How To : Packing & Shipping Holiday Cookies

There’s nothing I find sweeter or shows more kindness and love than sending holiday cookies. Throughout the years of I’ve learned how important it is to package baked goods correctly in order to be shipped, whether it’s the same state, across the country or even overseas. Above everything the choice of cookie is key, but so is the box and how you present the box has a big impact on how in tact your holiday cookies will arrive.

I’ve shipped several boxes for this year’s Great Food Blogger cookie swap of these brown butter pumpkin snickerdoodles to some lovely bloggers, a few boxes to some girl friends living in different states, and just today for family in Portugal. You can say I’ve got shipping cookies down, so with a few days just before the holidays, heres are just a few of my tips on how to ship or simply just package your holiday cookies, if you don’t have enough time to mail them:

1. Choose cookie recipes that are stable; chocolate chip, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, candied walnut, or any of these… {AVOID delicate cookies that crumble easily or ones filled with cream fillings that can go bad after 2 days of not being refrigerated}
2. Use food safe materials; boxes, containers, liners, etc. For easy small purchases, Michael’s has great supplies, Papermart, Nashville Wraps, and Mr Take Out Bags offer great bulk supplies, while Shop Sweet Lulu offers the pretties of materials. Parchment paper is your best friend, it’s affordable and easy to cut to fit any box & separate cookies, so are cupcakes liners!
3. Choose sturdy materials. Of course making sure the the box or container the cookies are being placed in are food safe, make sure that they hold, and won’t easily collapse or be damaged. If you really want to be on the safe side, use metal tins, but be aware that they will be a bit heavier. 
4. Never ship holiday cookies in the box they are placed in. Package your cookies inside the pretty box you’ve carefully prepared, then place it into a second, larger box with packing material on the bottom. Place the cookie container over the packing material, then surround and top it with more packing material, making sure not to crush the box. 
5. Don’t skimp on packing supplies! Whenever I receive packages in I always save peanuts, bubble wrap, heavy weight filler paper, etc. just for this reason. If you have to purchase material, just make sure that there is enough packing supplies that the cookie box wont move during shipment. 
6. Ship Priority! Don’t use FedEx of UPS as they can’t deliver to certain locations, like military bases or don’t ship efficiently to European countries. USPS Priority is easy, quick, reasonable & can deliver anywhere. But another great shipping company I recently learned about is TransWorthy. If you ship a lot of holiday cookies or packages like I do, especially to a different country, TransWorthy is cheaper than standard shipping, plus you don’t have to wait in line at the post office, you go here to easily schedule a pick-up from your home or office. Seriously, TransWorthy made shipping a box full of holiday goodies to my family in Portugal a breeze.

How I Package Cookies:

Start with a sturdy and presentable box. Add crinkle paper, or shredded holiday wrapping paper, on the bottom of the box. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the box with enough length on both sides, so that it folds over beautifully and seals over the cookies. I suggest adding an extra 6″ of parchment for each side. Place your cookies in the box atop the parchment. If stacking cookies, cut a parchment square to fit the box, and separate each cookie layer. If sending different cookies, wrap each cookie with parchment, securing with a label. Remember to label all your cookies! For any nut cookies, I always put them in separate bags or containers, so they may no contaminate others, in case someone has an allergy you may not have been aware of. 

Fold the parchment, and secure over the cookies with a pretty label. 

Finish the box by securing it with the perfect bow, and then a tag, note or holiday card. Secure the outer box well with shipping tape, and DON’T forget to label it. No one wants to receive holiday cookies from a mystery person, especially after you’ve worked for hard to bake them with love.  

Hope this inspires you to ship some last minute holiday cookies to loved ones! 

Thank you TransWorthy for collaborating with me on this post and holiday shipping needs! All thoughts and opinions, as always, are my own.