Cookie Exchange Recipes

Want to make your office more festive during the holidays or get everyone excited about the holiday season? Or, are you looking for an excuse to get all your girlfriends together before all the holiday craziness? Organize a cookie exchange party with friends, coworkers, or family and get a taste of the season!

Cookie swaps are a traditional holiday event that people looking forward to every year. Everyone has a slightly different idea about how to host a cookie exchange, but the rules are fairly straightforward (see below). The real challenge is deciding what to bake! Cookies for cookies exchange parties can be anything you like. Here are a few cookie ideas for cookie exchange parties that range from the basic cut-out to more elaborate cookies for cookie exchange like ladyfingers.

Cookie exchange cookie recipes:

Ladyfingers

• 5 eggs, yolk and white separated
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 7/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat on high. Slowly add two tablespoons of sugar and continue beating until stiff. In another bowl, beat egg yolks and remaining sugar. Whip until thick. Sift flour and baking powder together on a sheet of wax paper. Fold half the egg whites into the egg yolk. Fold flour in and add the remaining egg whites. Put a plain 1/2 inch round tube in a large pastry bag. Transfer mixture to pastry bag and squeeze onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes.

Chocolate Fudge

• 1 package milk chocolate chips
• 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 1/2 tbsp. butter
• 1 jar marshmallow cream
• 2 cups walnuts, chopped
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 4 cups granulated sugar

Grease one 9 x 13-inch pan. Combine the milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, butter, marshmallow cream and nuts in a large bowl. Combine the evaporated milk and sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil for four minutes. Pour mixture over chocolate and stir quickly until blended. Pour fudge into pan, spread and smooth. Set aside to harden for about 6 hours. Cut into squares and serve.

Toffee Crunch

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp. corn syrup
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1 cup almonds, blanched, coarsely chopped and toasted
• 4 bars milk chocolate, melted

Melt butter in a large saucepan and add sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook on medium heat, and stir until 300 degrees. Stir in coarsely chopped nuts and spread in greased 13x9 inch pan. Allow to cool and put on waxed paper, spread with half melted chocolate, sprinkle with nuts. Cover with waxed paper, flip over and spread with rest of chocolate. Sprinkle top with rest of nuts and chill. Break into pieces.

Ginger Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• Colored, granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter and a cup of sugar in bowl until creamy. Add egg and molasses and beat. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes.

The organizer of the cookie exchange first needs to figure out how many people are participating and who will be bringing cookie exchange cookies. Each participant makes a dozen batches of cookies per participant. So if there are six people participating in the cookie swap, each person needs to make six dozen cookies. Then, you give a dozen cookies to each participant (and keep a dozen for yourself) plus the cookie exchange recipe. By the end, each person should have six dozen cookies of different varieties plus an assortment of cookie exchange recipes for their own cookbook. 

Part of the fun of a cookie swap is seeing what types of cookies people make and why.  Ask guests to share their story behind their cookie exchange cookie recipes. Is it a family recipe? Have they been making this recipe for years? Sometimes it's just as fun to hear the meaning behind the cookie as it is to eat it!

Don't forget to send a free online invitaiton for your cookie exchange party, too!