My Best Tip: How to Deliver Christmas Cookies Without Ruining Them
I have a morbid obsession with holiday baking. (“It hurts,” as the kids say, because all my baking is fire.) December is my cue to start baking for friends’ parties, for my own Christmas get-togethers, and to send to friends near and far. Sending a box full of homemade treats should bring a smile to the faces of those you care about. Make sure they arrive in pristine condition and not in disarray from holiday disappointment. Here are the tips I use every year to successfully deliver holiday cookies.
Choose your treats wisely
Some treat the ship better than others. I’ve seen boxes that looked like a herd of disgruntled deer had used them as a landing strip. Delivery is not intended for weak or delicate cookies. Instead, opt for strong treats such as drop cookies, brownies, bars, thick cookie-shaped cookies and fudge. Stay away from tulle, almond macarons and cookies with runny jam or sticky icing. Anything slab-shaped, such as brownies, bars or fudge, can be left uncut. Send it in one cube and the recipient can cut it upon arrival.
Don’t take warm cookies with you
You can make five, six or twelve boxes of cookies. This is a hectic time, but don’t rush to pack your things. Wait until the cookies cool completely on a wire rack before placing them in the cookie box. Chill them briefly in the refrigerator if you need to speed up the process. Warm cookies are still pliable, the fats and sugars haven’t congealed, and the chocolate will still be melty. If you place cookies in a box, they may bend, flatten, or break. Also, if you seal the cookie tin tightly, moisture will accumulate in the tin. This may lead to the growth of bacteria or mold during transport.
“like with like” package
When I think of Christmas cookies, I think of a box filled with different flavors, shapes and designs. Diversity is hard to resist. While you don’t have to cut back on what you bake, you should think about how you package it all. I like to use the term “like with like” and all this means is that the same cookies are kept in the same “room”. Focus specifically on “similar” flavors and aromas, as well as “similar” textures. This will prevent treats from changing due to exposure to “different” neighbors in the immediate area.
For example, it would be a bad idea to pack soft fig cookies and crunchy mint shortbread cookies. Soft cookies will increase the humidity in the air and soften the shortbread, ruining the texture of course, but also increasing the likelihood of breakage. The peppermint flavor may also have been absorbed into the fig cookies, which is not exactly what the artist intended. While the chocolate flavor doesn’t permeate other cookies, the spiced cookies and mint can really make an impact.
To prevent this, pack the cookies in individual pans or boxes, or wrap the cookies tightly in plastic wrap or ziploc bags to make them easier to separate. Try to store soft cookies and bars in an airtight container to prevent moisture loss.
Try a different cookie cutter.
The metal cookie cutters are relatively airtight and darn adorable with their cute patterns, but my friends told me they still have last year’s cookie cutters. It ends up becoming weird storage or garbage for them after the cookies are gone. If you send cookies year after year, collection can be cumbersome.
If you see your recipients often, ask them to return the jars to you next year. If not, consider baking boxes for treats that don’t have to be airtight or alternative reusable containers. Paper dessert boxes can also be lighter than cookie cutters, which can save about a dollar on shipping costs. Pringles cans or coffee cans make great cookie holders. They may not have pictures of polar bears or Santa in a buffalo cage, but they are ready for this honorable duty.
Pack it securely with alternative packaging material.
Packaging your cookies securely is the final step to ensure they arrive in pristine condition. It may seem like filling the space between the cookie cutter and the cardboard box is good enough, but you’d be wrong. Space inside the cookie jar is also an enemy. The main trick is to pack them tightly inside and out. Obviously, pack as many cookies in there as possible because everyone likes more cookies, and fill the little spaces between and on top of the cookies. When you close the lid, this material will hold the cookies in place no matter how the box is tossed around during shipping.
I like to place the cookies in muffin tins in a cookie pan. The wavy edges tend to expand and fill the voids, preventing the cookies from moving from side to side. At the top, I crumple up a piece of parchment paper and place it on top. The flat parchment is almost useless, but crumpling it creates a sort of 3D air buffer that keeps the cookies from bouncing, but it’s also flexible so you can still snap the lid shut. To make sure I have enough luggage, I like to turn it over and shake it slightly from side to side, simulating traveling on a bumpy road. (If anyone ever thought I was cool, this should be enough to dispel that myth.)
I suppose you could buy bubble wrap or paper packaging, but I always feel wasteful using brand new materials that are immediately thrown away. If you receive boxes a few days before the cookies are sent, save the packaging from those boxes and reuse it. You can also pack the box with something that can be reused or won’t be too wasteful. Use alternative packing materials, such as bags you bought over the year, folded used cardboard, crumpled paper meant for trash (newspapers or pages torn from mail order catalogs you never asked for), or plain popcorn is also great for packaging. . While it’s a waste of food, it’s cheap, not particularly nutritious, and four tablespoons of kernels will yield 7-10 cups of popcorn.
We’ll ship sooner than you think
Homemade cookies are a cozy, festive reminder of the upcoming holidays; Don’t put off sharing good emotions. And now the US Postal Service is about to collapse completely. On their website you will find a helpful chart of delivery times depending on the type of service you will be using. Faster shipping costs more and gives you a little more time, but not much. Be careful and try to get your cookies to the post office before December 16th. Then you can be sure that your friends and family will get a bunch of sweets and have plenty of time to enjoy them before Santa comes to collect his share.