Hosting a Christmas cookie exchange is a wonderful way to “kick off” the Christmas celebration. A Christmas cookie exchange provides the opportunity to take a break from the Christmas hustle to share the Christmas spirit with friends old and new.
My friends and I hosted a Christmas Brunch for our Christmas Cookie Exchange. We scheduled it for the second week of December so everyone could go home with a variety of delicious Christmas cookies to serve over the holidays. Every year we rotate the home and the hostesses where the brunch is held.
In order to have a successful Christmas cookies Exchange, we offer the following guidelines: (which were included in the invitation)
- All cookies must be “homemade”, baked and the main ingredient is flour. No “no-bake” cookies, meringues, or bars are allowed. Fudge or chocolates are fine.
- It’s great to make cookies that freeze well.
- Please bring a total of 80 cookies, divided into 40 Ziploc bags of 2 cookies each.
- The theme is “Christmas Cookies”. No chocolate chip cookies, please.
- Place cookie bags in a basket or on a tray (get creative).
- Bring 40 copies of the recipe printed in 8 ½ “X 11” (to make individual cookbooks).
- RSVP as soon as possible to let us know what type of cookies you are planning to bring. We will try not to duplicate recipes.
- If you cannot attend but would like to exchange cookies, you can deliver your cookies to the host house the day before brunch. We will change them for you.
- * If you don’t have time to bake, or you’ve screwed up your recipe but still want to attend, you can bring cookies from a “real” bakery.
In preparation for brunch, the hostess prepares food for brunch, a bag each participant can put her cookies in, and a cover and back cover for the Christmas Cookie Swap Recipe Book. During brunch, one of the hostesses assembles the cookbooks so they are ready to distribute at the end of the activities.
The hostesses also prepare activities for the guests before the cookies are distributed. One activity that everyone seems to enjoy is having each guest tell why they chose their cookie recipe to make, especially if the recipe has special meaning, eg. Eg it was Grandma’s favorite sugar cookie recipe.
And … everyone is encouraged to wear Christmas outfits (especially a ChristmasTee) for brunch.