How to Host a Holiday Cookie Exchange in 7 Steps

Holidays are often associated with certain foods, and both Christmas and Hanukkah bring to mind visions of cookies and other sweet treats. However, the holidays also bring a lot of time and money pressures. Why not consider a holiday cookie exchange? It could be a fun, inexpensive and simple way to celebrate the season.

What Exactly Is a Cookie Exchange?

For a cookie swap, a handful of people organize their holiday baking ahead of time and exchange their treats — and the recipes for them. Each participant makes a different kind of cookie or dessert. There are a few directions you can go from there. You could host a cookie exchange party, where all of the participants come and fill up their boxes. Or, you can box up each dozen and make cookie deliveries. It’s up to each group to set its cookie swap rules. Want more money-saving tricks like this? Here are eight more you should try.

How to Set Up a Holiday Cookie Exchange

Ready to set up your first cookie exchange? Here are our step-by-step instructions:

1. Poll Your Friends 

You can start by polling your baking-friendly friends to see who would like to participate. While you’re at it, find out if your participants have any specific dietary restrictions or time-based needs. Wrangle your budget with one of The Penny Hoarder’s picks for the best budget apps for couples.

2. Set the Rules and a Cookie Swap Date 

Settling on a time frame may be the most difficult part of this process. Cookies can go stale, and not everything freezes well. Setting a cookie exchange date should happen at the beginning of the process. You’ll also need to set the most important guideline for the cookie swap: How many cookies should each person make? That’s totally up to you. Some people only make a couple dozen cookies for the swap, and others make a dozen per person. (So if there are eight people participating, then each person makes eight dozen cookies.) Either way, make sure the expectations are set up front. Need some new spices for your cookie swap? Here’s how to save this baking season.

3. Pick Your Bakers 

Now it’s time to invite friends who want to participate in a cookie swap. When considering your participants, make sure you have enough people in case someone drops out. But remember, too many bakers can be an issue, too. A cookie exchange can get unwieldy if you have more than 10 people. If you are going to send invitations, you can find and use some great ones online. Canva has a ton of cookie swap party invitations to use. A helpful hint is to have the cookie exchange rules on one side of the invitation. Love to play on your phone? These 22 legit games play real money.

4. Make the Call: Are You Hosting a Party or Just Swapping?

One of the biggest decisions to make is whether this will be a full-blown social occasion or a utilitarian drop-off/pick-up event. This might affect who you invite to join the cookie swap, and when and how you do it. Most people turn a cookie swap into a party. There are lots of opportunities to spend time with family over the holiday season. It’s nice to have a chance to party with friends too. There are a few steps you can take right at the beginning of the planning process to make sure things go smoothly, whichever way you choose to exchange cookies. Looking for another money-saving life hack? These companies give you food and other products for free.

5. Hosting a Party? Nail Down the Nitty Gritty

Most of the time, people have cookie exchange parties. As they should! Life can be hard and hanging out with friends makes things better. If you’re going the party route, create a guest list, think about party supplies, send invitations and plan some light snacks. From there, you’ll have a few more decisions you’ll have to make. For instance:
– Do you want guests to bring their own containers or pool money for cookie boxes? (Thrift stores almost always have cheap tins.)
– Would you like folks to also bring snacks and drinks?
– How many guests can a guest bring?
– Do you want to have a cookie tasting as part of the party? (If so, you may want to ask people bring a few extra cookies.).

6. Don’t Forget to Get the Recipes

Yes, having delicious cookies for the season is a huge draw of cookie exchanges. But the recipes themselves are just as valuable. Everyone should give you their cookie recipe ahead of time, or should be instructed to provide recipe cards to each of the participants. (Plus a few extras if you’re hosting a party.) Another money hack? Stop spending too much money on these dumb things.

7. Keep in Touch 

What is the easiest way to communicate with everyone? You could start an email chain or text group. You also may want to set up a page on a social networking site, so everyone can interact and coordinate. Facebook has hundreds of cookie swaps and events, so make sure everyone has the right one. Looking for a side gig? These are our top 28 picks.