Cookie exchange recipe cards
Guests often want to know who made a cookie. A recipe card answers that. Some hosts ask every baker to bring copies of their recipe to hand out, and some skip it. This page covers what goes on a card and how many copies to print, and has a blank card to print at home.
Do you need recipe cards at all?
They are optional. A cookie label with the name, the baker and the allergens is the part every swap needs (see the sample label sheet). A recipe card is the extra, and it makes sense when guests are likely to want to bake the cookies themselves. A swap sheet that takes a recipe link per cookie covers the same need without paper: a guest who wants a recipe taps the link.
What goes on the card
- Cookie name and baker. The same name as on the plate label, so a guest can match the two.
- Yield. How many cookies one batch makes, with the cookie size ("about 36 cookies, 2 tablespoons of dough each"). Yield tells a guest whether to double it.
- Ingredients with amounts. In the order they are used.
- Method in short steps. Oven temperature, bake time and what to look for ("edges set, centers still soft").
- Allergens. The same flags as the label: tree nuts, peanuts, wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, sesame.
- Where it came from. If the recipe is from a site or cookbook, name it or link it.
How many copies to print
Each baker prints one card for every other guest. The card goes in the dozen pack, so a guest finds it when they open the box. The table counts copies for one baker and for the whole swap, and the sheets for one baker at 4 cards to a page, as in the blank below.
| Guests | Copies per baker | Sheets per baker | Cards in the whole swap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| 6 | 5 | 2 | 30 |
| 8 | 7 | 2 | 56 |
| 10 | 9 | 3 | 90 |
| 12 | 11 | 3 | 132 |
| 16 | 15 | 4 | 240 |
| 20 | 19 | 5 | 380 |
That is a lot of paper for 20 guests (380 cards). Past 10 or so guests, I'd ask for recipe links instead and print cards only for the cookies people ask about.
Printable blank recipe cards
Four cards to a sheet. Fill one in by hand and photocopy it, or type the recipe into a document first. Print on plain paper or card stock and cut along the dashed lines.
Recipe card
Cookie:
Baked by:
Makes: cookies. Oven: Bake: min
Ingredients:
Steps:
Contains (circle): N tree nuts, P peanuts, G wheat/gluten, D dairy, E eggs, S soy, Se sesame
Recipe card
Cookie:
Baked by:
Makes: cookies. Oven: Bake: min
Ingredients:
Steps:
Contains (circle): N tree nuts, P peanuts, G wheat/gluten, D dairy, E eggs, S soy, Se sesame
Recipe card
Cookie:
Baked by:
Makes: cookies. Oven: Bake: min
Ingredients:
Steps:
Contains (circle): N tree nuts, P peanuts, G wheat/gluten, D dairy, E eggs, S soy, Se sesame
Recipe card
Cookie:
Baked by:
Makes: cookies. Oven: Bake: min
Ingredients:
Steps:
Contains (circle): N tree nuts, P peanuts, G wheat/gluten, D dairy, E eggs, S soy, Se sesame
Link instead of print
When a guest claims a cookie on a swap here, there is an optional recipe link field. The link shows next to the cookie on the swap page, so everyone sees it without a printed card and can ask for the recipe before the party. Paper cards stay useful as a backup for people who prefer them.
Related: the sign-up sheet that collects the cookies, and the packaging guide for where the cards go.
More guides
- How many cookies to bring to a cookie exchange (table by guest count)
- How to host a cookie exchange (invites, labels, containers, timeline)
- Allergy-friendly cookie exchange (invite wording, labels, gluten-free cross-contact)
- Cookie exchange rules (eight rules and how hosts word them)
- Best cookies for a cookie exchange (what travels, keeps and breaks)
- Mail-in cookie exchange (bake and parcel counts for a virtual swap)
- Make-ahead cookie exchange (freeze dough or baked cookies, bake timeline)
- Office cookie exchange (rules and counts for a workplace swap)
- Cookie exchange invitation wording (email, chat and card texts to copy)
- Cookie exchange voting and prizes (ballot picks and categories by guest count)
- Cookie exchange games (six games compared, printable bingo card)
- Printable cookie swap sign up sheet (blank, print at home)
- Cookie exchange themes (eight ideas, invite lines, the duplicate trap)
- Classroom cookie exchange (school rule, allergies, family counts)
- Cookie exchange packaging (dozen packs, take-home boxes, what suits which cookie)
- Cookie exchange recipe cards (what to include, copies by guest count, blank card)
- Cookie exchange labels (sample sheet to print)
- Soup swap rules: how much soup to bring (quarts by guest count)
- How to host a soup swap (timeline, tasting setup, take-home round)
- Soup swap labels (sample sheet for jars, Letter and A4)