Holiday cookie mailings make me neurotic.

December 11, 2015 11:13 AM

If I put a few cookies in a bag, bubble wrap the hell out of it, and place it in a USPS small flat-rate box, will they emerge at their destination intact?

I'm planning to mail about 3-4 small cookies to 30 people. I'm using the USPS small flat-rate boxes for shipping. I originally wanted to place the cookies inside an extra-small Ziploc container, but they barely fit inside the flat-rate box and I read that the box isn't supposed to bulge. Can I get away with simply placing the cookies in individual cellophane bags, bubble wrapping them and making sure they're no empty space in the box, and calling it a day? Will they emerge intact or, at least, not completely crushed?

posted by elisse to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Yes, they will be fine.
posted by janell at 11:18 AM on December 11, 2015

Very likely. I do a thing where I put fragile sugar cookies on Saran Wrap and make kind of a tube out of it (like you'd make a candy lei) and then twist/fold the tube to gently stack the cookies with a lot air space and they survive international mailing; if you did that and then for extra safety wrapped that short stack with bubble wrap and filled the extra space in the box with newspaper or whatever you would be golden.
posted by charmedimsure at 11:19 AM on December 11, 2015

Best answer: Your method sounds good. Place each cookie in a cello bag and then bubble wrap each cookie separately. I think that's what you're already saying, and that will work fine. Make sure no cookie touches any other cookie or any part of the box, and pack firmly so there is no movement. Unless your cookies are super crumbly or super thin, they should be fine. I do the same as you and mine get where they need to go in one piece.
posted by the webmistress at 11:20 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh... ps - mail yourself a box asap to see how they will look when the giftees open them ;)
posted by the webmistress at 11:22 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

The employees at the post office told me I could actually send something similar to a ziplock container (I assume you mean a rigid lunch box thing?), as long as it's securely taped. Apparently you can also send tin cans, Pringles containers, and whole unwrapped coconuts as long as they're properly labelled. No need to buy extra boxes if your cookies are secure in their container!
posted by staraling at 11:35 AM on December 11, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: As a participant in the Metafilter cookie swap, this is exactly how I have packed my cookies and they arrived fine. I have also received cookies in the small USPS mailer wrapped in bubble wrap/saran wrap and they have been unbrokenly delicious.
posted by topophilia at 11:41 AM on December 11, 2015

Crushing may not be an issue, but... When my sister-in-law mailed me cookies (in a ziploc bag, and in a cardboard box), squirrels got to the box, opened it, and ate all the cookies. And left a huge mess on the porch and front lawn. When she mailed another batch (with cookies in a ziploc bag, in a tin that was taped shut, and the tin in a cardboard box), the squirrels got into the box, but couldn't open the tin (found the mostly-open box on the front lawn).
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 11:44 AM on December 11, 2015 [10 favorites]

I read somewhere in that cookie swap thread that you can use rice crispie treats instead of bubble wrap.

Works a treat.
posted by aniola at 2:54 PM on December 11, 2015

What I would be concerned about is the cookies hitting each other and breaking. If you just stuff a bunch of cookies into a bag, then no matter how the bag gets wrapped, some of the cookies are going to break anyway.

You need to find a way to pack the cookies so they aren't in contact with each other.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:06 PM on December 11, 2015

Exactly, CP. They'll arrive, but possibly as crumbs. However, the OP's packing technique sounds a good bet, to me. And even if they do arrive broken, they'll still be eaten and appreciated.
posted by Rash at 7:34 PM on December 11, 2015

Best answer: Yes, they'll arrive safely.
My wife makes a ton of candy and cookies for the holidays, and uses the USPS boxes to get them to friends and relatives across the country, and they arrive intact. Just bubble-wrap everything to a fare-thee-well and all will be right.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:28 AM on December 12, 2015

Best answer: Foil helps keep them from sliding around and crumbling.
posted by theora55 at 10:38 AM on December 12, 2015

I'm way late to this but my method is to pick up cheap used cookie/candy holiday-themed tins at Goodwill, wash them, and pack the cookies inside with tissue paper. I put a piece of waxed paper between layers. Then I pack them in a box surrounded by crumpled gift wrap so they don't move around.
posted by caryatid at 1:16 PM on December 25, 2015