How to ship baked goods

There’s no better way to spread love than with homemade food. Plus, who doesn’t want to receive a box of goodies on their doorstep? So I thought I’d put together some tips and tricks for how to ship baked goods.

With all the new and weird stuff going on this year, you may not be getting together with people the way you did last year.

But, maybe you still want to spread the love.

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Before you bake

Plan ahead

Make sure you plan your daily baking schedule so you can get to the post office as soon as the cookies cool or the bread is baked so that the goodies are nice and fresh.

Always allow your baked goods to cool to room temperature before packing. Shipping warm goodies will cause condensation in the container, which can spoil the texture of the item.

Bring the packed goodies to your local post office or shipping store right away so they get to their destination as quickly as possible.

Some great loaves of quick bread to bake and ship:

Quick bread loaves like banana bread and zucchini bread have a much longer shelf-life than many yeast breads or more intricate baked goods, like cake, so they’re great homemade goodies to ship. And, they are fun to bake in these (affiliate link) individual paper baking pans.

If you desperately want to share your homemade sourdough loaf with Grand pappy on the other side of the country, I recommend freezing yeast-based breads first to help keep them fresh.

Try some of these delicious recipes: Cherry bread, Orange marmalade bread, Coffee loaf cake, or Vanilla zucchini bread.

Great baked goods

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Homemade granola makes a great gift. Normally, I’d suggest putting it in a pretty mason jar, but if you’re shipping it, I’d suggest going with something that isn’t breakable, like tin boxes or a plastic jar.

Cookies

Cookies make great gifts to ship as well. Don’t go with delicate or iced cookies. Drop cookies and bar cookies ship well. Think of good old-fashioned sturdy cookies like Peanut butter cookies, Oatmeal cookies, Orange cranberry cookies, Chocolate chip treasure cookies, Snickerdoodles, Ginger snaps, or Lime meltaway cookies.

After you bake

A well-packed package

Quick bread

To keep quick breads, like banana bread , from drying out or going stale, wrap them in a paper bag, then in a plastic bag or plastic wrap. If you want to be extra safe, wrap it again in aluminum foil. Place the wrapped loaf in a sturdy box or even a (affiliate links) pretty tin, and add packing material like crumpled brown kraft paper around.

Yeast bread

Harder, yeast breads, like no-knead bread can be wrapped in foil and then in plastic, and placed in the shipping box with packing material.

Cookies

Use an airtight container, like one of those cute tins or a nice new (affiliate link) tupperware container for packing cookies. Line the bottom of the container with a cushioning material, such as bubble wrap, tissue paper, or kraft paper.

Wrap the cookies up, back to back, tightly and individually with plastic wrap. If you’re shipping different types of cookies, stack bigger, heavier ones at the bottom, with smaller, lighter ones on top. Fill any empty space with cushioning material. Place the cookie container in a shipping box, and pack shipping material around the container to secure it.

For all goodies

Remember, choose a shipping box that’s only slightly larger than whatever you’re sending.

Be sure to attach your return address on the inside and outside of the box, just in case, and make sure the box is tightly sealed.

How to ship

Send your baked goods via overnight or priority mail to make sure the goodies won’t be in transit for more than a couple of days. Don’t send the package too close to a weekend or a holiday, or you’ll risk it getting stuck in transit.

Let your recipient know that you’re sending something to them. You don’t have to tell them what you sent, but make sure they will be home to receive it or know it contains perishable goods so it doesn’t end up sitting at the post office or on a doorstep.

The shipping box should be marked “perishable”. You want to be sure it’s opened and the goodies are devoured as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Granny may put the box under the Christmas tree and not open it for weeks!

Cute shipping containers

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Holiday Aluminum Foil Loaf Pans with Lids
Christmas Disposable Aluminum Foil Pans (also great for sending food home with guests)
Brown Bakery Box with Window
Paper Gift Boxes

Happy holidays

I hope your holidays are happy, healthy, and safe. Oh, and I hope they’re yummy!

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I picked up this cute gift box just at the grocery store. It would be perfect for cookie giving. Line it with some colored tissue paper, stack the cookies inside, and you’re ready to ship it.

Make sure to check out your grocery store for cute gift items. Many stores now have a great seasonal department.