Tips & Tricks: Sending Home-Baked Gifts

Cookies

1. Choose your cookie carefully. Sturdy cookies like gingerbreads, thumbprint cookies and sugar cookies ship better than buttery or flaky kinds. They also stay fresh longer. After you bake them, make sure they cool completely before you pack. Warm cookies give off steam that can make them soggy.
2. It’s a wrap. Put each cookie in a cellophane bag sealed with a zip tie or a stylish ribbon. Individual bags will keep any crumbs to a minimum even if your cookies are sturdy. They’ll keep the cookies fresh, too.

Brownies and Bars

1. Contain them. It’s best to send brownies in the same dish you made them to keep them fresh. Can’t part with your baking dish? Buy a festive one just for these brownies. And don’t forget to cover it tightly with a lid or plastic wrap.
2. Skip the fancy stuff. Caramel, frosting and nuts can all make bars more perishable and tougher to ship (think melting and sticky boxes). Choose a basic recipe and focus on presentation.

Cake Pops

1. Keep it simple. Try not to make your cake pops too complicated. Ears, wings or other embellishments can easily fall off during the trip. Drizzles, sprinkles or a special shape (like a butterfly) are better for traveling.
2. Turn it upside down. You’ll notice our cake pops arrive with the pop resting on the bottom of the box, stick on top. We make them this way so they travel well and are ready to plate and serve when they arrive.
3. Shake it. After you close your box, wiggle it. If you hear anything, that’s a sign you need more bubble wrap, peanuts or shredded paper. Try to make sure your pops won’t move throughout their voyage.

Cakes

1. Think alike. Wrap each slice of cake in plastic wrap and pack tightly in a box containing only other slices of cake. Mixing cake in a box with cookies or cake pops could cause denser treats to crush more fragile ones when shifts happen during travel.
2. Cushion the ride. Once your cake slices are secured in a box, place them into another larger box. Use butcher paper, peanuts or crumbled newspaper to fill the empty spaces between the cake box and your larger box.

Make it Extra-Special

Just because you’re worried about which way the cookie crumbles, literally, doesn’t mean there’s no room to package your gift with style. Line your cookie box with parchment paper. Tie the brownie container with twine or ribbon. Include a hand-written note in the package. Make it extra-special by adding your own creative touch.

No Time to Pack, or Bake?

Still want to send a bakery-fresh gift but would rather skip the packing? Leave it to us.