With holiday season fast approaching, there’s one event you want to have on your social calendar: a cookie exchange! Over the years, I’ve hosted many of these and it is always a highlight for the holidays. Use the following tips to help you plan the most holly jolly cookie exchange ever!
What’s a Cookie Exchange?
A cookie exchange, or swap, is pretty much what it sounds like – a chance to bake and trade treats with friends! Everyone contributes a favorite treat to swap with the other attendees. Combine with some music, a craft or game for an easy and memorable evening.
Steps for a Successful Cookie Exchange
1. Make sure you send invites out well in advance!
Everyone – especially moms – have busy lives, so it’s important to nail down a date, send an invite, and get RSVP’s as soon as you can.
2. Set the swap expectations.
- Make sure everyone knows how many treats to bring. For a party under 10 people, my rule of thumb is to ask everyone to bring between 4 – 6 dozen treats. Increase the ask if your party will be larger. The idea is that everyone is able to sample (and bring home!) several of each treat. Note: some hosts like to have guests sign up for cookies in advance so that there aren’t repeats within the group.
- Tell guests to bring their own platter or plate for displaying, as well as a good sized container in which to bring goodies home. (Both are needed as guests will be filling their container as cookies are out on their respective platters – I goofed on this once before and will never forget this reminder now!)
- Make sure recipes (and any allergens!) are clearly on display. Have index cards or place cards (I love these) out for guests to “introduce” their treat and also list any possible allergens. In the past, I’ve been to cookie swaps where guests bring one copy of their recipe per attendee, so that everyone goes home with new recipes to try. Or, take advantage of technology and have each guest upload their cookie exchange treat recipe to a shared GoogleDoc.
3. Gather necessary supplies for party activities.
I’ve attended and hosted so many cookie exchanges over the years, and I’ve found it’s always that much more fun if a game or craft is involved!
- Some past activities during cookie exchanges have been making friendship bracelets, creating festive wreaths, and decorating ornaments.
- Another fun and easy activity during a cookie exchange is cookie superlatives! Have your guests vote for most creative, best decorated, best tasting, most likely to be eaten by Santa, most unusual, etc. Just make sure you have categories (and paper for voting!) ready beforehand.
- If you want to add the spirit of giving to your party, consider having guests bring donations for a local food bank or organization like DC Diaper Bank. While it takes more effort to plan and gather supplies, putting blessing bags together for the homeless is another meaningful team activity (see a guide here on this from Courtney).
- Have attendees from different circles of your life? A fun icebreaker is to put a famous person or character on each person’s back using a post-it. Everyone will quickly get to chatting as they ask yes or no questions to the other guests to determine their mystery identity.
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Other things to remember during your cookie exchange party:
- Play music! Make a shared party playlist on Spotify beforehand and ask everyone to contribute a couple of songs.
- Have some festive drinks ready. For decades of hosting, my mom always makes a fun sherbet punch similar to this. Hot cider is also a popular option for fall and winter. And of course, there’s always wine or easy cocktails!
- Make sure there’s something savory to counter the sweet. Have bowls of nuts, a charcuterie board, veggies and dip, and cheese and crackers out for guests to munch on to balance out all the sugar consumption. (Let’s face it, you aren’t going to bring all the treats home to your family untouched!)
- Laugh and have fun! Especially as a hostess, it’s easy to stress about gatherings. I’ve found cookie exchanges to be wonderfully low-key ways to have a festive fete without needing to go “all out”. Some of the best cookie exchanges are when everyone comes in pajamas or ugly Christmas sweaters.
If you’re looking for some cookie exchange recipe inspo, check out this collection of never-fail recipes! Two of my go-to favorites for cookie exchanges are chocolate espresso snowcaps and “Christmas Crack” (top with crushed candy cane!).
Have a favorite sweet treat? Share below in the comments, and let us know if you host or attend a cookie exchange this season!
