Val Does: First Annual Holiday Cookie Swap [Part 1]

Growing up, my mom and her friends had a cookie party every year during the holiday season. She would leave the house with shopping bags full of homemade cookies and come home with bags full of new ones. It was like like a holiday magic trick; and I often dreamed about my grown-up self baking then skipping off to my own cookie party.

This past weekend, that dream became a reality. I hosted my first cookie swap on Sunday, where a group of us came together to trade cookies. And you know what? It was just as magical as I imagined it to be! I invited a smorgasbord of friends that I hoped would all be as excited as I was about holiday baking. In the end, there were 7 of us in my little Richmond apartment, snacking, drinking, and getting to know one another!

Having never planned a cookie party, I did some research. How do you host a successful cookie swap? Well, having one officially under my belt, here are some of my personal cookie party tips:

TIMING: I held my party on a Sunday afternoon, figuring that it would allow the guests to bake during the weekend and wouldn't interfere with too many other weekend plans. Also, you may want to hold it a few weeks prior to Christmas, so that it doesn't interfere with family plans. Plus: You can share/recycle you cookie swap cookies at other events! 

INVITES: As I mentioned, I invited a variety of different friends, none of which knew everyone else in the room. A variety of people means a variety of tastes and cookies; and the cookies acted as a conversation starter :-) For the actual invitations, I used Facebook, but you could also use an invitation site like evite. I asked that everyone RSVP by one week out from the event and to leave a comment stating what cookie they were bringing. This information helps your guests to (1) know how many cookie bags to bring and (2) avoid duplicate types of cookies.

FORMAT: You can conduct cookie swaps a few different ways (I chose the first). The key to any successful cookie swap is making sure that people bring enough for everyone to sample during the party too, preferably bite-sized --

1. "Swap with Everyone." Everyone leaves with one baggie from each guest.
2. "Free-For-All Swap." Everyone leaves with the same number of cookie baggies they came with, but they can be any combination. This works best for larger parties, where it would be too difficult to make enough cookies for every guest to take one of each.

FOOD: I knew we were going to need some salty snacks to balance out the sugar, so I had Chex Mix and made some pumpkin hummus to eat with carrots and crackers. For beverages, I tried to provide drinks for both spectrums--mimosas, water, and coffee (Have y'all had Dunkin' Donut's Gingerbread Cookie coffee? Its super delicious!).

DECOR: What's a party without a theme? My theme, aside from "cookies" was red and icy blue. I wanted to go with a less-Christmas and more-seasonal color palette! I kept decor simple by hanging a silver garland with ornaments over my counter, making and hanging take-away bags over my windows (multi-functional!), assembling cookie labels, and using color-coordinating food (e.g. ribboned mason jars of red M&Ms and red/white cookie bouquets). 

And I know you're dying to find out what cookies each guest left with! Here's the full list: 

• Lemon Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies (this recipe, using lemon cake mix)
• Butterball Cookies
• Five-Minute Fudge (*Not pictured. Click the link to see Liz's recipe and pics!)
• Red Velvet Peppermint & White Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
• Chocolate Mint Bars/Brownies
• Candy Cane Blossoms
• Pretzel Cookies with Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chips 
• Compost Cookies with holiday sprinkles (me!)
• Cinnamon French Toast Sugar Cookies (me...recipe coming soon! Friday, maybe?)

Are you hosting any holiday parties this year? What are your party tips?