These holiday cookies are made a little lighter and with wholesome ingredients (but no one will know). You will pleasantly surprise your friends and family with these cookie recipes at your next cookie exchange! We’ve got recipes that are whole grain, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and paleo friendly – there are healthier classic Christmas cookies for everyone!
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Hosting a cookie exchange is a great way to get together with friends and loved ones for the holidays and share some of your favorite seasonal treats. We’ve got some tips to help make your cookie swap run smooth this year.
Hosting a Holiday Cookie Exchange
- How Many Should You Make – This depends on how many people are coming. It’s important to set up a plan beforehand so everyone is on the same page. Your number will vary based on how many people you are inviting. It is easy for each person to pick 1-3 recipes to bringe. If there are fewer people a single batch of a few recipes will give everyone enough to have a few of each kind. If you’re hosting a larger group you might want to do multiple batches of one recipe so everyone can have some of each kind. Setting the number up based on your group size before will help everyone get to enjoy your holiday treats.
- Packaging Cookies – People can bring holiday tins, stasher bags, bakery boxes, or even a baking pan to take home their treats, but it’s always good to have some extras on hand in case there are more treats than what can fit in the containers they brought. Sometimes it’s fun to have some ribbon and small embellishments, like fresh greenery, to tie on the boxes if people are packaging smaller containers to use as gifts.
- How to Share Recipes – Since everyone will be trying lots of new recipes, you are going to want to make sure there is an easy way to share all those delicious recipes. You could have everyone print their recipes beforehand to share or create a simple Google Doc for everyone to put their recipe or links to the recipe they used. It’s a win win because then you aren’t wasting paper by over printing and you can share the original recipes of a food blogger which helps us out when you visit our site.
There are lots of ways to make a cookie exchange a success this holiday season, but I think the most important things are to clearly communicate ahead of time so everyone can plan their baking accordingly and to have fun. No one wants to be stressed out baking!
Holiday Classics
Whole Grain Cut Out Sugar Cookies
THE classic holiday cookie recipe: CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIES. Made with whole grain flour and lightened up using less butter and sugar compared to the traditional recipe, but still just as delicious! Topped with a simple frosting that’s perfect for holidays!
More Healthier Classic Holiday Cookies
- Gluten-Free Almond Flour Crescent Cookies – by Eating Bird Food
- White Chocolate Peppermint Bark – All the Healthy Things
- Almond Shortbread Cookies – by Feasting on Fruit
- Cranberry Chai Spice Thumbprint Cookies – by The Almond Eater
- Chai Spice Almond Snowball Cookies – by A Couple Cooks
Cookies to Make this Holiday
Healthier Cranberry Orange Cookies
Healthier Cranberry Orange Cookies made with whole grain flour, cashew butter, and dairy-free using Almond Breeze Vanilla Almondmilk. This easy Christmas recipe is super soft and perfect for holiday baking!
More Holiday Cookies
- Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies – Orchids + Sweet Tea
- Hot Cocoa Cookies – by Fit Foodie Finds
- Soft Baked Ginger Molasses Cookies – by The Toasted Pine Nut
- Grain-free Cranberry & White Chocolate Chunk Cookies – by Miss Allie’s Kitchen
Bars & Brownies
Santa Hat Brownies
Santa Hat Brownies are the cutest little holiday bites. The perfect dessert for the holidays and fun to make too! Vegan and gluten free friendly recipe.
More Holiday Bar Recipes
Other Holiday Treats
Healthy Vegan Chocolate Turtles
These paleo friendly and vegan chocolate turtles are such a fun and cute treat to make! They’re easy, no-bake and come with a date “caramel” center for the turtle bodies. My family loved these!
More Lightened Up Holiday Recipes
- Cinnamon Maple Pecans – Marisa Moore
- Vegan Caramel Popcorn – Jessica in the Kitchen
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