From snickerdoodles to homemade biscotti, discover how local bakers make the holiday tradition personal—and unexpectedly Philly.
In kitchens across Philadelphia, the holidays don’t start with tinsel or trees. They begin with the soft thud of flour on the counter, the scent of butter melting into sugar, and the creak of a well-loved cookie tin opening for its yearly debut. Mixing bowls line the counters, family recipes are pulled from memory or yellowed index cards, and the air hums with the promise of something sweet.
A cookie swap—where friends, neighbors, and bakers gather to trade their favorite homemade cookies—is both a feast and a tradition, multiplying the variety on every plate. At this spirited cookie swap, local bakers bring not only their signature treats, but also the stories, traditions, and quirks that make them sweetly unique.
A Tradition with Roots
IN ROWHOMES AND REC ROOMS
For Christina Lower, founder of Bake Bake Philly, holiday cookies are inseparable from her childhood. “My absolute favorite tradition was making cookies around Christmas with my mom and devouring Grandma’s homemade cheese-cakes, profiteroles, and pizzelles in our West Philly row home,” she says. The air in the kitchen would turn sweet and warm, the radio humming softly under the clink of mixing bowls, while the smell of sugar and butter wrapped itself around every corner of the house.
One of the season’s biggest prizes was the Termini Brothers Cookie Tray—a kaleidoscope of biscotti, butter cookies, and powdered crescents. “It was a staple at Grand-ma’s,” Lower recalls, “and she would send me and my grandpa out to the Italian Market to pick one up a few days before Christmas.” The errand was an event in itself. “My grandpa would just stop the car in the middle of the street to run in and hold up traffic. But it was OK ’cuz everyone in the neighborhood knew him.”
It’s a story so deeply Philadelphia that you can almost hear the impatient honks mingling with laughter and smell the anisette wafting from the open bakery door. Carrying that tray home felt like victory, Lower says—not just for their family, but for the whole block. The sight of it on the kitchen table was a promise: that there would be sweetness enough to go around, that neighbors might stop by for a bite and a chat, and that the holidays had officially begun.
How Philly
DOES A COOKIE SWAP
Cookie swaps, like so many beloved traditions, take on a local flavor here. Lower swears by swaps with “a variety of over-the-top cookies and tried-and-true classics,” plus “some savory snacks to cut through the sugar… and a hot toddy or two also doesn’t hurt.” In a city where gatherings often mix friends, family, and neighbors from “all walks of life,” she adds, “it’s nearly impossible to have any conflict when you’re in a room full of cookies!!”
Sara Taylor, co-founder of Taylor Chip, calls them “a good get-together with the ladies and their kids,” adding that “community is everything.” While her Lancaster-based bakery ships plenty of cookies into the city, she still loves baking at home for the holidays, channeling the same playful spirit that began when she and her husband, Doug, were dating. “Baking is a lifestyle, and we love every minute of it.”
For Sam Shaw, founder of Sam Shaw’s Treatery on South Street, the joy is as much about people as pastry. “I just make people really happy,” she says. “If you told me this is what I would be doing five years ago, I’d tell you you were out of your mind.” Her shop’s trays—loaded with chocolate chip, double chocolate, oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodle, peanut butter with Reese’s, or her famed “crookies,” a croissant and cookie dough hybrid—double as holiday swap fuel and heartfelt gifts.
The Cookies
THAT MEAN THE MOST
Lower’s most treasured recipe is Vanillekipferl, or Crescent Moon Cookies—almond-rich, sugar-dusted, and German to the core. “It’s the recipe that always makes me pause in the middle of executing 10,000 cookies for orders,” she says, “and forces me to enjoy the full circle moment… realizing, ‘Hey! That’s me now!’”
Taylor’s forever favorite is her original chocolate chip, the one she and Doug handed out as their wedding favor. Shaw sticks with the classics—her peanut butter with Reese’s is a crowd-pleaser—but she finds the meaning in the moment: customers returning the same day because “we ate them all, and we’re back for more.”
The Case
FOR A PHILLY SWAP
The beauty of a cookie swap is that it’s simple, affordable, and endlessly customizable. As Lower puts it, “A batch of cookies can come together in 20 minutes but can result in core memories that last a lifetime.”
And while the format is familiar—everyone bakes, everyone shares—Philly bakers have a way of putting their own spin on it. Maybe that’s a crookie on the dessert table, or a Middle Eastern–Italian mashup from a popup baker. Maybe it’s the way an Italian Market tray sits beside a Tupperware of oatmeal whoopie pies, or how a snowy night turns into a warm room full of friends.
After all, cookies aren’t just dessert. They’re an excuse to gather, to taste each other’s traditions, and to carry something sweet back to your own kitchen—maybe even on your lap, like Lower once did, guarding it like gold.
How to Pull Off a Cookie Swap Without Losing Your Sanity
You could just buy a cookie tray, leave them on the counter, and call it festive. But if you want real holiday magic this year, use these recipes as inspiration to throw a cookie swap. Nothing gathers people faster than a table sagging under tins of buttery spritz, jam-streaked thumbprints, and glossy chocolate crinkles. Hosting one isn’t complicated, but it does require a plan that goes beyond setting out milk.
Here’s how to do it:
- PICK A DATE BEFORE DECEMBER FILLS UP LIKE A MALL PARKING LOT.
Holiday calendars tend to clog quickly. Reach out early, even if your guest list is short. A Tuesday evening with mulled wine and sugar-dusted counters beats fighting for a Saturday when no one can come. - ESTABLISH THE GROUND RULES.
No, this isn’t as rigid as a Monopoly night. Just decide the basics: How many cookies should each person bake (usually four to six dozen) and whether they should pre-portion them for trading. - INVITE PEOPLE LIKE IT’S 1995.
Remember when party invites showed up in the mailbox, sometimes with glitter tucked inside? Channel that spirit. A postcard with a cookie doodle or a recipe scribbled on the back feels infinitely warmer than another line of text on a screen. - SET THE STAGE.
Light candles that smell faintly of clove and orange peel, stack platters at varying heights, and make sure there are plenty of tins or takeaway boxes for the haul home. - THINK DRINKS, NOT DINNER.
A spread of cookies plus coffee, cider, and a bottle of something sparkling is plenty. Resist the urge to roast a chicken—this is a dessert-first gathering. - ENCOURAGE STORYTELLING
Every cookie has a past. Ask your aunt why she insists on butter over shortening. Let your neighbor brag about her grandmother’s rugelach. These anecdotes become the real entertainment. - FINAL FLOURISH
Once everyone has packed up their cookies, slip a small gift into each bag—a cinnamon stick, a pretty ribbon, or a handwritten note. People will remember the extra care long after the last cookie has vanished.
Remember, a great cookie swap isn’t really about the sugar; it’s about connection. By the time you’ve traded snickerdoodles for peppermint bark, you’ll have built something better than dessert: a community stitched together with butter, sugar, and laughter. —JM
