Provide extra bites and beverages. Even though your party
is all about the sweets, your guests will want to balance out
the cookie sampling with some tasty fi nger foods and savory
appetizers as well as drinks like coff ee, hot chocolate, or a
holiday punch.
Deck the halls. Add visual interest to the cookie display
table by layering serving ware of diff erent heights, like
holiday-themed plates, decorative trays, cake stands, and
even three-tier trays. If you run out of serving ware, turn
your baking pans into holiday-ready cookie boxes by lining
them with festive tissue paper (the kind you’d use for gifts)
and wrapping ribbon around them.
Showcase each cookie with recipe cards and printouts of
the recipes. Let everyone know what’s available by making
recipe cards that list the name of each recipe and the baker
who made it. Remember to include printouts of the recipes
so guests can recreate the cookie magic at home.
Make your party extra merry by playing cookie-themed
games. When guests arrive, give them a necklace of ribbon
and three candy canes, and instruct them not to say
“cookie” during the party. If they do, the person they were
speaking to can take a candy cane from their necklace and place it
on their own. Whoever has the most candy canes by the end of the
party wins a prize. You can also organize a taste test by having each
guest guess a secret ingredient in each cookie. The person with the
most correct guesses per recipe wins a prize.Set up a packaging station to make take-home cookie boxes.
Supply your packaging table with containers like simple cardboard
boxes, cellophane bags, and holiday-themed paper plates. Provide
linings like festive tissue paper and parchment paper so your guests’
cookies stay intact during transportation. Finally, be sure to have
details like twine, ribbon, tape, scissors, and stickers available so
people can seal their cookie boxes and personalize them with
yuletide fl air.