Bonnet-Bee du Jour: Packaging Homemade Treats

For the past, oh, 14 years (gulp! I'm old), it's been my habit to make Christmas cookies and candies and ship them (or give them) to friends. Packaging them, particularly to ship, has alternately been a "fun challenge" and a huge pain in the arse. I am ever-striving toward a method that is attractive, sturdy, and not super time-consuming, in which the different flavors and textures of cookies are preserved. In the beginning, one or two cookies were placed in individual paper candy or cupcake cups and packed in a tin, with plain old red or green tissue paper between layers. It was effective (I think--I don't think I've ever seen my cookies after they reach their intended destination), but: packing them into all those little paper candy cups was hugely time consuming, AND regular old tissue paper isn't exactly "food grade."


"Food grade" became a very important factor for me in packaging cookies, particularly after my sister brandished her food-grade waxed tissue paper from Williams-Sonoma one holiday season. I was an instant convert.

The treat bag is another medium I've tried, but "food grade" becomes a factor once again, especially when you consider that most treat bags you purchase at Target or similar stores need to be "off-gassed" after opening. I've used them, but lined with waxed or parchment paper.

I started getting my treat bags from baking stores or the baking section of JoAnn. Several of the same kind of cookie are packed into a bag, and several different bags are packed into a tin. There's usually an excess of "bag top," however, and, while it acts as padding, there's so much excess bag that the tops need to be trimmed.

I've also used foil candy wrappers for caramels and similar treats: festive and protective, but not exactly expeditious.

It was when I saw this method in Martha Stewart Living that I realized there might be an easier way. Corrugated dividers! Of course—just like in the cookies you get from the store. I filed the idea away, with the thought, "Oh, there's probably some special place they get those dividers; I doubt I'll find them." And I relied on mostly the treat-bag approach for a few years.

Photo courtesy of marthastewart.com.

It was only recently I decided, "Wait a minute!" I would find my own corrugated dividers! A hunt for them at JoAnn was totally fruitless and exasperating, so I did an online search, found the original Martha Stewart article, and saw that the corrugated cardboard came from Dick Blick, with a link and product number provided—easy, right?

Sadly, no. For there was no indication in the product description that the roll of corrugated paper was food-safe. I just couldn't bring myself to order it. But I sallied forth with Google searches, confident that I could find corrugated dividers that were food safe, and...and...

Where the hell were they??

I did find them on the site of a packaging manufacturer, but it was an industry site exclusively, with no e-commerce.

Could I make my own corrugated dividers? Could I invest in a paper crimper and find some food-safe, cardstock-weight paper to feed through it? Ah, no.

• 1) It appears paper crimpers are pretty wimpy, but aptly named, as they only work for, well, paper...
• 2) using foodsafe cardstock would most probably entail dismantling food packaging boxes. (Now that's not time-consuming!)
• 3) Next idea!

In my search for food-safe anything, I came across several sites, geared toward retailers/store owners, that specialized in packaging. Nashville Wraps was particularly extensive, and sold some of their items in packages of less than 100! (No corrugated dividers to be found on the site, but at that point I was no longer surprised nor dismayed.) I browsed obsessively.

Success? Well, yes. And all of it FDA-approved for direct contact with food! Firstly, they sold Chinese takeout boxes; I ordered 25 for $4! For the gift of one variety of cookie or candy, these could be adorable (especially with a little food-grade waxed tissue lining the box, and tied with a festive ribbon). Next, I ordered a hefty number of 1-lb candy boxes—which were of an appropriate shape to fit into an 8 1/2" x 11" padded envelope—and with them, quilted paper candy pads that measured the same as the depth of the candy boxes—cut one in half, place on its side in the box, and, voilà!: divider! The candy pads are three-ply, like the corrugated dividers, and, I think, will be as effective. I can't wait to get my package from Nashville Wraps and try out my methods.