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Office cookie exchange: rules and how many cookies to bring

A cookie exchange at work differs from one at home. Nobody hosts a party, people come and go between meetings, and the group is often bigger than the usual guide expects. Most guides picture a dozen friends in a living room. This page covers the coworker version: a few rules to post, and a table for the count.

12 coworkers, 2 of each kind
24 cookies each
Two dozen to bake. Everyone goes home with 24 cookies in 12 kinds.

My suggested rules for a workplace swap

  1. Opt-in only. People sign up, nobody is assumed in. Baking takes an evening, and some coworkers do not have one to spare.
  2. Claim a cookie before you bake. One kind per person, first to claim keeps it. That prevents six batches of chocolate chip. A shared list, such as the one in the form below, settles it without a long email thread.
  3. Label every cookie. Name, baker, and the main allergens: nuts, peanuts, milk, egg, wheat, soy. At work you cannot ask each person what they avoid.
  4. Drop off in the break room. Set the cookies out in one place, in containers with the label on the lid. Ask for drop-off by a set time in the morning, and put out bags or boxes so people can carry their share home.
  5. Keep a time window. A 60 to 90 minute window, say 2:00 to 3:30 on a Thursday, lets people from different meetings come by. Say when leftovers go to the common table.
  6. Decide what counts. Homemade only, or store-bought allowed? Bars and fudge, or only cookies? Write it in the invite. Home hosts are told to settle these questions before sending invitations, and it matters more at work, where people hesitate to ask.
  7. Skip the contest. No ranking and no prize for the best cookie. A plain exchange keeps shy bakers in.

What the guides say about counts

A guide in the News Tribune, Sweet swap, suggests a minimum of 2 to 3 dozen cookies per guest and a group of eight to 12. It also says a host who will not check recipes for common allergens should say so up front. The Speckled Palate calls 6 to 12 guests the perfect range, with 3 to 4 dozen cookies each.

Those numbers assume everyone takes home a share of every kind. That works for 12 people. Scaled to 30 coworkers at the same 2 to 3 of each kind, that would be 60 to 90 cookies per baker, which few people sign up for after a work day. A smaller share of each kind, or a fixed total per baker, keeps the ask reasonable. Office exchanges vary: a staff cookie exchange at Northwestern's Weinberg College had shortbread, sugar cookies, rainbow cookies and jelly-filled cookies on the table, and ran alongside an office decor contest.

Cookies to bake by headcount

Headcount means everyone who bakes, you included. In the first three columns every baker makes enough for each person to take the stated number of that kind, their own included. The last column is a fixed 3 dozen per baker, split evenly: how many of each kind fit in one person's bag.

Cookies one coworker bakes in an office cookie exchange, by headcount and rule
Coworkers 1 of each kind 2 of each kind 3 of each kind Fixed 3 dozen: per kind
8 8 16 24 4.5
10 10 20 30 3.6
12 12 24 36 3.0
15 15 30 45 2.4
20 20 40 60 1.8
25 25 50 75 1.4
30 30 60 90 1.2
40 40 80 120 0.9

Up to 15 people, 2 of each kind is a fair ask (30 cookies at 15). Past 20 (25 to 40 coworkers), 1 of each kind keeps the batch at 25 to 40 cookies, but everyone then goes home with a 40-cookie assortment at the top of the table, more than most people want at their desk. For a group that size, split by department or floor and run two or three smaller swaps. With a fixed 3 dozen, the per-kind figure drops under one cookie past 36 coworkers, so some kinds would run out.

Fixed total or per person

The form offers two ways to set the amount. "Per person" means each baker brings a set number for every coworker, so the work grows with the group. "Fixed total" means each baker brings, say, 2 dozen, and the table is split evenly. Fixed total is simpler to announce ("bring two dozen") and copes better when you do not know exactly who will show up. Per person guarantees that nobody leaves short. For an office, I would use per person at 2 for up to 15 coworkers, and fixed total above that.

Set it up here

The link opens the form already set to 12 coworkers and 2 cookies of each kind. Change the headcount, pick the day, and send the invite link to the team channel. Each person claims a cookie, the page blocks doubles, and everyone sees how many to bake. You can print labels and the cookie list for the break-room table.

Start an office swap for 12

Planning one at home instead? See how to host a cookie exchange and cookie exchange labels for the allergen cards.

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