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Holiday baking ideas for gifts to mail?

Hi I am looking for ideas for something I could bake/make that would keep well enough to send to relatives for Christmas gifts. I was thinking of getting little tins to put either some type of cookies, snack mix, or brittle of the sort in that would still taste great when it arrived. Hopefully something not too expensive or time consuming to make alot of...I am a college student, but I would love to send some thoughtful homemade baking to my far away family. Thanks for any ideas!

34 Comments:

rum balls. one for the family. one or two for you.

Fudge, divinity or some sort of bark. Even better make fruitcake you could send that out 10 years from now and it will be edible.

My boyfriend and I are doing the long distance thing and I send him packages with baked goods all the time. I've tried cupcakes, which didn't work out well and cake, which kind of crumbles as it gets thrown around in the box.

My best advice is cookies, either the no-bake kind or your favorite recipe packed in tins and then surrounded by newspaper or insulation of some kind. It minimizes the damage. Brownies are also a really good idea. They don't break apart and they stay moist in the Tupperware you mail them off in.

Good luck!

I actually just made and sent this off to my brother as a surprise- Chocolate Peanut Toffee. Receipe is super easy, tastes out of this world and best of all is well suited to tupperware!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Peanut-Toffee-240932

My best advise is to insulate your baked goods with marshmallows. Toss a couple of handfuls in the container to keep your goodies snug. The soft marshmallows will prevent the cookies/brownies/rumballs/etc from rattling around and breaking during shipping. Plus, they're way more edible than styrofoam packing peanuts ;-)

I do treat boxes every year. Cookies are a standard (peppermint chip, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter cup). Biscotti works well, and I think homemade versions are so much better than most storebought brands. This year, I might also make granola and caramel (though the latter isn't baked).

Homemade jams and jellies are very easy to make. The recipes are right in the package of Certo. Just wrap them up well and they should ship fine.

I agree with Laurie about jams & jellies (I mail out apple butter every year), but I've found that it can be pretty expensive to mail because it will definitely make your package over 1 pound, which means you have to pay more - and as a college student, I'm sure you'd rather not.

My advice would be fudge, other types of homemade candy like brittle, peanut butter balls, nougat, etc. I've made and mailed these before, and they turned out great!

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/12/coming-of-age-in-cookies.html

@ molliebeth i would never of thought about using marshmallows. thanks for the idea.


here's a great gift idea: pick your favorite cookie or bread. layer the dry ingredients into a mason jar. decorate with ribbon & attach card with the other ingredients/instructions needed. (i.e. combine w/2 eggs, stick of butter at 350 for 20 minutes, etc.)

i did it last year and people liked it...as did my wallet!

Baklava, it keeps for a while and it fits well into short, rectangular containers

I make these roasted rosemary almonds. I have not mailed them, but I am sure they'll keep fine. or how about brown rice krsipies treats or hazelnut praline?

Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking

@MollieBeth ~ the marshmallow cushion/filler is GENIUS! And they weigh next to nothing. Of course, you'd have to throw in a box of rice krispies, too. ;-D

I actually compiled a collection of recipes last year for this exact topic. I hope this helps!

Mailable Holiday Food Gifts

Hillary
Chew on That

Thanks for all the ideas everyone!!! I'm not sure which I'm going to do yet, I like the chocolate peanut toffee idea, it would be different than cookies, but at the same time everyone loves cookies!! A lot of good tips too, like the marshmellow packing! This is my first time posting a food blog, I am suprised with the great response, thanks for your help! Keep coming with ideas....maybe it will help others too!

I'm posting from a cell phone so I can post a link, but google "easy microwave fudge" its a box of powdered sugar some milk butter some coco powder etc... You pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes and throw it in the fridge for an hour or 2 it is pretty tasty. Most people would never guess it was 6 staples dumped together tossed in the microwave. Even if you don't ship it give it a try for yourself, imagine it would be great for a college student, its fast, cheap, tasty, and will impress. If anyone gives it a shot let us know what u think.

I wish I could make a link like the rest of you. One of you told me once...
Pumpkin cookies ship very well. My daughter loves them. I add a million times more cinnamon and NO raisins. http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1910,149175-226206,00.html
Try this recipe. Yummy. I also have a chocolate cookie recipe that my sister and I have been making for people for years. I'm looking for the recipe, we call them snowflake cookies. You roll the chocolate dough balls in confectioners sugar and bake them. I'm lookin...

I do cookie trays for good friends every Christmas. It's 2 solid days of baking and butter and sugar. It's always been for people within walking distance, causing some friends to request permission to come pick up their cookie tray so they could have one too. Now that I've moved away, they go into boxes to be mailed, too. @lizNYC, I love the post office. They have 3 different standard sized boxes that cost $8.95 to mail, no matter how much they weigh. HO HO HO!

I'm so glad you asked this as I was just yesterday googling ideas. I'm going to make some vanilla sugar as a gift to send as well as some spiced nuts, a home made tex-mex dip mix, and probably a tin of rum balls. I figured those items would ship pretty well and be fairly inexpensive to make. One thing I make every year for neighbors is crumb cake. I'm not sure how well it would ship, but if packed pretty tight it might do ok.

Mix up a couple of batches of herb blends and spice rubs. Put them in little canning jars, spice bottles or small bags. Make some cute lables, include instructions and viola'! They ship and store well.

We make a killer rib rub that gets raves from friends. We're amking it again this year.

This time of the year, there shouldn't be a problem with the marshmallow packing melting, but if you ever need packing material to withstand hot weather, try plain popcorn =)

I've made these for Christmas for the last 2 years. Everyone always loves them and they are really easy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rosemary-roasted-cashews-recipe/index.html

I mail biscotti and Spanish turrĂ³n as Christmas presents. They can get a bit heavy, but it's always nice getting a nice heavy package of goodies.

@carolrsfMISSESTEXAS Are you thinking of chocolate crinkles?
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=35432

Last year I baked stollen and sent them out across the country. It keeps well if wrapped tightly in waxed paper and then cling wrap. Even if they do go a bit dry, they toast wonderfully.

A nice loaf of bread will always be a welcome gift and a few teaspoons of vital wheat gluten mixed in with the dry ingredients will help extend the shelf life.

@KTempesta. I think you're right! Yea you!

I've been mailing food gifts since I was a kid but not matter what, it does take some work except for two things: chewy brownies and any kind of tea bread: pumpkin, zucchini, carrot, apple spice, cranberry-orange nut, banana with or without chocolate chips. They can be stirred up by hand if you let the butter get soft enough and can be mailed in the same disposable loaf tins you buy at the grocery store. I overnighted chicken noodle matzo ball soup to a flu-ish friend in LA this fall. I send cheesecakes overnight (frozen first) to family each Christmas and they love them. I make 6 or 7 jams/jellies each year and mail them all over and I have a wonderful elderly friend in Alabama to whom I send cookies and bars all of the time. But the tea bread is KEY!

burbon balls are a great keeper

cookery

@cookery, someone on another thread is looking for a recipe for bourbon balls.

@cookery, It's Callie on her thread Long Lost Recipes

soda cracker candy!

@watchforbears, what's soda cracker candy?

And, I like your moniker.

@carolrsfMISSESTEXAS I knew those cookies because MY sister makes them every Christmas :-)

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