The holiday season is the perfect time to gather friends together for a Christmas Cookie Exchange where you each bake a few dozen of your favorite holiday cookies to swap with your friends.
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One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is to either host or attend a cookie exchange. Everyone brings a batch of their favorite holiday cookies to share with the group. You come with one flavor and go home with 8, 10, 12 or even more varieties of Christmas cookies for your family to enjoy.
Cookie exchanges are a really fun way to spend time with your friends and enjoy their company during the busy holiday season. As an added bonus you get to try a bunch of different yummy cookie recipes.
As a teenager I loved to bake and my neighbor invited me to a cookie exchange. I don't have any recollection of the cookies I brought but I do remember how giddy I was at the thought of sampling a dozen different types of cookies in one night. It's a sweet tooth's dream come true!
My neighbor had baked up a batch of gumdrop cookies to share with all of us. Gumdrop Cookies! What the?
The concept of chewy fruit flavored gumdrops being in a cookie seemed beyond odd to me, but I took a bite anyway. Then I took another and another and before I knew it I only had eyes for those gumdrop cookies.
I was excited to get the recipe and that holiday season I was so busy baking batch after batch of these amazing cookies, some with colorful fruit flavored gumdrops and some with just red (cherry), white (pineapple), and green (lime) gumdrops.
To this day these gumdrop cookies are my family's most requested dessert and this sweet little cookie inspired me to open my first confectionery store back in 1989. I made and sold 12 different flavors of candy filled cookies all using this same basic recipe made with Country Crock® Baking Sticks.
The baking sticks were a staple in our household when I was a kid. I loved that I could just grab a stick and get baking, no waiting for the baking sticks to soften and they give these cookies the perfect texture and taste.
They are a must when baking these gumdrop cookies, especially when you plan to share them at a Christmas Cookie Exchange.
Let me share with you some tips I've learned over the years for hosting a cookie swap.
How to Host a Christmas Cookie Exchange.
Invite your friends and family to the party and have everyone bake enough cookies so that each person can sample one of each flavor and take home 3-12 of each flavor. You can find some amazing recipes on the Country Crock Cookie Swap page and I'll share my gumdrop cookie recipe below.
When trying to decide how many cookies your guests should bring ask yourself these questions:
- Do my friends love to bake?
- Are they so busy that they might end up bringing store bought cookies and do you want to allow that?
- Do my guests have large or small families?
- Is the party more about socializing than bringing home a lot of cookies?
When you answer these questions you can more easily decide on how many cookies each person needs to bake and bring to the party. Also remember not everyone you invite will show up. You can change the numbers needed as your R.S.V.P.s come in.
Remember that not all recipes will make an equal number of cookies so some guests will bring more while others will bring less.
Invite your party guests.
- Ideally you want to have 8 - 12 guests at a Christmas Cookie Exchange.
- That way everyone gets to enjoy a nice variety of cookies but the baking doesn't get too overwhelming.
- Set the date and get your invitations sent a few weeks in advance.
- December is a busy month for most people so you need to make sure your friends and family put the cookie exchange on their calendars early before their schedule fills up.
- If you want to go old school, you can send printed invitations like these...
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- Just click here for a printable version of this Cookie Exchange Invitation. There are two printable invites to a page.
- Or you can create your own invitation and send it out via email or even social media.
How to handle food allergies:
- Food allergies have become a huge issue and it's not fun for a guest with allergies to show up at a cookie exchange and not be able to enjoy any of the cookies.
- Before you send out your invites it's best to find out if any of your guest have allergies.
- If there are any serious allergies, like you know a friend can't be in the same room as a nut, then take that seriously.
- If there are less severe allergy issues, you might want to include a note with your invite asking people to refrain from using those ingredients.
Recipe Cards:
- Have all of your guests bring a printable recipe card to share with everyone.
- Many people will prefer to just use a printer for this job but some might enjoy a more traditional approach by hand printing recipes.
- Be sure to have a way for your guests to copy the recipes. You can print out the recipe card below and have them available for your guests at the party or send them to your guests with the invitation.
- Having a scanner and printer available will make the recipe swapping simple and quick.
- Click on this link to print out a page with two of these Christmas Cookie Exchange Printable Recipe Cards.
Voting and Prizes:
- If your friends love the sense of competition then you might want to have a Best Cookie Contest.
- Print out ballots and allow everyone to vote once for their favorite cookie.
- You can number the cookies for each entry or have everyone write the name of the recipe.
- Offer a prize or prizes like a cookie jar, a kit of baking supplies, or a chef's hat or apron printed with Best Cookie Baker.
Cookie Recipe Names:
- It's always nice for your guests to know what they are eating so have your guests write the name of their cookie on a tag and set it in front of the cookies.
- If there are any special ingredients like nuts (that might cause an allergic reaction) have them note it on the card.
Hosting the party
- Decorate!
- Put out cookie platters, cake stands, plates, and holiday dishes for your guests to use to display their cookies.
- Most of your guests will arrive with their cookies on paper plates, in tin foil pans, or in zip top bags and unless you want the table to look like a pot luck then be prepared with some festive tableware.
- Make your home warm and inviting by putting up your Christmas tree. You could even combine a tree decorating party or tree lighting ceremony with the cookie exchange.
- Put out cookie platters, cake stands, plates, and holiday dishes for your guests to use to display their cookies.
- Make food.
- With all those sweet cookies your guests will be eating it's nice to have something savory to go along with it.
- You will find some really fun and festive Christmas recipes here.
- Vegetables are a must! Even though it's the holidays your guest will feel like they are really indulging while at your cookie swap, so be sure to put out a nice tray of freshly cut vegetables.
- With all those sweet cookies your guests will be eating it's nice to have something savory to go along with it.
- Serve drinks.
- Holiday drinks like eggnog, hot cocoa, peppermint tea, or a holiday flavored coffee will be a hit.
- Play background music.
- It's so easy to find wonderful holiday music collections online that you can turn on so when the first guests arrive it doesn't feel too quiet. Before long the room will be noisy so you can turn it down or off.
- Relax and have fun.
- I've hosted so many parties over the years and it is so important for you as the host to enjoy the party too.
- Be sure to join in on the fun.
- Make the drinks and food easily accessible to your guests so that you are not constantly busy refilling and serving.
Having Fun!
- There's no reason the cookie exchange has to be all about cookies. You could combine this party with:
- a game night
- a movie night
- a tree decorating party
- a white elephant gift exchange
- a minute to win it game night
- a Christmas caroling party
- a craft night (see below)
How to package up all those Christmas cookies:
- Provide your guests with boxes, bags, plates, or even tins to bring home their cookies.
- Tins keep cookies fresher than any other type of packaging.
- You can set up an area to have your party guests personalize their own cookie tins.
- Set out paint or permanent markers along with some stencils or decorating ideas.
- Let them paint their tins with their own special designs.
- It's best to have more than one package for each person in case there are cookies with strong flavors like peppermint.
- If you place a strong smelling cookie like mint, lavender , or rosemary with other cookies they may all taste like the strong smelling cookie by the time you go to eat them.
- I provided large and small cookie tins for each of my guests.
How to display your Christmas Cookies:
- Set your table with plates and platters that have different heights for nice visual appeal.
- Cake platters and tiered trays work perfectly for this tablescape.
- Add some decorations or holiday dishware to the table.
- I printed out some free clip art of Christmas cut-out cookies and created a garland to hang on the wall behind my table. Once all the pretty cookies were added the table looked great.
Bake your favorite cookies.
- Even the host is required to bake a batch of her favorite cookies to swap out with her friends.
- Give these gumdrop cookies a try this year. I know you will love them as much as I do.
- Each cookie has simple ingredients including flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and the most important ingredient, Country Crock Baking Sticks. I use unsalted sticks so I can control the salt in the recipe but you can buy and use salted sticks for other recipes.
- You can find Country Crock Unsalted Baking Sticks and Country Crock Salted Baking Sticks at Walmart in the refrigerator section of the store.
- Find more great recipes at the Country Crock Cookie Swap page.
- You can also find over 100 fun Christmas recipes here.
Gumdrop Cookie Recipe
Chewy fruit flavored gumdrops are speckled throughout soft sugar cookies.
- 16 ounces fruit flavored gumdrops
- ⅓ cup sugar to coat gumdrops
- 1 cup (2 sticks) Country Crock Unsalted Baking Sticks
- 1 ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
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Cut fruit flavored gumdrops into small ¼ inch pieces, toss in sugar, then pour into a colander to remove excess sugar.
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
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Cream the Country Crock Unsalted Baking Sticks and sugar together until fluffy.
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Mix in eggs and vanilla.
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In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
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Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture just until blended.
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Mix in about half of the gumdrop pieces.
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Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
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Flatten cookies and top them with more gumdrops.
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Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until the tops of the cookies start to look dry.
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Cool your cookies on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and place on a wire cooling rack.
If you want to go all out and make some Christmas Cookies that will really wow your guests check out these other recipes...
Mason Jar Cookies with Candy Glass
find over 100 fun Christmas recipes here
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That Christmas plate is so cute! Thank you for sharing the post! I have never joined a Christmas Cookie Exchange but I wish I could host one myself with the neighbor.
Beth says
Thanks! I actually hand painted that Christmas platter years ago with my exchange student. It is such a wonderful memory of the holiday she spent with our family. I do hope you have a Christmas Cookie Exchange and get to share lots of delicious cookies with your neighbors.
Luz says
I love that cookie platter! Where did u paint it! I wish I could find one online!
Beth says
Thanks! I painted the platter at a paint your own pottery shop in Springboro, Ohio but it was back in 2003 when my exchange student was living with us. It is such a special holiday keepsake. Every Christmas when I pull it out of my cupboard, it reminds me of all the time we spent painting, talking, and laughing. I hope you are able to find something similar.
Luz says
Thank you so much!! I found the exact same one on eBay! I’m excited to paint it! I’d love to have it for the holidays also it looks beautiful!!! ❤️
Beth says
I am so happy for you! I hope you enjoy painting your platter.
Kathy says
Remember the Stained Glass cookies with life savers? Those were my favorites because of the crunchy candy in a soft cookie! I love going home with a variety.
Beth says
I definitely remember those stained glass cookies. They were always so much fun to make.
The Partiologist says
Those gumdrop cookies look like tiny lights shining through, what a fun cookie!
Louise Jackson says
Love those gumdrop cookies. They are the best. Actually 10 stars.
Beth says
They definitely are 10 star cookies! I'm glad you like them too.
Tera B says
Hey, Beth, thanks so much for the recipe. Gumdrop cookies are a nostalgic favorite for my Hubby. I'll think I'll make them this year. Two things: where do you find your gumdrops? I don't recall ever seeing fruit flavored ones. And, you accidentally left flour out of the recipe (it says 1 3/4 c., but it doesn't say of what).
Beth says
Hi Tera, I'm so glad you like this recipe! I usually use Brach's Fruit Slices (amazon link - https://amzn.to/2reqCBv) which you can find in most grocery stores or drug stores or Jumbo Gumdrops (https://amzn.to/2Rm1e8j) which I usually find in drug stores. I found the red, green, and white gumdrops at The Dollar Tree this year (2018). Small gumdrops are almost always spiced flavor and I personally do not like them in these gumdrop cookies.
Thanks for the head's up about the flour. I just fixed it!
Tera B says
Thanks! I found "fruit slices" at Walmart.
Beth says
I'm so glad you found them!