Whether you’re kicking off the holidays with a cookie exchange at work, or getting a head start on your Christmas baking, we’ve curated the best Christmas cookie recipes for every palate and dietary need! From traditional to healthy, gluten free to vegan, we’ve also included cookie recipes kids can make!
6 Christmas Cookie Exchange Ideas
If you’re hosting a Christmas cookie exchange party and need tips to help make it a success, here are a few ideas to inspire you!
1. CREATE A LIST OF PARTICIPANTS. When it comes to hosting a cookie exchange, more isn’t necessarily better. You will usually want everyone to make a dozen cookies for each participant, so limiting the number of people you include will make things more manageable for everyone, and will ensure they don’t go home with more cookies than they can possibly eat! If you are finding it difficult to scale back on the number of participants, you can ask everyone to only make 6 cookies per person, or create 2 (or more) cookie exchange groups.
2. SEND OUT INVITATIONS. Whether you plan on sending formal invitations in the mail, online invitations, or an email with the details of your cookie exchange, be sure to send ALL of the details so everyone knows exactly what’s expected of them. Participants will need to know how many cookies to make, if anyone has any food allergies or sensitivities that need to be taken into consideration, and how their cookies should be packaged, and you’ll want to ensure there aren’t any duplicate recipes. This last point can be challenging if you want to keep everyone’s cookies a surprise, but if there is one point of contact who can collect the recipes ahead of time, he or she can review and inform individual participants if someone is already making the recipe they have submitted so they can choose something else.
3. ASK FOR A LIST OF INGREDIENTS. While you don’t need the complete recipe for each cookie, a list of ingredients is a good idea given how many people suffer from food sensitivities and allergies. Better to be safe than sorry, right?!
4. FIND A PLACE TO DISPLAY EVERYONE’S COOKIES. Make sure to have a table setup so everyone can display their yummy treats! You can use a basic table cloth, or go all out with Christmas-themed decorations.
5. ORGANIZE SNACKS AND DRINKS.Your guests will spend a lot of time sampling cookies at your cookie exchange, so you should have a selection of beverages available to them, and you may want to consider serving a few savory snacks to help counterbalance all of the sugar. If you’re hosting your cookie exchange at work, consider turning it into a potluck and ask everyone to contribute a drink and/or dish to share.
6. MAKE SURE TO HAVE PACKAGING HANDY. You can ask participants to create their own individual cookie packages, but it’s always good to have some cookie boxes on hand in case someone forgets and/or their packaging falls apart during the tasting process. These cookie boxes are a great and inexpensive option!
11 Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes
4-Ingredient Peppermint Cookies | The Frugal Girls
Hot Chocolate Cookies | Love From The Oven
Snowball Cookies | Spend with Pennies
Peppermint Oreo Balls | Dinner Then Dessert
Sugar Cookie Truffles | If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen
Melt In Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies | An Italian In My Kitchen
Easy Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies | The Frugal Girls
Eggnogg Snickerdoodles | Love From The Oven
4-Ingredient Christmas Cookies | Your Cup of Cake
Gingerbread Cookie Bites | Butter with a Side of Bread
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies | Gimme Some Oven
11 Healthy Christmas Cookie Recipes
Sugar Free Keto Christmas Cookies | Yummy Keto Cooking
Paleo Gingerbread Cookies | My Natural Family
Vegan Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies | Beaming Baker
Healthy Peppermint Patties | Fit Foodie Finds
Almond Butter Blossom Cookies | Joy Food Sunshine
Vegan Almond Shortbread Cookies | Feasting on Fruit
Paleo Chocolate Almond Cookies | Darn Good Veggies
Keto Rum Balls | Keto Millenial
Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies | my DARLING vegan
Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies | Sweet As Honey
Low Carb Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies | Low Carb Yum
11 Gluten Free Christmas Cookie Recipes
Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookies | Ambitious Kitchen
Christmas Sugar Blossom Cookies | Mama Knows Gluten Free
Gingerbread Cookies | Gluten-Free Palate
Peanut Butter Blossoms | What the Fork
Cinnamon Roll Cookies | Mama Knows Gluten Free
Almond Biscotti | Fit Foodie Finds
Apple Pie Cookies | Gluten Free on a Shoestring
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies | Delicious Little Bites
Vegan Coconut Macaroons | Nora Cooks
Almond Spritz Cookies | Mama Knows Gluten Free
Snickerdoodle Cookies | Mile High Mitts
11 Christmas Cookie Recipes for Kids to Make
No Bake Reindeer Poop Cookies | Midget Momma
4-Ingredient Christmas M&M Cookies | The Frugal Girls
Cake Mix Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies | Chocolate with Grace
Easy Cake Mix Gingerbread Cookies | Cake Whiz
No Bake Cookie Dough Bites | Charisse Yu
Monster Cookie Energy Balls | Together As Family
Grinch Cookies | Simplistically Living
Easy Christmas Peppermint Patties | Mom on Timeout
No Bake Oreo Truffles | Fifteen Spatulas
Soft Funfetti Cookies | Pretty. Simple. Sweet.
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies | Vegan in the Freezer
Whether you’re participating in a Christmas cookie exchange party at work, making a platter of homemade sweet treats for your family Christmas celebration, or baking cookies for Santa with your kids, I hope you enjoy these Christmas cookie recipes as much as we will be this holiday!
This post contains affiliate links.
If you enjoyed this collection of Christmas cookie recipes, please share it on Pinterest!
And if you’re looking for more delicious recipes to try over the holidays (and beyond), please follow our Food board where we share all of the amazing ideas we find each day!
