Host a Holiday Cookie Exchange

Of all the holiday gatherings we've been to over the years, cookie exchanges rank near the top of our list of favorites. Not only does everyone get to mix and mingle, but they also leave with a wonderful assortment of homemade cookies. Why bother with the hassle of a sit-down dinner party when you can enjoy the fun of a holiday cookie exchange instead?

Have we convinced you yet? Read ahead to get some smart ideas to make your holiday cookie exchange a hit!

Holiday Cookie Exchange Ideas: Planning Ahead

To do it right, a holiday cookie exchange does require some advance planning. First, you'll want to think about how many people to invite, and how many cookies you want each of them to bring. Martha Stewart suggests  less than ten people, with each guest bringing a dozen cookies for every other guest.

You could also double the number of guests and halve the amount of cookies each one should bring per guest. That is, invite 20 people and ask them all to bring ten dozen cookies. Bon Appetit advocates for this approach, figuring the more the merrier.

Next, you'll also want to be sure there aren't any duplicates. While we wouldn't turn up our noses at dozens of chocolate chip cookies, the point of a holiday cookie exchange is to end up with a variety of cookies.

An online invitation service like Evite or Punchbowl makes it easy to coordinate who's bringing what. Just ask guests to specify the type of cookie they'll bring. They can leave this information in the comments when they RSVP. That way everyone can see that peanut butter blossoms are already spoken for.

Holiday Cookie Exchange Ideas: Rules and Recipes

To help ensure everyone puts equal effort into their cookies, we agree with Bon Appetit's suggestion to set some ground rules:

1. Cookies must be baked from scratch by an adult in a non-commercial kitchen. No sticky-fingered kids, no bakery cookies, and no mixes or pre-made doughs.
2. Cookies must be cookies. No peanut clusters, truffles, chocolate bark, or other concoctions using pretzels, caramels, nuts and whatnot. These are all delicious, but they are not cookies.
3. Cookies must be edible. No burnt offerings, please.

We also love the idea of circulating cookie recipes among all the guests, especially to identify any potential allergens. This is where an online invitation service comes in handy again. Guests can email their recipes to the hostess to compile. Then she can use Evite or Punchbowl to send them out in an email to all the guests after the exchange. So much easier than juggling slips of paper or recipe cards during the party.

Holiday Cookie Exchange Ideas: Get Fancy

If you don't think all of the above sounds fantastic as-is, we did find a few more suggestions to make your holiday cookie exchange even more amazing.

To start, you might ask guests to make a dozen extra cookies so everyone can sample them at the exchange. Have them bring those cookies on a pretty plate with a card to display noting the name of the recipe and who made it.

Whether you offer samples or not, we agree with Punchbowl -- serve other finger foods that are savory, to complement the sweetness of the cookies. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate and even cold milk are welcome refreshments that go well with cookies.

While you could award prizes for prettiest or most unique cookie, or offer a variety of festive packaging options, we're in favor of keeping it simple. Just get a stack of white bakery boxes and twine for packing up all the cookies to go home with guests. Let the cookies be the star of the show.

Holiday Cookie Exchange Ideas: Recipes to Try

We bet you probably already have a few wonderful holiday cookie recipes in your back pocket. But if you're looking for a little inspiration, check out these cookie recipes from Six Sisters' Stuff. They're chosen especially for cookie exchanges. Plus our roundup of unique cookie recipes definitely has a few delicious ideas to try too.