Christmas Cookie Exchange

Every year the Ladies' Quilting Ministry 

at my home church host a 

Christmas Cookie Exchange.

It is so much fun to make a huge batch of cookies to take to church 

and then to come home with a bunch of differant cookies.

We had lots of delicious cookies this year.

There were Red Velvet pinwheels,

Sandtarts,

Peanutbutter Blossoms,

Maple Cookies,

Fruit Cake Cookies,

Vienna Fingers, 

Apple Cider Cookies, 

Reese's Cookies,

and many more.

HOW TO DO A COOKIE EXCHANGE

First, you send out invitations, weeks in advance.

This years invitation looked like this-

This is the front.  It is just a standard invitation with the info, time, and date.

On the back are instructions on how to bag the cookies and guidelines on what not to bring.

I made the invitations in My Digital Studio (a product of Stampin' Up, 

which allows you to use SU stamps, paper, colors, 

and embelishments digitally to make cards, crafts, DVDs, and photobooks).  

A few suggestions:

1) be sure to specify whether you are okay with some people making other things (like- cookie bars, fudge, mini-muffins,...) rather than just cookies.  We chose to only allow homemade cookies because the ladies work so hard to make nice and sometimes, very fancy cookies.  We felt it a little unfair when they exchanged all of that hard work for cookie bars.

2) Make the place and date of the cookie exchange convenient.  For example: we did ours on a day other than regular church service, but it was a date when most of the church families were there (for homeschool & quilting ministries).  It was also a day right after our Wednesday evening church so that they could drop them off the night before if they were not coming to those ministries.  After the cookie exchange was over, those ladies came back over to the church to get their exchanges (or other ladies who were there dropped the cookies off at their houses on the way home).  If you are doing a cookie exchange among friends or in a work setting, just pick a day that is convenient & place where everyone is already going.  Christmas time can be hectic, the last thing you need to stress out about is a cookie exchange.  Make it enjoyable by being convenient!

3) Also, make it early enough in December so it can be done.  Do it before the busyness starts.  We do ours within the first 10 days of December.  It is before the big holiday baking begins, but still into December where you can enjoy the cookies.  

4) Encourage everyone to do it, if possible.  I am a single lady who lives by herself.  I may have one cookie a day. How could I possibly eat all of those cookies?   Well, I'll tell you.  I don't!  When I get home they all get divided up into my traditional cookie tins.  Whenever I have someone come to my house I pull out those cookies.  It is so fun and encourages people to fellowship!  It also gives me a chance to brag on all the great cooks at my church.  I know that some of the ladies are grandmas.  They divide them up and freeze them to get out when thier grandkids come.  Another lady cannot have bakedgoods, so she takes them around the neighborhood and hands out flyers to our Christmas Cantata.

Now that you have read how to prepare, here is what happens on the Cookie Exchange day.

Everyone brings their cookies in all neatly packaged according to the invitation guidelines..

Most are tagged with the baker's name and the kind of cookie.

Some even come with recipe cards so we can make them at home.

As they come in, we ask each participant how many total bags/plates of cookies they made.

You don't need to know how many different kinds, just the total 

(this helps you know how many they get back).

We write their name and that number down.

Then set the cookies out with a label of whose they are.

Then, comes the hardest part for me - dividing them up.

I am no mathmetician, and it can get a little tricky.

Finally, this year I got better at it.

A little hint:  start by giving the person who brought the most their exchanged cookies first.

I bring a cookie platter, gift bag or a box to divide them out.

Each platter, bag or box is labeled with the person's name.

Do not give the recipient any of their own cookies back.  

Remember, the idea is to get other people's cookies.

After they are divided out, I just let them on the table with the name labels on

 and the ladies come by and pick them up.

There were lots of great cookies this year.  

My favorite are always the healthy cookies that one of our deacon's wife makes.

Mmmm, Mmmm, GOOOOOOD!!!!

Here are the recipes for the two cookies I made.

They are NOT healthy!

The recipe cards were made on Stampin' Up My Digital Studio

We try to include a small gift for everyone who participates.

Last year, we gave tin cookie cutters with a recipe for easy sugar cookies 

and the history of "tin cookie cutters".

This year, each participant got a cookie tray and a wonderful smelling Glade candle.

It is so neat how every year, the Lord provides great gifts to give to the participants!

If you try to do a cookie exchange, I hope it is as great a blessing to you as ours was!