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Allergy-friendly cookie exchange

A cookie exchange is a table of homemade food from a dozen kitchens, so a guest with a nut allergy or celiac disease has a harder time than anyone else in the room. This page covers what a host can do about it: what to promise, what to ask of bakers, and what goes on the label. It is not medical advice. For a serious allergy, the guest knows best what they can eat, and sometimes the answer is only what they baked themselves.

Decide what you can promise

The AP cookie swap guide gives the simplest rule: if you will not check recipes for common allergens like nuts and dairy, say so up front so guests can decide whether the event suits them. If you set a rule such as no nut products, be very clear about it. Pick one of these and put it in the invitation:

  • Labeled only. Every cookie carries its allergens, nobody checks recipes, and the home kitchens are not allergen-free. Guests with a serious allergy decide for themselves.
  • One restriction for everyone. For example a nut-free swap. Every baker agrees to it, and you ask each one for the ingredient list.
  • A marked side table. A regular swap, plus one or two cookies baked for a specific need and kept apart.

The first option is the easiest to keep. The second works best with a small group where you know the bakers. The third suits a guest who would otherwise skip the swap.

What goes on the label

In the US, the FDA names nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame. Cookies rarely contain fish or shellfish, so the seven that matter in baking are the ones on the label sheet: tree nuts, peanuts, wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs, soy and sesame. A label that helps a guest with a restriction has three parts:

  1. The cookie name and the baker's first name, so a guest can ask a question.
  2. A "Contains" line with the allergens from the list above. Write "Contains: tree nuts, wheat" rather than "has nuts".
  3. A line for special diets only when the baker is sure, such as "Made gluten-free, same kitchen as wheat flour".

The AP guide also suggests asking guests to bring a printout of the recipe for reference, and lets hosts collect names and ingredients ahead of time to make the labels. On this site the baker ticks the allergens when claiming a cookie on the sign-up sheet, and the host prints the labels from that list.

Gluten-free and cross-contact

The Gluten Intolerance Group has a guide to a gluten-free cookie exchange. Its advice for the table is short: keep a separate area for the gluten-free cookies, and make sure labels and signs show which ones they are. For the baking, it suggests separate utensils, cutting boards and baking sheets. It also suggests inviting guests who know gluten-free baking and why cross-contamination matters, and asking each guest for the ingredients they used.

My addition for a mixed group: use a separate serving utensil or sheet of wax paper for every plate, and set the marked cookies out first, before crumbs have traveled.

Sample wording for the invitation

Copy these and change what does not fit your swap:

  • Labeled only: "Every cookie gets a label with its allergens. I won't check recipes and home kitchens aren't allergen-free, so please tell me about any serious allergy before you shop."
  • Nut-free swap: "This swap is nut-free. No peanuts or tree nuts in any cookie, and please send me your ingredient list when you claim your cookie."
  • Marked side table: "If you need gluten-free or nut-free cookies, tell me by the sign-up deadline and I'll set aside a marked plate."

More texts for email, chat and cards are on the invitation wording page.

If you are the guest with the allergy

  • Message the host before the sign-up deadline, not at the door.
  • Bake a cookie that is safe for you and take that one home as part of your share.
  • Ask to read the ingredient list instead of trusting a missing label.
  • Skip anything unlabeled. A label that says nothing is not a label that says "none".

Set up the swap

The swap form on the home page collects the allergens per cookie and prints them on the labels, and every guest sees what is already claimed. Put your allergy rule in the swap title or the invitation so bakers see it before they pick a recipe. For how other hosts word the allergen rule, see the cookie exchange rules. The full plan is in how to host a cookie exchange.

Set up a cookie swap

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