Project Cookie Claus

Note: You can find images from the execution of Project Cookie Claus here. 

This is the year I partook in the tradition of the Holiday cookie swap! Since I couldn't be with family or friends this year, I took to utilizing the postal service to tell my loved ones that I ... well loved them.

Planning

The planning started quite early and was inspired by a friend and I chatting about how she missed eating my chocolate chip cookies. From there on I planned an ambitious list of cookies to bake and obtained the addresses of 9 of my dearest set of friends around the world.

I also wanted to use reusable or recycled materials where possible, so I got compostable sleeves to wrap the cookies in, I sent the cookies in a container that my friends could reuse to store food in and I made the mailers out of old Amazon boxes and pouches I had lying around.

The list of cookies started as follows:

• Gingerbread people
• Pocky
• Chocolate chip shortbread cookies
• Peppermint squares
• Lemon sables
• Pistachio thumb print cookies

Execution

I aimed to bake the cookies and send out the mailers all in two days. Boy was I mistaken.

Baking each set of cookies from start to finish took about 3 hours and some of the cookies didn't turn out as planned. I also developed pain in my lower back from leaning over the counter for prolonged time. In the end, these are the cookies (and last minute cake additions) that I shipped out:

• Gingerbread people
• Pocky (weren't very good)
• Chocolate chip shortbread cookies
• Lemon pistachio loaf (one of my many 2020 birthday cakes)
• Pumpkin bread

Lessons learned

Since I was producing around 200 individual cookies from 5 different bases with no help I was exhausted halfway through. So here are some lessons and strategies I developed for the future:

• Split this endeavour over multiple days, and freeze cookie dough in between
• Do not attempt to make all new cookies, and instead ensure that some of the cookies are ones you have made before to reduce the stress of following a completely foreign recipe.
• Enlist help when possible!

Future plans

I do want to send out another box of goodies in the near future again. Maybe a birthday edition or a savoury one?

Pictures from this enterprise can be found here