Shipping Cookies Overseas without Tears

O.k. maybe some tears. The tears that fall as you pray over the cookies hoping your son or daughter (or husband, or friend) is safe count as tears. But with this  method the cookies will get there fresh, unbroken, and yummy…so you can feel good about that, right?

Chocolate thumbprints are ready to ship

I wanted to send a test batch to Chris in the Middle East, time how long it took them to get there, and how they were once they were there. I figured that way it would be documented and not rely on my memory. So, A few weeks ago Kyrie and I baked Chris two kinds of cookies; chocolate thumbprints and blueberry white chocolate drops. We wrapped them carefully and sent them out…and we waited.

…and waited….

…and waited….

We mailed them out on October 27 and they got to Chris on November 5. But..were they crumbly? Broken? Stale?

Chris said that they were perfect. Not one was broken, not one was stale. And he was having to fend off his friends. So this is a success story!

I first found this method of sending cookies in one of my World War II cookbooks. It was the recommended method for sending baked goods to loved ones all over the world in a time when mail was much slower than today. I figured if it worked then it would work now.

Here’s the method in pictures:

Set the cookie on cling wrap.

Lay a piece of parchment over the top.

Lay another cookie on top.

Wrap the two cookies securely.

Place bundles carefully in a plastic bin with a lid.

Fill in with parchment.

Once the cookies are all in there just gently fill in any empty space with parchment.

If you use a flat rate APO/FPO box you can send as much as you can get in there for 11.95, not bad. I am going to be making another batch to send this week. Chris wants me to figure out how to send homemade bread..we are wondering if it was sent in a vacuum sealed pack? I will let you know – he seems happy to be a guinea pig.

As long as you pack two cookies together you can send almost any kind of cookie without a problem. You dont want to send something cream filled or very perishable. In fact – I made a dairy free chocolate filling for the thumbprint cookies. I will post that recipe later this weekend. If you have my book it is in there, I just substituted earl grey tea for water in the chocolate part.

So what are you waiting for? Go send some cookies!

images:marye audet