Holiday Cookie Party Hosting Tips

For several years now, I’ve been attending an annual cookie party with the girls. It's always a lot of fun! 

THE BASICS:

Ask each guest to bring a big batch of cookies. As you can see above, one year I made chocolate chunk cookies.

Another year I made my grandmother's sugar cookies.

Many times guests will want to bring a seasonal cookie, like sugar cookies, but you might want to keep it open to all kinds of cookies or even fudge!

Years ago, I found two amazing fudge recipes, one I had made last year (so I knew it was good). The peanut butter one on left is Alton Brown's recipe. This is the best peanut butter fudge I have ever had and very easy to make. On right, is Carnation Famous Fudge w/o the nuts.

Last year I made No Bake Oreo Truffles. These were extremely popular with the girls and easy to make!

You’ll need to estimate 1 dozen multiplied by the total number of guests. We typically have 8 people at our cookie exchange, so that would be 96 cookies.

You may want to provide guidelines to each baker so that you get a good cookie assortment: rolled cookies, bar cookies, drop cookies, decorated cookies. Your friends may have family recipes they wish to share.

Packaging the Treats:
Each guest should also bring copies of their cookie recipe and containers to take cookies home. Heavy-duty plastic freezer bags will work for sturdy cookies, but decorated cookies and more delicate shapes should be packaged in tins or sealable plastic containers. Provide waxed paper or parchment for separating layers of cookies.

Last year, I picked up a few inexpensive bakery boxes to package the cookies. You can find bakery boxes and more cute containers on ebay. And to add extra style to your cookies with these adorable gift tags.

INCLUDE EXTRAS:

Buy reusable tote bags and include Yankee candles, along with the cookies. When I did this last year, everyone loved getting a little something extra. You could also include an assortment of candy, stickers or another small treat.

TIPS FOR THE HOSTESS:

Before the guests arrive, put on some holiday music and light a seasonal scented candle or spray a little holiday room. This will put guests in a holiday mood!

Besides snacking on cookies, set out big bowls of popcorn and chips, the veggies and dip and an insulated server of hot chocolate and a pitcher of cider for all the cookie bakers to help themselves.

Or make a cheese quiche, with different mix-ins in each quiche!

COOKIE RECIPE BOOKLETS:

Ask your guests to mail (or e-mail) their cookie recipes to you, or collect the recipes on the day of the party. Compile the recipes into a booklet for everyone to take home! Recipe booklets can be made in Microsoft Word or if you want to do something fancier, you can create a cookbook online. Or they can write them out on recipe cards.

Or guests can create their own recipe cards by downloading a fill-in-the-blank card from Etsy. They have so many cute options!

HELP OTHERS:

Have guests bring an unopened package of store-bought cookies or canned food. You can then collect the packaged food and bring them to a homeless shelter or food pantry. We also like to make extra plates of cookies for elderly relatives who couldn’t be at the party and we drop them off later.