Cookie Swap
CRASH COURSE
GATHERING YOUR NEAREST AND DEAREST FOR A COOKIE SWAP IS ONE OF THE SWEETESTWAYS TO SPREAD THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT. FROM PREPPING AHEAD TO PACKAGING, HERE’S HOWTO HOST THE JOLLIEST COOKIE SWAP OF ALL.Avoid the holiday rush. Host your swap in early December before your guests get too busy baking for and attending other holiday
parties. Make it a casual weeknight get-together or a weekend brunch so your swap doesn’t confl ict with other holiday events.
Do the math. When deciding how many cookies to ask each guest to bring, err on the side of having more cookies than
needed rather than risking not having enough. This will ensure there’s a large variety of cookies for everyone to sample from
as well as to take home. Once you’ve chosen the number of batches each guest should bring, plan on baking just as
many batches of your own recipe for the swap.
Send invitations a month ahead. Invite your guests well in advance so everyone can plan their recipe ahead of
time. This will reduce stress and last-minute baking during such a busy season. In your invitations, specify
when guests should RSVP by and when to submit their recipe and off er up some inspiration by sharing
your favorite cookie bakers and cookie cookbooks for them to reference for sweet ideas.Help coordinate recipes. Because a cookie swap with fi ve diff erent kinds of chocolate
thumbprint cookies won’t be much fun, make sure there aren’t duplicate recipes before
the swap. Ask guests with crossovers to pick another recipe featuring a fl avor or type
of cookie that may be missing from the lineup.