Last-Minute Gift Idea: The Cookie Box

The holidays have come on so quickly this year! (I know each of you have said this at least once twice so far this week alone.) With barely a transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, I've personally been scrambling to brainstorm, find, buy and wrap gifts for my loved ones. It also just so happens that I'm scrambling for money. WHY is this time of year so expensive? There's entirely too many events and activities and doctor visits and glasses of wine begging to be purchased and consumed. If your life is anything like mine, I have the perfect gift solution for you: just bake and give.

Why? More like, why not?

• Most people love sugar (or love to lie about not loving it).
• A homemade gift is a thoughtful gift.
• Baking + packaging is a lot cheaper than a new iPad mini.
• You get to try new recipes and not be tempted to eat the entire batch yourself (a terrible but possible thing).
• It's an opportunity to show off and not be totally inappropriate. 

First things first: Pick a theme, any theme! Typical holiday cookies, ok. Fruit-a-palooza, death-by-chocolate, thumbprints...the options are endless. For my cookie boxes, I chose the theme "Untraditional Cookie Classics" because I really wanted to make everyone's favorite store-bought cookies---but with a twist. My list was eventually whittled down to: Chips Ahoy! biscotti, Oreo thumbprints, mini oatmeal cream pies, and spiced graham crackers.

During the cookie decision process, I also picked out and received labels for my boxes courtesy of Tiny Prints, which is part of the Shutterfly family. They have some really adorable card, stationary, label, etc. designs and themes. At this late in the game, it's most likely not possible to order labels but that's alright...I believe in your artistic ability and resourcefulness! Buy or create your own labels for both the boxes and each type of cookie you plan to make. The ones I ordered had little baby mistletoe on them. I'm a fan of icy pastels during the winter.

I used these Wilton large treat boxes for my cookies; I liked having the window to look in at what the boxes included (and truth: to show off what I'd done). You can you any shape, color, size box your heart desires. Remember, it's your gift and time to shine! I also recommend picking out some box stuffing to help cushion the cookies and add some interest.

While you're baking your cookies and letting them cool, go ahead and prep your boxes. These are last-minute gifts, after all, it's not like you have time to spare!

Once the cookies are baked and cooled, package them as air-tight as possible for maximum freshness. Something you'll want to consider are "cookie smells". One main example: peppermint has the uncanny ability to make everything around it smell and taste like peppermint as well. Wrap peppermint cookies well, and consider making complimentary cookies with flavors like chocolate or mocha. Probably don't make lemon bars...I'm not convinced peppermint lemon would be a great "accidental" flavor combination.

I tried to add some variety to my cookie packaging by using different "vehicles", as well as an assortment of colors and styles of ribbon. I used recycled cans for the biscotti, red paper bags for the graham cracker (they were wrapped in plastic before I placed them in the bags), and I tied the oatmeal cream pies up with bows on both ends.

Curiosity killed the cat...but in this case, curiosity might kill the person with the peanut, tree nut, or dairy allergy. Plus, I really just like knowing what I'm about to eat so it's nice to have labels. The biscotti was vegan, so I could have placed a "v" in the corner of the tag if I chose to, etc.

And there you have it! A last-minute gift that is almost too cute to give away. For recipes included in this cookie box, see the below information:

• Chips Ahoy! biscotti (vegan) - coming soon!
• Oreo thumbprints - adapted from recipe mentioned here
• Mini oatmeal cream pies - recipe from BraveTart 
• Spiced graham crackers - recipe posted here (I added Chai spices)

*Disclosure: All opinions expressed in this post are completely my own.