How to host a cookie bar party!

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     My DIL, Rachel, came up with the best idea for a party!  A Cookie Bar!  She is  a genius!  She has thrown a couple of these parties so far, for a small group of friends and they have been such a hit!  I asked her if I could share her idea with you here on the blog and she gave me permission to tell you all about this fabulous idea that you can keep as simple or go way more elaborate if you would like to.   Her idea got my imagination spinning and I've come up with a lot of versions of the Cookie Bar, so read on and see if you don't think this party idea could work for all ages and most importantly, for you! 

​What is a Cookie Bar?

     A cookie bar begins with plain cookie dough formed into balls and a bunch of mix-ins on the side.  People come and grab a cookie dough ball, and then decide what they want to mix in.  They spoon the mix-ins onto their dough and squish them in.  Then, they place their ball of dough on a cookie sheet ready to bake.  Using a Sharpie, the bakers write names or initials on the parchment below their cookie.  When the cookie sheet is full, the cookies are baked and everyone waits to eat their creation! 
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How to Prep for a Cookie Bar Party

     To begin, make your cookie dough.  The dough needs to be a type that can be rolled into a ball, like chocolate chip cookie dough.  It will flatten as it bakes and hold the mix-ins well.  After you make the dough, Roll it or scoop it into serving size balls and place them on the parchment paper of a cookie sheet.  You can refrigerate the dough a bit, but take it out of the fridge about a half hour before the party starts so it has time to warm enough and be pliable enough to add the mix-ins.  The amount of dough that you prepare depends on how many guests will be attending and how many cookies each person will be making.  You might also want to make more than one type of dough depending on the holiday or upon the likes of the crowd! 

​Prepare the Mix-ins

     Get really creative and prepare mix-ins for your guests to choose from!  The sky is the limit, but you can limit the amount of mix-ins to 4 or 5 to keep things simple.  Be sure that they are small enough or chopped enough to be able to fit into the ball of dough! Put them in small bowls with a spoon or small scoop for serving.  This will help prevent the spreading of germs!  Plus, it doesn't take a ton of a mix-in for one cookie.  

Types of Cookie Doughs to Use

     Of course, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, without the chips is the first go-to.  But, consider these:
     For a Halloween Party, how about:

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Dough that Lindsey shared on the blog.
• A Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookie from Sally's Baking
• Oatmeal Cookie Dough  seems like a great choice for Fall

     For Christmas, how about:

•  Sugar Cookie Dough from Sweet SugarBelle.  You could even start these as shapes.
• Gingerbread Cookies  These are made with honey rather than molasses.

     For Your Gluten-Free Friends:

• You can make Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Balls, like we did for my SIL, and they can still mix in any candies, nuts or other mix-ins that they want! 

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What Mix-ins Can You Use?

     The list is endless!  Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Chocolate chips, or any other flavor like butterscotch, peanut butter, white chocolate, etc.
• Nuts of any kind
• Chopped up candy bars, like Reese's, Heath or Butterfinger
• Small candies like M&Ms, Rollos, or Andes mints
• Chopped up Oreos
• Sprinkles!  I used eyeball sprinkles for our Halloween version of the party
• Pretzel pieces
• Coarse Sea Salt
• Raisins and Craisins

     One thing we discovered is that candy like candy corn will melt all over the pan.  We used eyeball sprinkles for Halloween which worked if directly in the dough, but if they were on the edge, they would melt.  That melting did add a slightly spooky quality to the cookies though! LOL! Check out this picture! 

Kids will come up with some wild creations! The fun is that they will come out looking quite different than they might expect!

       I think that at this year's Singing to the Tree Party, we might incorporated a Cookie Bar with Hot Cocoa Bombs!  
        What kinds of mix-ins can you think of that would be terrific to put out in the buffet of flavors?  Drop us an idea in the comments! 
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