Tips for mailing baked goods are great to have on hand if you’re planning to send a care package soon! Receiving a box of home-baked cookies in the mail is a fun surprise for anyone, but only if they arrive fresh and tasty. Below are a few ideas for ways you can ensure that your treats arrive to their destination nearly as fresh as you sent them off! Please keep reading to learn my fabulous tips for mailing baked goods!
One of my best tips for mailing baked goods is to make sure you package them up correctly. I like to double up. Put your baked goods into a Ziploc baggie. Make sure you press all the air out and seal it totally. Next, transfer bag and all into a plastic airtight container with a lid. Seal tightly and place inside mailing box!
If I know my package is going to take 5+ days to reach its final destination, then I usually add a slice of bread into the bag before I seal it up. The bread adds moisture to the cookies, and dries out. When the receiver opens the goodies, then the cookies are nice and moist and the bread is dried out!
Cookies that are being sent through the mail need to be under baked by one minute! Don’t worry; your cookies won’t be raw! The final minute of baking won’t change anything except keep the cookies softer for longer. If you plan to sample the cookies at all, you may want to wait an hour or two so the cookies have time to “set up.”
This is an important step! You must make sure your cookies are entirely cool before you package them. Otherwise, condensation will form inside your package and mold can set in on your baked goods! I have had this happen to me before, and when the receiver opened the box, all of my hard work was for naught!
The recipe you choose matters! Some baked good stay fresher for longer. Pudding cookies are a great option to send through the mail. You simply add a box of instant pudding mix to your batter and your cookies will be very soft! Some items to avoid sending through the mail are yeast bread and fresh baked goods with fruit or vegetables in them, which can spoil.
After your cookies or muffins or baked goods have been properly packaged, you need to make sure the mailing box has no extra room left over. Otherwise your cookies will be crumbled and crushed from tumbling around! I usually stuff the remainder of the box with newspaper or bags or tissues. Even if you just have a little bit of space left over, make sure you stuff it to ensure your baked goods stay intact.
It’s okay to fix your treats 1 or 2 days in advance. However, you should try to send them off as soon as possible after baking them! The longer a treat sits out after being baked, the shorter its shelf life becomes. It’s best to bake the day before or the same day you plan to mail your care package!
As someone who has sent a lot of baked goods through the mail, you can rest assured that these tips are tried and true! I love sending care packages to my family and friends and over time I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Have you ever mailed baked goods to a friend? Please comment below with your own tricks for keeping baked good tasty while en route to their destination!