How to host a Christmas cookie exchange

How many cookies each baker brings#

Each baker brings one bag of 6 or 12 cookies for every baker, their own bag included, so everyone leaves with a full set and nobody has to count at the table. If you want cookies to eat during the party, ask for one extra dozen each.

Step-by-step#

1. 1

   Send one invitation that answers every question

   6 to 12 bakers works well. Fewer than 6 and each guest goes home with only a few kinds; more than 12 and the dozen plan means 13 or more dozen per baker. Early or mid December works well, so guests still have cookies to give away, and about three weeks is enough notice. Put everything in that one message: the date and time, the count from the table above, "bring your cookies already bagged, one bag for each baker," "pick a cookie that keeps for a week without the fridge," "bring a box or tote to carry the bags home," and a reply-by date. "A bag of 6 for each of the 8 of us" is clearer than "bring some cookies," and it gets everyone baking the same amount.

2. 2

   Have guests name their cookie, its allergens and the recipe when they reply

   Keep a running list, first come, first served, and when someone names a cookie that is already taken, ask them for their second choice. Ask each baker to list the major allergens in their cookie at the same time. The FDA counts nine major allergens, and the ones that come up in cookies are tree nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy (often in chocolate chips) and sesame. Send the finished list to everyone a few days before the party, so a guest with a serious allergy can decide what to take, keeping in mind that cookies from home kitchens on a shared table can't be guaranteed free of anything.

3. 3

   Choose a cookie that travels and keeps

   Every cookie at a swap gets packed in a bag, carried home in a car, and eaten over the following week, so sturdy beats delicate. Drop cookies, bars, slice-and-bake, cutouts and biscotti all hold up. King Arthur Baking, after testing cookies through the mail, found that small drop cookies (made with a teaspoon scoop) break less than big ones, that cutout dough rolled a little thicker survives better, and that sprinkles pressed into the dough before baking stay on better than ones added after. Its bakers skip thin, fragile cookies like pizzelles and Florentines for travel. Bars with a cream cheese layer or a custard filling need the fridge, so they're best left for another party.

4. 4

   Bake or freeze ahead

   Bringing 6 to 12 dozen cookies means several batches, so spread them out. King Arthur says most drop and roll-out doughs keep in the fridge for up to five days; for longer than that, freeze them. Scooping the dough into balls, freezing them on a tray and then bagging them lets you bake a tray at a time whenever you have an hour. Biscotti can be baked five to seven days ahead. Unfrosted baked cookies freeze well too. Michigan State University Extension puts the limit for both dough and baked cookies at six months in a 0°F freezer. Icing and glaze can turn sticky as cookies thaw, so you can freeze iced cookies plain and decorate them afterward. Wrap the cookies, pack them in an airtight bag or container, and let them thaw at room temperature, still wrapped, the morning of the swap.

5. 5

   Collect a recipe from every baker

   The simplest way is to collect each recipe with the replies, then print a set of cards for each guest or send all the recipes afterward as a single file. If your group likes handwritten cards, each baker brings one for every other baker instead, so 7 cards with 8 bakers. Recipe boxes take 3×5 or 4×6 cards, and 4×6 leaves room for a few extras beyond the ingredients and steps if you want them: the baker's name, the allergens, how long the cookies keep, and where the recipe came from ("Grandma Ruth, about 1975" is worth writing down).

6. 6

   Give each baker a spot on the table

   Each baker sets out their bags behind a folded paper label with the cookie's name and its allergens, plus their recipe cards if your group is trading handwritten ones. If you asked for an extra dozen each, it goes on a tasting plate so the swap bags stay sealed. When it is time, everyone walks the table and takes one bag of each kind. Have a few spare zip-top bags and a box or two on hand for guests who forget, and a pen in case someone needs to write a card on the spot.

Common mistakes to avoid#

• ✕

  Packing crisp and chewy cookies in the same container

  Moisture moves from the chewy cookies to the crisp ones, so the gingersnaps go soft and the soft ones dry out. Strong flavors like peppermint also spread to everything near them. King Arthur Baking's rule is to store each texture separately, so keep the swap cookies in their own bags at home rather than tipping them all into one tin.

• ✕

  Bagging cookies while they are still warm

  Warm cookies give off steam, and in a closed bag or container it turns into soft, sticky cookies and smeared icing. Cool them completely on a rack, and let the icing on iced cookies set hard before bagging or freezing them.

• ✕

  Baking a brand-new recipe for the first time on swap day

  A new recipe can spread into one sheet, or yield half what it says. A test batch a week or two ahead, or a recipe you have made before, tells you how many it really makes and how it holds up after a day in a container.

• ✕

  Putting nut cookies right next to everything else

  Crumbs and shared tongs move from one plate to the next, especially on the tasting plate. Putting anything with peanuts or tree nuts at its own end of the table, with its own tasting plate and tongs, keeps those crumbs off everything else.

Why Culinary Card works for this#

If you're collecting everyone's recipes, you can paste a link or text, or snap a photo of a handwritten card, into Culinary Card, put them all in one book, and print the book as 4×6 index cards or share it with the group by link or QR code. Every recipe comes out in the same clean layout, whichever way it arrived.

Frequently asked questions#

Sources#

• How to ship cookies: 10 tested tips, King Arthur Baking
• Your official holiday cookie timeline, King Arthur Baking
• Things bakers know: the #1 rule of cookie storage, King Arthur Baking
• Freezing great cookies, Michigan State University Extension
• Food allergies, U.S. Food and Drug Administration