How To Mail Christmas Cookies
Many of you will have loved ones far away for the holidays and for those separated from their families a gift of a box of cookies from home is such a wonderful treat. Here are a few tips about how to package and ship cookies so that they survive in the mail.
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Pick cookies that are soft and moist. Bar cookies work nicely, too.
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Don’t send cookies with frosting, cream cheese or other fillings or cookies that need to be refrigerated to prevent them from melting.
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Keep crispy cookies and soft cookies in separate containers.
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I love using metal tins to store or ship my cookies. Metal tins keep the cookies fresher and more well protected. You can buy metal cookie tins for very little money at a thrift store. You can double box the cookies, putting a smaller box inside a larger box, but be sure to line the inside of the box with plastic wrap, wax paper or foil – enough to fold over and cover all the cookies when you have them stacked in the box. If you use a tin, you don’t need to do this step.
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Lay one layer of cookies in your tin or box. Then top the first layer of cookies with wax paper and place another layer in the box. If there are any spaces between the cookies, crumple tiny pieces of wax paper to fill in the spaces. The main thing that will cause cookies to break is shifting, so be sure there are no spaces.
You can use plastic wrap or parchment paper but I find that wax paper works best because it has more body and cushioning volume than plastic wrap and it is less expensive then parchment paper.
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After you lay the top layer of cookies in the tin or box, top it with one more piece of wax paper. Some people lay a piece a bread on top of the cookies to help keep soft cookies moist. Next, place a layer of bubble wrap*, popcorn or just wad up a few more tuffs of waxed paper. (I usually use the waxed paper.) Then place the lid on or close the first box.
*Don’t buy bubble wrap if you don’t have any. When you double box cookies in this way, wadded up newspaper packed tightly should work fine, too. Just make sure the smaller box or tin can’t shift of or move.
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Place a layer of bubble wrap or popcorn into a second box to act as a cushion. Then place the first box of cookies in and add more cushioning. Remember- leave no spaces – Shifting is a no no.
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Alway place your address inside of the box in case something happens to the outside of the box.
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Mark the box “perishable” so the shipper will be more careful with it.
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You also could use Pringles cans in place of cookie tins.
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For added freshness, wrap the cookies individually in plastic wrap if they are going to be shipped a great distance or are going to be in transit a long time, like when you’re shipping them overseas.
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Some cookies that ship well are:
- Snickerdoodles
- Oatmeal
- Shortbread
- Peanut Butter
- Gingersnaps
- Monster cookies
- Butter walnut
- Ranger cookies
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I find those metal tins of cookies travel well always taste good and I don’t have to bake them.
When I send my pies I use the bus.
The bus station is just down the road next to the grocery store so it doesn’t take a 2nd trip and they arrive at my son’s house the next day.
So a box with presents for the little ones and the pies and egg rolls arrive safely.
With the mail service the same trip would cost almost double and takes up to a week to get there.
Aloha,
Good tips! My brother requested Chocolate Chip cookies and I make them crispy. Do you think I can still mail them cross country? It will take 3 days at least to arrive.
Mahalo.
Yes you can Esther. Most cookies especially crispy ones have a very long shelf life even homemade ones. Tawra found a bag of my gingerbread men one time she forgot about in Feb. and I had made them at Christmas and they were still fine. I don’t recommend keeping them maybe that long but it shows how long they will last.
Mahalo Jill!
Thanks Esther. I’m at Tawra’s so the picture may not match my reply. : )
Of course, you may need to have a hot cup of coffee to soften 10 month old gingerbread men! And don’t forget chocolate chip cookies!
Funny story: In 1979 I was in the Air Force and stationed 6,000 miles from home for the first time. I asked for cream cheese tarts and mom sent them. But our presented didn’t get delivered to Italy they went to Egypt by mistake! Our Christmas presents didn’t arrive until January. I opened my coveted box of tarts and thought “That’s funny. Mom put green powedered sugar on them and took a bite. Before I could actually taste them I realized that there is no such thing as green powdered sugar. Sad and heartbroken I tipped my coolwhip box of cookies into the trash. But I held onto my coolwhip bowl for a long time because it represented my mom’s love. This memory is 31 years long. Those far from home appreciate care packages from home. Send those goodies! (even if you have to buy homemade goodies to package! That’s what church bazzaars are for!)
Don’t you just hate it when that happens! Green is almost never good in terms of food. :-)
Oops, Grandma that we me Tawra replying. I didn’t know mom was logged in. She was here visiting for a few days! :-)
I send cookies often and usually make peanut butter/reese peanut butter cup cookies. I use my 18 egg cartons and can put two layers in it. I use bubble to fill extra spaces in the post office box. They always get to their desytination in one piece.
Just a note of interest. In Canada it seems that whenever I have sent or received a package in the mail that was marked “fragile” the package was utterly destroyed when it arrived. Don’t know if it is just my bad luck, or some sick joke by disgruntled postal workers. This happened countless times. Instead I rely on (and have encouraged others)to NOT write “fragile” on the parcel, and to just be diligent in packaging. Since then, I have had most parcels arrive in tact. One year, we did use the air-popped pop corn packaging material to send a larger parcel to our in-laws. We called ahead to let them know what the filler was inside the box, and why we had used it. Later on my father-in-law told us what a treat he thought it was! He was on a low fat diet, and he saved all the unsalted, unbuttered pop corn as his unlimited snack over the holidays! We still laugh about it.
Just recently re-read this post, and I think that recycled “Pringles” potatoe chip containers would do well to mail cookies in. The tall round canisters are about the right size for round cookies. Make sure the can is clean, wrap the cookies, flat side to flat side, in pairs, with clear plastic cling wrap, and stack into the canister in a column. It would be fun to decorate the outside of the canisters with spray paint, Christmas or contact paper first. Just an idea.