Easy Cookie Recipe For Holiday Exchange

If you’re looking for a host of different cookie recipes to fill that holiday cookie exchange tray, you’ve come to the right place. These sixteen recipes are simple to make and perfect for a swap!

There’s nothing more fun than baking during the holidays! This is especially true when it comes to cookie exchanges and holiday trays. (Yum!) Talk about creating a festive spirit! Spreading joy just got a lot easier, thanks to some simple and yummy recipes.

Cookie exchanges are a centuries-old tradition dating back to medieval times. The classic idea is of a holiday party in which guests bring a selection of homemade cookies to trade with one another. While the festive holiday has sweet beginnings, the etiquette associated with them has become elaborate and strict.

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If you’ve been following my site for any length of time you know that I love Baking with Friends and Family. I’m also keen on Baking with Kids, and that’s especially fun during the holiday season.

No matter who you’re baking with you’ll want to keep some well-loved cookie recipes in your repertoire but you’ll also want some new and exciting options, as well.

This post offers recipes that are perfect for Christmas, Thanksgiving. . .and beyond! Many of these recipes are also adaptable for holidays like Valentine’s Day and the 4th of July. Holiday recipes are the best and you’re going to love these!

Super Easy Christmas Cookie Exchange Recipes

Have you ever wondered where cookies got their start? For sure they’re one of society’s most popular treats–small enough to be held in the hand, but big enough to hit the spot!

The first cookies are thought to be test cakes bakers used to test the oven temperature. They date back as early as 7th Century A.D. Persia which is now Iran. They were one of the first countries to grow and harvest sugar cane.

With war and exploration eventually sugar was introduced to the Mediterranean area and European countries and so were cookies. And by the end of the 14th century, cookies were common place in European cities. The earliest cooking books from the Renaissance were chockful of cookie recipes.

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes Anyone Can Make

Cookies are small, compact, and loaded with flavor. They’re easy to transport and stay fresh longer than many cakes are pies. They don’t require refrigeration, which is a plus! This makes them perfect for an exchange.

No matter which cookies you choose for your Christmas cookie exchange, folks are bound to swoon if you pick recipes from Out of the Box Baking. We’ve got you covered with sixteen popular Christmas cookies, so let’s get going! (These are the best Christmas cookies in town!)

Whether you’re making Christmas cookies, Valentines cookies, or Halloween cookies, this cut-out sugar cookie recipe is perfect every time! This buttery shortbread cookie is great for a cookie exchange.

Christmas Cookie Recipes

This is my go-to sugar cookie recipe for holiday cookies every single year and people beg for them! You can’t go wrong with classic sugar cookies, especially if you cover them in my Easy Royal Icing.

These are fun to shape into Christmas trees or sweaters and hand-paint with colorful icing. (And trust me, these are the cookies folks have come to expect on holiday trays!)

You can bake these with the kids and use buttercream if you prefer! (Great idea, right? Buttercream is less messy.) Start a new family tradition the kids won’t soon forget.

Easy Recipes For Christmas Cookie Exchange

Be prepared to hand out the recipe when you show up with these at your next holiday party! But let’s be honest: they’re great any time of year!

On the surface a lofthouse cookie looks like a simple iced sugar cookie but it’s different, not just in texture, but flavor. If you break one open, you’ll almost think you’re looking at a little cake.

These easy Christmas cookies are absolutely perfect for a holiday cookie tray because you can color them with festive colors like red, green, and white. They’re also lovely in ice-blue and silver sprinkles! Talk about festive treats!

Easy Cookie Exchange Recipes (holiday Baking)

If you’re looking for the perfect Snickerdoodle recipe–light and fluffy and filled with cinnamon and sugar–you’ve come to the right place. This is an easy christmas cookie recipe, one that comes together quickly.

Loaded with simple ingredients, these cookies remain on my top five list. It’s hard to beat a good Snickerdoodle and this is a great one, perfect for that cookie exchange tray!

To make them more festive, drizzle with red and green royal icing or coat in colored sugars. This is one of those classic favorites that works year-round.

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These chunky oatmeal cookies are a fun, chewy variation of a traditional oatmeal cookie. They will leave you feeling like you’ve gone back to your childhood to Grandma’s kitchen and that’s exactly how you want to make people feel during the holidays, isn’t it?

I always include these chewy cookies on my Christmas cookie trays because they seem to hit the spot during the winter months. But don’t be fooled! They’re also perfect on a hot summer’s day. (One friend even eats these for breakfast! She adds ham and cheese to hers!)

Every baker needs an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that causes people to stop in their tracks and say, “Oh my goodness, this is the best cookie I’ve ever eaten!”

Christmas Cookie Swap Party {ideas} — Kevin & Amanda

This recipe will bring that sort of reaction. It’s got the charm of a traditional chocolate chip cookie with something extra–the bliss of browned butter.

It’s gooey, it’s crisp, it’s flaky. . .it’s perfect! And best of all, it’s an easy no-fail recipe, perfect for your Christmas cookie exchange party.

This is a fun twist on a traditional Thumbprint cookie that uses cherry preserves (or sour cherry spread) in the center of a delicious almond-infused shortbread cookie.

The Best Holiday Cookie Box

You can choose the preserves of your choice for your cookie exchange platter. A variety of colors would be fun, so consider apricot, cherry, blackberry, or raspberry!

If you love the ease of a cookie bar but the luscious richness of pecan pie you’re going to flip over this simple pecan pie bar recipe! It merges both of those worlds into one dreamy bite, loaded with flavor and crunch!

I truly have no words to describe how perfect these are. I can’t wait to add them to my holiday baking lineup this year!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

In short, they celebrate the marriage of these two ingredients. And you’ll celebrate too, as soon as you taste the combination in these rich, gooey, minty chocolate cookies.

These yummy bites of deliciousness are “doubly” good because of the addition of cocoa powder. It’s chocolate on chocolate on mint. And, oh my! The result is powerful!

I can’t even imagine a holiday cookie try (or any cookie exchange, frankly) without these Double Mint Chocolate Cookies. I get more “Wow!” responses from these cookies than any others!

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes

These cookies go by different names. Some call them Mexican Wedding Cookies, some call them Snowballs. Some call them Pecan Sandies, others call them Pecan Balls.

Some folks call these soft bites of wonderment Italian Wedding Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cakes, or Russian Tea Cookies, others call them southern pecan butterballs. No matter what you call them, they’re delicious and super easy to make.

They are the ideal cookie for a holiday tray or cookie exchange because they add a pop of color. (If you think about it, most cookies are tan in color. . .a bit bland.) These, though? They’re bright white, crisp, and loaded with sweetness!

Amazing Christmas Cookie Recipes (great For Cookie Exchanges)

Light, fluffy, loaded with peanut butter. . .these cookies are the perfect combination of salty and sweet. And, for the true peanut connoisseurs, they’re like fluffy clouds of peanut butter heaven, soft pillows of nutty delight. (How’s that for a tasty description?)

You can also use this recipe to make pretty peanut butter blossoms. Just roll into a ball and bake then add a Hershey’s kiss to the cookie when it comes out of the oven. (I like to drizzle red and green royal icing over mine during the Christmas season to make them more festive.)

If you love a great pecan cookie, one with a hint of salt, you’re going to flip over this Potato Chip Cookie recipe. These are the perfect blend of crunchy and soft, salty and sweet.

Christmas Cookie Exchange Ideas

I just baked these last week and gave them to a friend. She loved them! I can’t wait to bake them for my next cookie swap.

I started to call these my “Everything but the Kitchen Sink” cookies because I (literally) throw everything in them that you can think of. Crunchy. Salty. Sweet. Savory.

You love brown butter. You love pecans. You’re thinking about merging the two into a cookie but don’t know where to start. You’ve landed in the right spot!

Easy Christmas Cookies Recipes You'll Love

If you’re a nut lover you’ll flip over these simple pecan-based cookies. You’ll be the toast of the Christmas party. No, really!

If you’re really looking to impress your friends and loved ones during the holidays it’s simple! Just make these easy Chocolate Covered Oreos. You can buy a variety of molds on Amazon or other places online but I prefer the poinsettias.

If you love the cinnamon-sugar goodness of cereal but the flaky texture of a great cookie, have I got a new cookie for you! This simple Cinnamon Toast

Serving Up Tradition