Everyone who is anyone is baking up a storm for the holidays. One great tip for those holiday bakers is to get some of the small tins or pans that will bake the cakes and cookies into the shape you want, rather than pressing them out or using cookie cutters. Having a cookie exchange can save you some baking and be a really fun event in and of itself.


Plot a Course for Baking
Getting a jump start on the holidays with the right shapes is easily accomplished using some specialty pans and equipment that can mold your cookies to the shape that you want prior to your baking them. They are ready then to just pop out and decorate.

Getting the best out of your baking means planning ahead a little bit. Specialty pans, decorating equipment and extra pastry bags can help you a lot, but those things can only help so much. Plotting a course, planning an entire day to perhaps bake with a friend and get ahead on your holiday baking will mean a lot more.

Holiday cookie Exchanges
One great tip for holiday baking is to phone a few friends and then, each of you plan on baking several dozen cookies in any given day. Then take part in a cookie exchange.

It can be set up to be quite easily accomplished and be a really festive event in its own right. A small cookie exchange can work much like this, and be a really fun happening. You’re all baking one dozen cookies to exchange with each person and one dozen for the table.

How a Cookie Exchange Works
Each of you bakes on a given day. The next day or a subsequent day, you meet at one persons home. The cookie exchange works like this. If you have six people who are taking part, you will bake seven dozen cookies. One dozen goes on the table, one dozen to each exchange participant.

Casual Exchange Event
The event itself is a treat, where the extra dozen cookies go out on trays on the table, along with coffee, punch or eggnog and everyone gets a taste of what they will get in the cookie exchange. Drinks might include coffee, tea, eggnog, milk, if there are children involved and there usually will be, along with soft drinks perhaps.

Depending on when your event takes place, you may want to limit the participation of the children and offer other than soft drinks as well.