At a cookie exchange, each guest bakes one big batch of one kind of cookie. At the party, everyone fills a box with a few of each kind. Each guest bakes once and goes home with a mix of many cookies for the holidays.
Three weeks before: invite
- Six to ten guests is a good size. More than that makes the table hard to manage.
- Ask each guest to bake six cookies for every guest (counting themselves), plus a dozen to taste at the party. With eight guests, that’s 60 cookies, or five dozen.
- Ask everyone to tell you which cookie they plan to bring, so you don’t end up with five plates of the same kind.
- Ask about allergies when people reply. Peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, eggs, milk, soy and sesame all turn up in cookies.
The week before: plan the table
- One large platter or tray per guest, with a pair of serving tongs for each
- A stack of boxes or tins, parchment paper to line them, and ribbon or twine to tie them closed
- A few small treat bags
- Labels and a marker for writing what is in each cookie
- Drinks: coffee, tea, hot chocolate or milk
Label every cookie
Ask each guest to bring a card with the cookie’s name and every major allergen it contains, for example “contains peanuts” or “contains wheat, eggs, milk and pecans”. Place it in front of their platter. Home kitchens can’t promise there was no contact with other foods, so a guest can add “made in a kitchen that uses nuts”.
Keep cookies with peanuts or tree nuts on their own platter with their own tongs, and have small bags so guests can pack them apart from the rest of their box. Even with labels, someone with a severe allergy may not be able to share a table where nuts are served. Ask them how they’d like to handle it.
On the day
Before guests arrive (30 minutes): set out the platters, cards, boxes and drinks.
First hour: guests arrive and lay out their cookies. Everyone tastes from the extra dozen and talks.
Swap (20 minutes): each guest takes a box and goes around the table, taking six from each platter. Use tongs or gloves, not bare hands.
Last half hour: share recipes. A guest can write theirs on a card, or the group can agree to share them by email or text afterward.
Food safety notes
- Cookies must be completely cool before they go into a closed box, or they turn soft. Let them cool on a rack after baking.
- Cookies with cream cheese, custard or whipped cream fillings belong in the fridge. Ask guests to bring cookies that keep at room temperature.
- Raw cookie dough with raw eggs or uncooked flour is not safe to eat. Bake everything fully at home, and don’t bring dough to taste.
- Don’t leave food out for more than two hours. Put the tasting plates away when the swap starts.
Ideas to make it a tradition
- A vote for the best cookie, with a small prize such as a wooden spoon
- A recipe booklet at the end of the season with everyone’s recipe
- A box set aside for a neighbor, a teacher or someone who couldn’t come
