How To Package Cookies Decorated With Royal Icing

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How you present your hard work matters! Imagine spending hours decorating cookies with royal icing or baking all day long, only for the cookies to get tossed around. Over the years I’ve tried different ways to package cookies to keep them from breaking until I finally found what works the best!

Who Should I Gift Packaged Cookies To?

The answer for this one is anyone! If you make my soft cut-out sugar cookie recipe, you’ll get 24 medium sized cookies (3-4.5-inches). Below, you’ll learn how to divide them into boxes of 2 cookies, 6-8 cookies, and 1 dozen cookies. Or wrap them individually in cellophane bags. One batch of decorated sugar cookies can go far and who doesn’t love gifts you can eat?

• Teachers
• Co-workers
• Friends
• Family
• Mailman
• Neighbors
• Doctors office
• (Anyone that you want to share cookies with 😊)

What Kinds Of Cookies Are OK To Gift?

The choices are really endless! As long as cookies are baked or frozen and defrosted and packaged right away, they can last for a few days in a box. Check your recipe for exact instructions. Some cookies are much easier to transport than others (like chocolate chip, M&M, etc). Cookies decorated with royal icing or cookies that crumble easily are probably the most fussy. That’s why I created this post to show you how to keep them safe!

Check out these recipes:

• Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
• North Star Gingerbread Cookies
• Gingerbread Cookies
• Sugar Cookies With Buttercream Frosting

Packaging Tips To Avoid Cookies From Breaking

1. Bake all of your cookies ahead of time and make sure they’re completely cooled or dry before packaging.
2. Package cookies one day before gifting to keep them fresh!
3. Use crinkle paper or parchment to keep cookies from moving around.
4. Don’t stack cookies decorated with royal icing on top of each other.

What Kind Of Boxes Should I Use?

If you want to gift someone a box of sugar cookies, don’t forget to think about the box itself! It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, just well made so that it keeps the cookies from cracking or breaking. Cheap and flimsy boxes do not support cookies very well and you don’t want all of your hard work to get damaged because of a poorly made box.

Cookie Box Recommendation

The boxes I recommend below are based on medium sized cookies (3-4.5-inches), so please adjust for small or large cookies.

Tip: How many cookies you can fit into a box also depends on the shape of the cookie! Basic shapes like circles and squares can fit together pretty easily, but shapes like animals, snowflakes, flowers, etc can be a little more difficult. Just think of it like a puzzle!

• The smallest box fits 2 medium sized cookies (3-4.5 inches)
• The medium square box fits 6-8 medium sized cookies (3-4.5 inches)
• The largest “donut” box fits 1 dozen small to medium sized cookies (2-4.5 inches)

Watch The Video

How To Decorate A Cookie Box For The Holidays

You don’t need expensive decorations to make a cookie box look festive. Simply adding a bow, a gift tag, or even a ribbon looks nice.

Decoration Ideas

Shredded paper (or crinkle paper): Shredded paper is a great way to add a little something extra while also stopping the cookies from moving around. Tip – Pick out a color that suits the occasion.

Colorful string or twine: Making a bow with twine looks nice and isn’t too difficult. Measure the twine about 2.5x the length of the box. Cut the twine. In step one, pull the twine across the box until you reach the middle of the twine. Since the box will be filled with cookies, we can’t flip it upside down. Instead, pull both sides of the string under the box, twist them and then pull them up on the opposite sides of the box. Loop the string underneath the cross section on the top of the box and tie into a bow.

If you like pink, check out this pink and white string! My favorite!

Bells: Try adding a bell by slipping the twine through the bell’s eyelet, then tie the bow.

Bows: Place a sticky bow in the center of the box, covering where you tied the twine. Cut the ends of the twine short so it looks neater. If you like non-traditional holiday colors, these shiny pink and iridescent bows are pretty.

Ribbon: Try making a bow out of 1.5-inch fabric ribbon and then taping it to the corner of a box. Try cutting the ribbon ends short or leave the longer like the image above. I like to get my ribbon at Target or the Dollar Store!

Gift Tags: Gift tags can be so cute and helps to makes a gift personalized. Try looping it through the twine before tying a bow. Or tape it under a ribbon (as shown above). I like these kraft paper tags with hearts, but there are also plain white tags that you can decorate yourself. Write TO: and FROM: or write a message. If you’re sticking with the pink/pastel holiday theme, try writing your holidays cards/tags with these pastel pens.

How To Package Cookies In Cellophane Bags

Packaging individual cookies in cellophane bags is a cute way to give a small gift.

Tips:

• Make sure cookies are completely cooled or dry before packaging (check out this post on how to dry royal icing cookies in the oven)
• Don’t add more than one decorated cookie per bag

These are favorite cellophane bags and they come in multiple sizes. For cookies that are 4 inches or smaller, I purchase the 5×7-inch bags. These come with twist ties (which is useful), but for the holidays I tie bags with shiny ribbon and curl with scissors (shown in the image above).

To curl the ribbon, first tie it into a bow and leave the ends long. Place the shiny side of the ribbon on the dull side of open scissors. Keep the ribbon in place between your thumb and the scissors by applying pressure. Slowly pull the ribbon across the scissors to create curls!

Another way to package cookies is using self sealing bags. These are great if you sell cookies and want to avoid tying multiple bags. You can also easily place stickers on these bags.

How To Package 1 Dozen Cookies

One of my favorite ways to pack 1 dozen cookies is using the donut box with a window. Whoever is receiving the cookies can see how pretty they are! When I used to sell cookies, I tried transporting them on platters, in cellophane, and cardboard boxes. I finally learned that it’s much easier and safer to transport boxes of 1 dozen cookies.

Donut Box Tips

• The donut box fits 1 dozen small to medium sized cookies (2-4.5 inches) or 6-8 large cookies (see image above)
• Rotate cookies to get them to fit (see images below)
• Place parchment paper on bottom of the box or shredded crinkle paper to stop them from moving around.
• Optional: If you’re a home baker with customers, put a cute “thank you” sticker where you close the box!

How To Package Cookies For A Birthday

Use any of the packaging tips above, but change the decorations for the birthday theme. I like using curly bows from Target or the Dollar Store.

Cookies For All Occasions!