Shipping Cookies - because you asked

Before I begin, I feel I should give a follow up to the Potato Chip Bars from last time: A little time did them a world of good. It seems that, after they were baked, the chips softened a bit more. So, when I took them to Book Club the following Monday (about 2.5 days after making them), they were actually well received. (And this is a group who can be trusted for their honesty.) I still don't plan to add them to my standard repertoire, but I'll give tasty credit where it's due. 


But, anyway... This week I decided to address something you've asked about.

Well, not all of you asked, but some of you did. So we're going to look into how I ship all of the cookies that I ship without people simply getting bags of crumbs in the mail.

Since the topic is a bit different than usual, this week we're going to do something a little different with this post, too. I'm going to give you a video that kind of goes start-to-finish, and then I'll follow that with some step-by-step photos. Sound good?

Two things about this video: it was filmed in the fairly early morning, and I'm wearing what I had just worn outside to walk the dog.

For this demo, we're using chocolate chip cookies - the ones from the 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook that I've featured on here in the past. (You can find a link here - or here, actually, too.)

An approximately 8.5-inch basic paper plate is our starting point for this package. I think most brands (whether name brand or house brand at a grocery store) have something about this size - which fits into a regular flat-rate envelope from the Post Office really well.

For a non-frosted cookie of a relatively consistent size, I find that stacking them around the plate in a circle works really well. 

I typically get about two dozen cookies on a plate this way, in case you're counting.

They aren't straight up and down, perpendicular to the plate, because that would make them too tall when you try to put them into the envelope.

Oh - for the record - if you use one of the smaller plates - which can also hold almost two dozen cookies, they tend to get too "tall" for a flat rate envelope. Why? Because you have to stand the cookies up straighter to get as many to fit.

Okay. Now that the cookies on our larger plate are ready, it's time to start wrapping.

First, we have a double layer of plastic wrap. This helps keep them soft, as well as doing the bulk of the work to keep them in place during shipping.

Next up: the primary way to keep them from getting broken - I typically use bubble wrap. (Though I have used newspaper or other heavyweight tissue paper with decent results.)

I like to use enough bubble wrap to get a double layer of protection on the top. I don't know that it really makes that much difference, but it makes me feel better.

At this point, you can add a card - possibly a postcard - slide the whole bundle into a Ziploc bag, and then into the shipping envelope.

For the record, I actually suck the excess air out of the bag before sealing it. This makes it more compact and easier to get into the envelope.

If the plate is just a little too wide for the envelope, you can roll the edge just a bit (this is one of the perks of using lightweight paper plates).

Once you seal it, the envelope is really no thicker than most packs.

Did you know that USPS Flat Rate envelopes are priced with an "if it fits, it ships" methodology? There are some weight restrictions depending on where you're shipping, but within the US, it's currently literally flat rate. 

 And there you have it: One mailing envelope full of happiness!

Even better - at least for us - this is an envelope of two-fold happiness. I tend to bake for stress relief, but don't want to have all of the cookies in the house. So we're happy to see the cookies leave - and (I assume) people are happy to have them arrive, as well.

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Would you like to receive cookies in the mail? If so, watch this space in the next couple of weeks. As soon as I can get the logistics figured out, maybe we can make that wish come true for a reader or two...