How to Make a Cookie Gift Box

Want to make the best home cookie gift box for friends this holiday season? Learn how to put together colorful Christmas cookie gift boxes (or for any season) in this tutorial!

When I was a kid, my family would bake cookies every year to share with our friends and family around the holidays.

We’d bake up Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies and All-Butter Tea Cake Cookies without fail yearly, package them up in Christmas cookie boxes and give them away.

It’s something that I still do to this day, and today, I wanted to share how to make a cookie gift box for someone you love.

Why I love this tutorial:

Homemade cookie boxes are so simple to put together and a fun way to share joy during the holiday season.

Over the years, I’ve perfected my cookie box skills to share them with you today. They truly are the perfect present.

And the biggest tip I can give you? Make one cookie recipe that feels more extravagant (be they Linzer Cookies, Cut Out Sugar Cookies, etc.), then pair that with two, three or even four easier recipes.

This doesn’t have to be complicated, and you can even purchase cookies and treats from your favorite bakeries, then assemble them in boxes if that’s easier for you.

Cookie recipes that are excellent for sharing: Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies | Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies | No Bake Peppermint Bark Cookies | Shortbread Brown Butter Cookies | Potato Chip Cookies

Need cookie inspiration? Check out my Cookie Recipe Index for more ideas.

Let’s talk about The Sweetest Season and Cookies for Kids Cancer!

The Sweetest Season is my annual holiday cookie week.

Ten years ago, I decided it would be fun to share my favorite Christmas cookie recipes… then I invited other bloggers to join me, and the celebration grew… then we changed the name to make it more inclusive (because that matters!)… and the rest is history.

This year, we’re raising money in support of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. We’d love if you could join us in supporting a worthy cause this holiday season. Here is our fundraising page.

Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.

Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.

And since it’s the season of giving and giving back, I’m thrilled to be supporting an organization that’s actively funding treatments for kids and their families going through the unthinkable.

Again, here is our fundraising page if you’d like to join us in raising some money for this worthwhile organization.

What you need to make a cookie gift box:

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• A bakery box, a cookie tin or even a festive cookie plate
• Colorful cupcake liners
• Parchment paper or wax paper to serve as a base in your box

You’re also going to need some cookies to put in the boxes themselves, too.

Depending on the size of the box, I like to offer three to five different types of cookies—a showcase cookie (so maybe a sugar cookie or a larger cookie) that’s the centerpiece, followed by two to four easier recipes, be they Christmas Rice Krispie Treats or a simple drop cookie, like Lemon Drop Cookies.)

This right here is my “equation” for a homemade cookie gift box.

I always like to have some “extras” to fill in space for my cookie boxes, too.

Some of my favorite items to use are:

• Homemade candy, like Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge, Saltine Cracker Toffee or even Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
• Sweet treats, like Oreo Peppermint Christmas Bark or Reindeer Chow (White Chocolate Christmas Puppy Chow)
• Dark chocolate-covered almonds or Jordan almonds
• Individually wrapped candies, like Hershey Kisses, Andes mints or sea salt caramels

How to make a homemade cookie gift box

Choose your box. There are a world of options you can choose to put one of these together, but we start with the container where the cookies are going to be displayed. If you’re making several Christmas cookie gift boxes, I suggest purchasing boxes that are roughly the same size so that you can recreate a similar look in all of them instead of purchasing boxes of different sizes and having to customize each one.

Choose your cookies. Once your box is chosen (and you have the dimensions of it), you need to decide what cookies you’re going to serve in your cookie gift box. Some cookies are better for gifting than others, so keep the following things in mind:

• Consider which cookies will travel best. Some cookies (like softer no bake cookies, etc.) could fall apart, so leave those out and opt for sturdier ones.
• Cookie flavor thoughts. If you want to share a cookie that has a strong flavor (like Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies or Rosemary Ginger Shortbread Cookies), consider wrapping them in plastic wrap because their scent will infuse into the other cookies.

Bake or purchase your cookies. We want them to be fresh when they go into the cookie box. Just be sure that they’re cooled completely before beginning the packaging process.

Package them up. I line the tin with parchment paper. For the cookies, I start with the largest cookie and make space for that, then fill in the holes with other cookies and candies. Have fun with it and do what looks pleasing to your eye—there is no right way to do this!

Optional. Wrap it up! If you want to wrap the cookie box, feel free! You could also twist some twine around it or simply add a little note card to the top when you gift this to a friend or family member.

Share and make someone’s day!

Erin’s Easy Entertaining Tips

If you’re hosting a cookie exchange party or a cookie decorating party, these would be fun favors to send home with friends… if you want to do that. (Consider purchasing a small cookie tin for this, as your guests will have been enjoying cookies for a while.)

Here are a few things you can do to make gifting even easier:

• Make your cookies in advance… many cookie recipes freeze well. (Learn how to freeze cookie dough here.)
• Purchase your favorite cookies from a local bakery or grocery store. Nobody said you needed to bake your own, so if you’d rather gift cookies from your favorite spot, DO THAT.
• Remember the “equation.” All you need are one larger/spotlight cookie recipe, 2-4 easier cookie recipes (or homemade treat recipes), then a handful of individually-wrapped candies to fill in the holes.

Some of the best cookies for sharing in a gift box

• Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Funfetti Sugar Cookie Bars
• All-Butter Tea Cake Cookies with Easy Sugar Cookie Icing
• M&M Sugar Cookies
• Toasted Pecan Shortbread Cookies

How to Make a Cookie Gift Box

Erin Parker, The Speckled Palate

Want to make the best home cookie gift box for friends this holiday season? Learn how to put together colorful Christmas cookie gift boxes (or for any season) in this tutorial!

5 from 48 votes

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Servings 1 cookie gift box

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 favorite cookie recipes

Fillers

• Dark chocolate-covered almonds
• Jordan almonds
• Individually wrapped candies like Hershey Kisses, Andes mints or sea salt caramels
• Homemade candies like fudge or Saltine Cracker Toffee

Equipment

• Bakery box
• Cookie tin
• Festive cookie plate
• Parchment paper cupcake liners
• Parchment baking paper

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Instructions

 

• Choose your cookie box. If you’re making several Christmas cookie gift boxes, I suggest purchasing boxes that are the same size so that you can recreate a similar look in all of them instead of purchasing different sizes and having to customize each one.
• Choose your cookies. Decide upon 3-5 cookie recipes you want to share in your gift box. (The size of the boxes will determine how many cookies can fit. Typically, I can fit about a 8-10 total cookies, depending on the box and cookie size.) Consider which cookies will travel best, as well as what to do with cookies that have strong flavors.
• Bake the cookies. You can also purchase them from your favorite grocery store, too. Whatever you do, just make sure your cookies are cool before packing them.
• Package them up. I start with the largest cookie and make space for that, then fill in the holes with other cookies and candies. Have fun with it and do what looks pleasing to your eye—there is no right way to do this!
• Optional. Wrap it up! If you want to wrap the cookie box, feel free! You could also twist some twine around it or simply add a little note card to the top when you gift this to a friend or family member.
• Share and make someone’s day!
  

Video

Notes

You can use this tutorial to make a single gift box of cookies or several.

Keyword baking recipe, Christmas cookie, cookie recipe, cookies, dessert, easy cookie recipe

Course Desserts & Sweet Treats

Cuisine American

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!