Easy Tips for a Great Cookie Exchange

When hosting a cookie exchange party, invite friends who also enjoy holiday baking to bring a large batch of one type of cookie to your home. During the party, everyone shares their treats. This gives each participant the desirable variety, and yet only requires baking one recipe. Let everyone bring a little extra for the party table, and the host has instant refreshments to serve to guests.

10 Easy Tips and Tricks for a Great Cookie Exchange

1) Ask each guest to bring either a dozen or half dozen cookies for each attendee, plus a dozen for the party. Order custom digital invites you can print yourself, like these from Personal Prints on Etsy.

2) Supply plastic storage bins or boxes and foil just in case guests forget to bring a container for transporting their cookies home. Remind guests to store each cookie variety in separate containers or baggies until serving. Mixed cookie varieties lose their flavor and texture. Also, a freezer-ready tin is always good if saving cookies for Christmas.

3) Request that participants bring copies of their recipe to share with others. You can ask each guest to send the recipe ahead of time so that you could print out enough copies for everyone in the group to have one. Or get crafty and print them onto matching recipe cards that are specially sized to fit in a 4×6 album from the drug store. If your group is small and your guests are particularly crafty, you could also ask them to make custom recipe cards to share with everyone. This would give you a variety of looks for the cards.

4) Prepare a large table for everyone to set out their cookies. Spread a festive cloth on the table. Make room for each guest to place their contributions.

5) Place an extra platter on the table for the cookies that will be enjoyed during the party.  Or you can add a contest twist to the swap. When everyone arrives give them an area to set up their cookies and a number. Then hand out the voting sheets and ask everyone to walk around and try out the cookies. Each platter will have a number, and give each guest a cookie voting sheet. Have a small prize for best tasting cookie, best looking cookie, most creative cookie, prettiest cookie display, and the most festively dressed person.

6) When the actual cookie swap happens,  guests take their empty container that they remembered to bring, and slowly go around the table clockwise. Everyone grabs 3-5 cookies from each plate, depending on how many are in each dish.

7) Even if you haven’t finished your holiday decorating by the date of the party, be sure the party room has some festive decorations. Play Christmas music throughout the gathering.

8) A cookie exchange can be held any time of the day, but mornings are a great time during the holiday season. By hosting it in the morning, your guests will have the remainder of the day for other holiday activities such as shopping, wrapping, their own decorating, or other parties.

9) Plan to serve refreshments that can be prepared in advance and merely reheated at the party. You shouldn’t spend all of your time fussing in the kitchen during this party. It’s more important to keep the cookie exchange flowing. For a morning party, overnight egg casseroles work very well. You might want to make an evening cookie exchange part of a festive, holiday cocktail party.

10) Serve at least one holiday beverage such as egg nog or hot mulled cider along with coffee, tea, juices and, of course, milk.