Host a Cookie Exchange

12/03/2014

Simplify your holiday baking by hosting a cookie exchange.

Salted Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies – click for recipe

Invite a group of friends, and have each person make enough of one kind of cookie to share. At the party, sample the treats, then trade and package them in appealing assortments. Everyone leaves with finished gifts — and plenty of new recipes!

What do you need to do to host a cookie exchange?

Invite your guests!

Eight to ten people are manageable, yet enough for a good variety of cookies.

Assign someone (or yourself) to collect the recipes in advance so they can be emailed to everyone in the group.

Choose Cookies to Bake!

Ask each guest to make half a dozen cookies for every person in attendance, plus an extra few for sampling at the exchange; you do the same.

Dark Chocolate Cookies & Cream Cookies – click for recipe

Set up a Packaging Station

Have each person bring some supplies for pretty packaging (ribbons, tags, cookie tins etc), you might also keep some on hand in case any are overlooked.

Set everything out on large worktables. Consider stocking the station with tags or sticky labels, ribbons, twine, cardboard boxes, sturdy paper plates, baking papers, scissors, hole punches, tissue paper, cellophane, and other trimmings.

Prepare for the Exchange

On the day of the party, brew plenty of coffee and tea, and clear a few tables for sampling, swapping, and packaging cookies. Provide platters and cake stands, and have each guest put out a plate of cookies for tasting. Have a print out of the recipes handy!

Let everyone sample the treats — and maybe even take a vote on the best one. When it’s time to trade, set out the remaining cookies and let each person walk around the table to pick up their share of each.

Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies – click for recipe