Perfect cookies for sending in the mail?

July 24, 2010 1:19 PM

Perfect cookies for sending in the mail?

So I want to send people cookies in the mail, but I myself have always preferred cookies right out of the oven...so what are some recipes that are especially good a couple days later? I think there are two options here...cookies that stay soft, and cookies that area really cook condensed and hard. But I don't know!

Thoughts?

posted by wooh to food & drink (23 answers total)

Biscotti keep really well in the mail.
posted by decathecting at 1:22 PM on July 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, I just gave this same answer in another thread, but I've had really great luck sending oatmeal raisin cookies in the mail, many, many times. I usually put them on a paper plate and then inside a gallon ziploc bag and mailed them in a soft bubble mailer. A hard box might work better, not sure.

Anyway, the specific recipe I used with great results was Cape Cod Oatmeal Cookies from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. They are generally soft, but you can customize this with different baking times.

I generally think cookies taste better the next day when the flavours are more...intermingled? And these oatmeal cookies seemed especially good over the next few days, to me.
posted by Ouisch at 1:26 PM on July 24, 2010

I've mailed snickerdoodles in the past, as they're pretty sturdy and travel well, and a few seconds in the microwave usually revive them to their warm and slightly chewy goodness.
posted by alynnk at 1:28 PM on July 24, 2010

Shortbread style cookies tend to keep very well. Two I like are Mexican Wedding Cakes (nutty) and Korovas (chocolatey).
posted by amelioration at 1:29 PM on July 24, 2010 [2 favorites]

Anything that's meant to be chewy rather than crispy or "fresh out they oven-ish".

I gave these cookies this year as Holiday gifts.

The chewy substantialness of the cookies made it easy to bake up one big batch and then dole them out at several occasions over a week or so (so probably conducive to mailing). Everyone raved over them.
posted by Sara C. at 1:31 PM on July 24, 2010

I've mailed snickerdoodles in the past...

You beat me to it. Snickerdoodle recipe.
posted by ericb at 1:31 PM on July 24, 2010

Popcorn balls! Thanks to jessamyn, I know a good recipe...
posted by hermitosis at 1:35 PM on July 24, 2010

Molasses is an excellent softening agent, so any recipe with a heavy dose of it keeps extremely well. These Molasses Crinkles are a good example.

Oatmeal cookies also work well, as has been noted above. I have had particular luck with this Starbucks knockoff and with these Alton Brown granola bars.

Lastly, if wrapped carefully to prevent breaking, a traditional rolled sugar cookie with royal icing keeps well. That royal icing is like shellac.
posted by TrarNoir at 1:42 PM on July 24, 2010

Supposedly, ANZAC biscuits were made to be cooked in Australia/New Zealand and shipped to the western front in WWI. I imagine they'd do well in the mail.
posted by barnacles at 1:49 PM on July 24, 2010

Springerle! They are the hard & condensed type of cookie, so they can endure the mail, and they get better with age. I have mailed them to people before and they tasted better after a week in the postal system than they did before. This recipe is excellent.
posted by bewilderbeast at 1:51 PM on July 24, 2010

When I was little, I carried ginger snaps in the front pocket of my overalls all the time. And in my jacket pocket, and my pinafore pockets, &c. (they were the only cookie i liked, okay) Anyway, they survived all manner of tree climbing and dog wrestling and boy pummeling, so I imagine they would have no problem being put into a box and mailed somewhere.

Also they are fucking delicious.
posted by elizardbits at 2:07 PM on July 24, 2010 [6 favorites]

My dad always packed chocolate chip cookies for our camp care packages within a box of popcorn. That seemed to see them along on their journey pretty well, and the popcorn got eaten too.
posted by jocelmeow at 2:08 PM on July 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

These ridiculously good ginger cookies are my go-to mailing cookie. They are pretty chewy to start with, so hold up very nicely for a few days in the mail and don't seem to suffer at all in the delay to eat.

If you like ginger at all, you should try them even if you don't mail them, really, they're that good. Promise.
posted by charmedimsure at 2:40 PM on July 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Molasses Spice Cookies. They keep well and mail well. They are very, very good with milk.
posted by Medieval Maven at 2:51 PM on July 24, 2010

Actually, almost any cookie that isn't very fragile or crumbly will work. I.e., avoid the super thin style. If you are sending an assortment, be alert to avoiding cookies that are very spicy or otherwise so strong smelling that they will "contaminate" the flavors of other cookes.

The real key to sending cookies that don't break is packing them, I think. I really like using cookie tins, which are not at all expensive to buy. (We save tins we get for this purpose.) I separate layers with wax paper, and use little bits of wax paper to fill the spaces in the tin so the cookies don't move around. Some people prefer to use cellophane. Then I use newspaper around the tin to keep it well secured in the mailing box.

These are some good links on packaging cookies for the mail.
posted by bearwife at 3:10 PM on July 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

For a great shipping method, get a hard cardboard shipping tube. Put the cookies in plastic bags so they are stacked in a single column. Wrap the bagged cookie column in bubble wrap and slide into your shipping tube. Seal the ends. Slap on a label and mail.

When we order biscochitos from Golden Crown Panderia, they come to us shipped as described above. There may be one broken cookie in a 2 or 3 lb order.
posted by onhazier at 4:29 PM on July 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, mustn't forget Hermit Bar/Square Cookies.
posted by ericb at 4:30 PM on July 24, 2010

"Hermits ... evolved in New England, they've been a classic for many years and they have great keeping qualities. Back in the day of the clipper ship, tins of long-keeping hermits accompanied many a sailor as he set out for the Orient or other exotic parts of the world."

posted by ericb at 4:32 PM on July 24, 2010

Make any cookies you like (or try one of my recipes). To keep them fresh, put them in a tupperware container with a slice of bread. The bread will keep them moist while they're in transit.
posted by melissasaurus at 5:28 PM on July 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding adding the bread. I would do a ziplock baggie for the cookies, but the bread really helps.

I sent cookies from the Western US to Germany many times and they were always good when they got there.
posted by TooFewShoes at 9:47 PM on July 24, 2010

I mail dozens of gift boxes full of baked goods every Christmas so I have a lot of experience mailing them.

I too agree that you want either exceptionally hard cookies like biscotti, or soft, chewy cookies like my favorite molasses cookies. Other cookies that travel well are basic chocolate chip and oatmeal, as long as both are of the "chewy" variety. Also these Spoon Cookies are, true to their description, MUCH better after 2 days or so.

If you're not dead set on cookies, might I also recommend cupcakes in a jar? These are always a HUGE hit and cake is often better a day or two later. When I do it I just cook cupcakes normally and then put them in small mason jars, using icing to cushion the top.
posted by Saminal at 2:44 AM on July 25, 2010

Nthing snickerdoodles. Hard on the outside, yet soft in the middle. Perfect texture for shipping.
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:12 AM on July 25, 2010

My mom sends a Tupperware container of oatmeal raisin cookies to me a few times a year (from Connecticut to Korea), and they come through just fine.
posted by holterbarbour at 7:38 AM on July 25, 2010