Hosting a cookie swap provides a refreshing break from the fast pace of the Holiday season. The purpose of a cookie swap is to share homemade cookies and recipes with other people who enjoy baking.

The basic idea behind the cookie swap is to bake enough of your favorite type of cookie to give a dozen to each of your swap-mates. Every participant provides a dozen cookies and one copy of the cookie recipe to each other participant. This is a great way to obtain a variety of cookies to serve to holiday company, without having to bake several varieties.

Seven or eight participants is a manageable number to start with. If you gather seven friends who like to bake, each of you can bake a double-batch of cookies (usually about 8 dozen) and have enough cookies for the swap plus one dozen to keep.

Be sure to check for food allergies before you begin. Then select a date, time, and location for the swap. I have found that the week before Christmas is a good time for this. You may wish to collect a list of recipes under consideration in order to avoid duplicates – it wouldn’t be as much fun if six people made chocolate chip cookies!

On the day of the swap, create seven packages; each package should contain one dozen cookies and one copy of your cookie recipe. We usually spend an hour or so visiting at swap time, sharing recipe histories, tip, and mishaps.