your cookies and white chocolate pretzels look delicious!