#Spread Cheer with Betty Crocker and a Giveaway

One thing that I love about this time of year is that there are so many fun ways to show your friends and family that you care about them.  I was quite excited to be asked to be part of the #SpreadCheer campaign.  My daughter and I knew the two people we wanted to surprise with a basket full of cookies. We chose two people, because it was just too hard to pick only one. We each have a good friend we wanted to share some extra cheer this holiday season. We also knew that part of the fun of the surprise was in the memories of  making of the cookie baskets  together, before we even gave them away.    We went to our local Kroger, and bought the Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip and Sugar Cookie mixes .  These mixes  are super simple to make, and great for adding extra ingredients to make our own creation. 

I love marshmallows, and thought it would be fun to make a cookie that tastes a little bit like a Smore.  I added about a cup of mini marshmallows to the  chocolate chip cookie mix.  I would have added nuts or graham cracker crumbs as well, but I could not get to the store when I was baking the cookies. (You will see why in a minute)  Even with just the marshmallow and chocolate chips, the cookies turned out great with melt in your mouth yummy, gooey, goodness. 

The basket was all ready to go, but we were going nowhere fast.  We ended up getting 17 inches  of snow,  and were snowed in for most of the day.

  

The original plan was to run to my friend Rhonda's house, and drop the basket  on her porch after school on Monday.  I found out that morning though, that her road was still very difficult to drive on, so it was time for Plan B.  She asked me if I would like to meet her for a bowl of soup at a nearby restaurant. I knew that would be the perfect time to surprise her.  When she stepped away from the table for a minute, I put the basket of cookies on the table where she had been sitting.  

When she got back to the table, she was quite surprised. The basket of cookies  really made her day.  We might not have been able to leave her basket on her doorstep because of the snow storm, but this way I got to see the cheer a surprise basket of cookies could bring. 

Kara decided she wanted to make Sprinkle Sugar Cookies for her best friend.  They have been best friends for four years, and probably years to come.  The sugar cookie dough was easy to make, and roll out on a baking mat. 

Since she was making this basket of cookies for her friend, she did all of the prep work.  She choose the cookie cutters, and cut out cookies in various Christmas shapes. We normally frost our sugar cookies and decorate them  for Santa, but she wanted to try something different this time. 

Instead of frosting, she had different types of sprinkles to the cookies before baking. 

They turned out really nice, and were not as messy as the frosted kind.  These were perfect for packing into a cookie basket.  

She placed them into baggies, and them put them in the basket.  She then chose a tag to use from the #SpreadCheer Printable Tags that are part of the Betty Crocker #SpreadCheer printable kit. 

The basket of Sprinkle Sugar Cookies ready to be delivered. Turns out we have a plan B for this delivery too. Her best friend took an unexpected trip out of town, so we need to wait until she comes home to make our surprise delivery. It won't be very cheerful for her to come home to frozen, or soggy cookies.  

Do you know someone you think might like some extra cheer this Christmas?  You are in luck, because  Betty Crocker, wants you to  help spread the cheer this year.  I will be giving away a $20 gift card to Target. It is one of my favorite stores, all over the country,  and you will find everything you need there to spread some cheer of your own. 

The giveaway rules 

• Print off your coupon to save 50 cents on a package of Betty Crocker Cookie Mix

• Make a cookie basket of your own, and post a photo on social media with the hash tag #SpreadCheer. Tag a few friends you think would like to join in on the fun. Use the printables to decorate your basket.

• Leave a comment below on who you chose to #SpreadCheer and link back to your social media post 

a Rafflecopter giveaway