Plan an Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookie Swap Party

Retro Cookie Swap Invitation

Looking for a fun way to gather the girls or your favorite couples this holiday season?  Why not plan a good old-fashioned Christmas cookie swap party?

Cookie Swaps were very popular in the past and they're making a big comeback.

Cookie exchange parties are a great way to share the holiday work load as well as a fun way to meet up with your best buds before the big rush.

The principle is simple, everyone brings a batch or two of their best homemade cookies and then everyone else gets to take a few home.

By the end of the party, everyone will have a platter of home baked goodies that they can then serve during the holiday meals or package them up for gift giving.   

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3 Ideas for a Fun Cookie Swap Party

Lovely Aprons Sweetheart Apron (Black)

Have everyone wear an apron and then have a BEST Apron Contest.  You can choose a theme such as Retro Aprons, or Ugly Aprons, kind of like an Ugly Sweater Party but you find or create the ugliest apron ever.

Have a Sugar Cookie Decorating Contest.  Either bake them while everyone is there or have a batch of Sugar Cookies ready for decorating when everyone gets there.  Supply some icing and decorations and then let everyone go crazy on them. 

Ask Guests to bring along copies of their cookie recipes to share with everyone.  It's no fun finding a new cookie you love and then never being able to bake them.

Cookie Swap Party Preparation Ideas

As the host, it might be a good idea to keep a master list of the cookies your intended guests will bring.  Otherwise, you might end up with a table full of Gingerbread men and little else.  Ask guests what they will bring when they RSVP.  If there's any duplicates, try to talk your friend into another variety.

Your guests will need a way to transport their cookies so be sure to have extra boxes, tins or sturdy paper plates and plenty of plastic or aluminum wrap on hand for anyone who doesn't come prepared.

Warn guests about any high allergy ingredients.  There's a lot of people who are allergic to nuts and other popular Christmas cookie fixings.

Create cards to display the names of each kind of cookie being swapped. 

Plan to have enough room on the table, or counter top to fit a platter of each type of cookie being shared.

Serve coffee and tea to go with the cookies that are sure to be sampled at the party and then plan to have some other types of food available such as fresh fruit, a veggie platter or other appetizers to combat the sugar overload.

Choose the Right Invitations

Be sure that your guests know exactly what you expect them to bring or do by choosing an invitation that shares all of your important information. 

Here's a few invites we love that can be customized to say whatever you like.  Click on your favorite to learn more.  Or visit Cookie Swap Invitations to see dozens more

Christmas Cookie Exchange Party Invitation

Holiday Christmas Cookie Exchange Invitation

Christmas Cookie Swap Holiday Invitation

How to Have a Christmas Cookie Swap Party

Watch this fun video for more ideas ans inspiration for your cookie swap.

This is the cookbook that is featured in the video by Good Housekeeping.

Hardcover-spiral: 160 pages

You can get the featured cookie swap cookbook from Amazon using the following link.

Good Housekeeping The Great Christmas Cookie Swap Cookbook: 60 Large-Batch Recipes to Bake and Share

I hope you found some fun new ideas for this year's cookie exchange.
Please share your best ideas for a Christmas Cookie Swap in the comments below.