Hallmark Magazine

When it comes to packaging cookies, any box, jar or tin will do the trick.

Start by thinking outside the box: Scour flea markets or eBay for pretty vintage tins or aluminum pudding molds for that touch of retro elegance; pick up inexpensive plates or wooden bowls from a favorite gift shop or Web site (anthropologie.com, sprouthome.com); check out baking supply stores (kingarthurflour.com) and paper suppliers (paper-source.com) for paper loaf pans, tart tins, simple bakery boxes or other interesting and unusual containers; or hunt around the house for jars you can embellish or for boxes, like an old kitchen matchbox, to disguise with wrapping paper. Silk or velvet ribbons, shimmery cords and tiny silver bells add a finishing touch.

For an added touch, slip something special in with your gift to help your recipient whip up a batch of the cookies herself. A few ideas: a set of tiny star cutters, a pretty vintage fork for making pricks in shortbread, a beautiful wood speculaas or ma’amoul mold (cookiemold.com or gourmetsleuth.com), a pizzelle iron (cooking.com), or hard-to-find ingredients such as Madagascar vanilla beans, anise oil or semolina (kingarthurflour.com).

Take Care of Your Cookies
Instead of piling your little masterpieces in a heap (a method sure to cause crumbling), follow a few guidelines before placing them in a container:

Separate Individually packaging cookies helps keep them pristine and makes your gift more special. Bars nestle perfectly in cupcake liners and round cookies like linzers stack well in paper brioche pans or tartlet tins. Large, relatively flat cookies (like oatmeal or gingerbread men) look great in glassine envelopes sealed with a round label. And sugar cookies stay secure when stacked in piles and tied with baker’s twine or ribbon.

protect When packaging cookies with a confectioners’ sugar coating (like linzer or Russian tea cookies) in a container or tin, place a sheet of parchment between each cookie layer to help the sugary coating stay put.

insulate For extra protection, line containers with decorative material: crinkly parchment or wrapping paper, a vintage holiday tea towel, a soft fabric napkin or crisp doilies.

Wrapping Ideas

Turn a bakery box into a gorgeous gift by punching four holes on both sides of each corner, then lacing ribbons through them—just like you’d tie a shoe. Watch the how-to video!
Safely wrap up fragile flat cut-out cookies by piling them neatly in paper bread bakers, found at baking supply stores. Embellish with a gold string and jingle bells.
Dress up the simplest containers by lining them with festive wrapping paper that contrasts well with the cookies.
Line a lovely vintage tin with old-fashioned doilies.
Place individual flat round cookies, like oatmeal or chocolate chip, in their own glassine envelopes and seal with an ordinary round office label stamped with a holiday design.
Line a plain silver tin or bread pan with red-and white tea towels to provide a soft and homespun backdrop for fragile goodies.
Place bars in cupcake papers before giving them on a plate-- a pretty trick that prevents sticking.
Sprinkle powdered sugar onto gingerbread through a doily after cookies have cooled for a unique effect.
Nestle tea cookies in a large kitchen matchbox wrapped in favorite paper and tied with a ribbon of the same color.
Package sturdy cookies in a jar: Line the bottom with a round piece of wrapping or parchment and cover the lid with coordinating paper or fabric.
Wrap individual cookies in parchment paper, then tuck each cute little package into a wooden bowl.
Include the recipe of the cookie you’re giving on a handwritten card to pass a tradition along with your sweet treat.