Kick off the Christmas holiday this year with a Christmas cookie exchange with your friends and neighbors.
A Christmas cookie exchange is a win-win for everyone involved: You get to bake your favorite kind of Christmas cookie, and in the end you go home with a variety of homemade Christmas cookies for your holiday entertaining.
Maybe you make the best mini cheesecake cookies, and your next-door neighbor has a flair for elaborately decorated gingerbread boys. Your cookie exchange group gets to benefit from everyone's specialties.
Here’s how a Christmas cookie exchange works: Each participant makes one type of cookie and puts them in packages of one dozen cookies each. At the start of the holiday season, everyone gets together at a Christmas cookie exchange party and each person takes home one package of each type of cookie.
When entertaining during the holidays, you’ve got an impressive, colorful and delicious tray of cookies.
Setting Up Your Christmas Cookie Exchange
Christmas cookie exchanges can have as many or as few participants as you want. A nice, workable number is 12, which will give each participant 12 dozen cookies, a dozen of each kind.
Invite people who like to bake. Baking 12 dozen cookies isn’t going to be fun for anyone who isn’t into baking.
Start planning early enough so that your bakers can plan what type of cookie they’re going to make and set aside the supplies and time they need.
Have your participants sign up for the kind of cookie they want to make. You may want to offer some suggestions: Decorated cut-out cookies, thumbprints, peanut blossoms, seven-layer bar cookies, butter balls and shortbread are all welcome treats at the holidays. Monitor your sign-up sheet to avoid duplicates, too much chocolate, or too much of the same type of cookie. The idea is to have a variety.
Be sure your bakers know how they should package the cookies: In bags or on plates of 12, well wrapped and sealed.
Set the date for your Christmas cookie exchange party well ahead of time, so participants know when they should start baking, arranging and wrapping.
Let the Baking Begin!
Shortly before your cookie exchange party, set aside a day for baking whatever type of cookie you signed up for. If your cookie choice freezes well, you can bake ahead of time and freeze your cookies in packets of 12.
When baking a large amount of cookies, be sure you’re multiplying the recipe correctly. Take your time and put some TLC into your cookies. You want everyone to enjoy the work you put into this!
Make a Christmas cookie recipe that you know is a good one – this is no time to experiment with something unknown!
Suite 101 has some tried-and-true recipes for some traditional favorites, including Raspberry Squares, Peanut Blossoms, Mint Brownies and Sugar Cookies.
Your Christmas Cookie Exchange Party
Exchanging Christmas cookies is the main event for your party, but you can still have some fun while everyone is gathered.
Remind your guests to bring their pre-packaged cookies and a box or large, sturdy shopping bag to take cookies home.
Serve a Christmas cocktail, eggnog, or a Christmas punch, as well as some appetizers and party snacks.
Set up a couple of large tables and have your guests set their cookies in one spot.
One by one, have your guests walk around the tables, picking up one package of each type of cookie, including their own.
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