Christmas Cookie Timing
October 8, 2021 11:57 AM Subscribe
My Christmas gifts WILL NOT ARRIVE LATE THIS YEAR. I'm determined. I'm sending a variety of homemade cookies (I've decided I want to be that guy). How do I time it so the cookies are bakes, sent, arrive (some across the country) neither too late nor too stale?
Some resources that might help you:
1. How far in advance can various cookies be baked?
2. How to create a Christmas Cookie baking schedule
posted by MiraK at 12:24 PM on October 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
1. How far in advance can various cookies be baked?
2. How to create a Christmas Cookie baking schedule
posted by MiraK at 12:24 PM on October 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
Forget old Christmas. New Christmas is December 8. That's when your cookies need to arrive. Any later than that and the post office is going to be overwhelmed causing untold delays. Avoid it all, shoot for arrival early December at the latest and time all of your planning from that.
posted by phunniemee at 12:45 PM on October 8, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 12:45 PM on October 8, 2021 [10 favorites]
My mother-in-law was a prolific holiday cookie baker. One critical step is to store cookies in air-tight containers in a cool location with just one type of cookie per container and often a layer of wax paper between each row so the cookies would stay level and not break. Cookies got mixed together only when ready to be shipped.
posted by metahawk at 5:48 PM on October 8, 2021
posted by metahawk at 5:48 PM on October 8, 2021
I commend your ambition. December 8th sounds like a sweet spot. Cookies may arrive and be eaten before December 25th but it’ll be in that glorious, gluttonous pre-Christmas time when anything goes. Personally by December 26th I’m ready to pack it up and call it over. So I think slightly early is better.
A person I know who successfully does this uses marshmallows inside a plastic tub as extra padding. Cookies get layered in a tub with marshmallows to fill gaps so they don’t move around and then the tub gets a layer of bubble wrap or padding inside a box.
posted by MadMadam at 7:15 PM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
A person I know who successfully does this uses marshmallows inside a plastic tub as extra padding. Cookies get layered in a tub with marshmallows to fill gaps so they don’t move around and then the tub gets a layer of bubble wrap or padding inside a box.
posted by MadMadam at 7:15 PM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Also want to add that the person I know who does this completes all the actual baking in 1 day. All recipes are chosen and baking supplies are purchased ahead of time. Packing materials are acquired an address labels printed. Then it begins. Day 1 doughs are made and stored in fridge. Day 2 baking starts in the morning and culminates in all flat surfaces used for prepping or cooling. But by evening all the boxes are packed and ready to be shipped.
posted by MadMadam at 7:29 PM on October 8, 2021
posted by MadMadam at 7:29 PM on October 8, 2021
Sturdy cookies can be frozen! I do a lot of baking over Thanksgiving weekend or the week after, and chuck things in the freezer as I go. I usually send things out around Dec. 10 or 15, which has worked well.
I agree that marshmallows are good packing material. Some years I make my own. (Note: these do not freeze well.) Dried or candied fruit also packs odd spaces well.
Another general tip on doing this in a way that feels pleasant: I will often make a batch of dough several weeknights in a row, put each in the fridge, then do a load of baking 2-4 batches off together. Many cookies need cold dough or benefit from a rest, it keeps the kitchen and me from turning into less of a wreck, and uses less energy since the oven stays on and warm for a few hours instead of having a bunch of on/off cycles over a few days. It keeps me in a good mood while making a thousand cookies rather than feeling like a slog.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:31 AM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I agree that marshmallows are good packing material. Some years I make my own. (Note: these do not freeze well.) Dried or candied fruit also packs odd spaces well.
Another general tip on doing this in a way that feels pleasant: I will often make a batch of dough several weeknights in a row, put each in the fridge, then do a load of baking 2-4 batches off together. Many cookies need cold dough or benefit from a rest, it keeps the kitchen and me from turning into less of a wreck, and uses less energy since the oven stays on and warm for a few hours instead of having a bunch of on/off cycles over a few days. It keeps me in a good mood while making a thousand cookies rather than feeling like a slog.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:31 AM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I bake approximately six different cookies every year. I do this in one weekend. On the first day I make the dough logs for icebox cookies, a yeast dough for kifli/kiflece (or whatever Central European name for these you want) that rests overnight in the fridge, and usually a single same-day recipe just so I have something to enjoy at the end of a long day in the kitchen. On the second day I heat the oven and start baking all the icebox cookies while I roll out and fill the kifli, which rise for an hour after shaping. By the time the kifli are ready to go in the oven, the different icebox cookies will be done baking. There are a couple family recipes I usually don't bother making, but one advantage of doing everything in short order is that I can shuffle around all the egg whites and yolks that get separated for various recipes and have nothing go to waste. (My mother-in-law used to make meringues, but when I make them they're never worth the effort, so leftover egg whites just go in a cocktail that night).
Many icebox dough logs can be frozen, which can help you space out your efforts if necessary. You can also freeze completed cookies, but I try to avoid it. My father in law used to start baking in mid November and fill the freezer with cookies, but by the time we received them they were much the worse for wear.
The bad news is that you can do all the preparation and still run headlong into the United States Postal Service. Last year I mailed cookies to a half dozen different places. The fastest deliveries took three days. The slowest delivery took more than three weeks and didn't arrive until well after Christmas. This year I'm probably going to try to mail everything on December 6, but if you need more certainty about your deliveries then you may want to pay for FedEx or UPS.
posted by fedward at 11:55 AM on October 9, 2021
Many icebox dough logs can be frozen, which can help you space out your efforts if necessary. You can also freeze completed cookies, but I try to avoid it. My father in law used to start baking in mid November and fill the freezer with cookies, but by the time we received them they were much the worse for wear.
The bad news is that you can do all the preparation and still run headlong into the United States Postal Service. Last year I mailed cookies to a half dozen different places. The fastest deliveries took three days. The slowest delivery took more than three weeks and didn't arrive until well after Christmas. This year I'm probably going to try to mail everything on December 6, but if you need more certainty about your deliveries then you may want to pay for FedEx or UPS.
posted by fedward at 11:55 AM on October 9, 2021
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Write down all of these specifics, and from them you can make a list and work backwards from the target dates to make yourself a schedule. Possibly you can also plan to use recipes which allow you to spread out your workload by freezing your cookie dough months in advance of baking and shipping. Just make sure you count up all the tasks and schedule in all the associated time necessary for them, including shopping for packaging materials and writing calligraphy on the labels and whatever it is you dream of doing.
posted by MiraK at 12:10 PM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]