Bake It Forward with Imperial Sugar

I love sending care packages.  When Desert Storm was going on, I spearheaded a big effort to send packages to the troops stationed overseas.  Getting donations from Nabisco and local businesses, we packed up hundreds of boxes stuffed with snacks, condiments (by request), ChapStick, comics and more.  It landed us on the local news.  When my sister was in college, I sent her a few packages featuring favorite things from home.  And we frequently drop off cookie care packages to neighbors and friends.  We bake.  We share.  That simple.  It’s good to spread joy, and better for our waistlines to get the baked goods out of the house asap, ya know?

So you know when the gang at Imperial Sugar e-mailed me recently to ask if I wanted to participate in their Bake It Forward program, I was in like flynn.  It’s a pretty fun concept.  You can buy a tin from them ($5.00 each), and it comes with a code stamped on the inside of the lid.  Once you get it, you register it online so you can track it.  Go bake up some favorite baked goodies and send it to someone who can use a smile.  A neighbor who goes the extra mile for you.  A co-worker who needs a little sunshine in their day.  A lot of the tins are being sent to military personnel.  I’m sure you won’t be at a loss for who to send it to.  Much harder to whittle down the list!  Then, the idea is that they receive it, eat the goodies, fill it back up and bake it forward, passing the cheer along to someone else who needs it.  And because you registered your tin, you can track it and see how far it goes and where it ends up.  Pretty nifty idea, no?

It didn’t take me long to decide who to send mine too.  My girl Sarah and her family ended up with a little of Hurricane Irene’s wrath, losing power and water for nearly three days.  Although they got power restored late last night, a few unexpected baked goods showing up in the mailbox can’t hurt.

As for what went in the tin?  I made a new peanut butter cookie recipe I found on a food blog recently.  The blogger wrote that these “blew her and her family away.”  You have to really, really, really like peanut butter to like these.  I like peanut butter, but found the flavor a bit overwhelming and the cookie underwhelming.  But just in case Sarah thought differently, in they went.  I haven’t been having good luck with food blogger recipes lately.  To balance that out a bit, I stuck with a tried-and-true favorite, these  Coffee Crunch Bars.  I make them for a co-worker sometimes, as it’s one of her favorites, and with today being her birthday, I made a double batch.  Two birds, one stone.  The more I make the Coffee Crunch Bars, the more they grow on me.

You can read some of the stories from Bake It Forward recipients right here.  Then go on, it’s your turn.  Bake It Forward…

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