Hosting a Christmas Cookie Exchange Party
Activities

Hosting a Cookie Exchange Party

Baking cookies and Christmastime have gone hand-in-hand for ages. Whether it’s making Grandma’s famous chocolate chip cookies, rolling out gorgeously-spiced gingerbread cookie dough, or decorating classic sugar cookies for Santa, Christmas is the time of year when people cheerfully get together and bake!

Taking the season’s annual surplus of homemade cookies into mind, we asked our dear friend Monica Lavin of the blog Lavin Label for some tips on throwing a fabulous (and easy!) Christmas Cookie Exchange Party. To top it all off, Monica even shared her mouthwatering recipe for Traditional Sugar Cookies with us! Turn on some Christmas tunes, preheat the oven to 350° F, and get baking!

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Hosting a Christmas Cookie Exchange Party

Traditional Sugar Cookies

Photography courtesy Kelli Boyd Photography
Styling + Story: Monica Lavin, Lavin Label

What I love most about the holiday season is the amount of time that we carve out to be with family and friends. It’s the time of year when you have your evenings booked for holiday parties and weekends reserved for shopping with friends. And if you have a sweet tooth like me, then it’s also a great excuse to bake cookies! Today I’m sharing a fun party idea that brings family and friends together — a cookie exchange party tailored for kids!

A cookie exchange party simplifies your holiday baking because your guests bring several batches of one kind of cookie to share! At the party, encourage your guests to sample, trade, and then package the cookies to take home, and voilà! Now you have an assortment of cookies, just in time for the holidays!

Traditional Sugar Cookies

A cookie exchange is a great option if you’re looking for an easy and effortless party! Just be sure to outline the expectations of the cookie exchange party in your invitations. Also, give your guests a general idea of how many cookies to bring based on the number of guests. Lastly, encourage your guests to bring a cookie jar — like this festive Plaid Cookie Jar — to take their cookies home.

For more steps on how to host your own cookie exchange party, check out the video below, then be sure to try the recipe for Traditional Sugar Cookies that follows!

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Traditional Sugar Cookies

Traditional Sugar Cookies
  Yields approximately 3 dozen cookies

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C)

2. In a large bowl, mix butter, oil, sugar, and cinnamon. Add egg and vanilla and beat for one minute, until smooth.

3. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the sugar mixture and stir by hand until you have a soft dough.

4. Shape the dough into a disc. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

5. Roll the dough out on wax paper lightly dusted with flour.  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

Traditional Sugar Cookies

Traditional Sugar Cookies

Traditional Sugar Cookies

6. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet that has been covered with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

7. Once completely cool, decorate the cookies with icing and other decorations, as desired.

8. Share your creations with loved ones, and enjoy! Happy Holidays!

Traditional Sugar Cookies

Traditional Sugar Cookies

Traditional Sugar Cookies

Traditional Sugar Cookies

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Featured products:

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Photography courtesy Kelli Boyd Photography

Styling + Story: Monica Lavin, Lavin Label

Cookies: The Sweet Designs Shoppe by Judit

Custom Cookie Stamp: Tink Cursive

Kids’ Clothing: Peaches

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