Making cookies can be a lot of work; there are many steps involved. When you succeed with making several cookies, you would want to preserve them for later consumption or even preserve them as ornaments. This is the idea behind how to Preserve Cookies for ornaments.
Bakers who teach students how to make cookies often preserve some for demonstration purposes in class, and bakers who attend special events also preserve cookies received at such occasions as keepsakes that can be shown off to other people.
How to Preserve Cookies for Ornaments: 3 Proven Methods
Whatever your reason for wanting to preserve your cookies for long-term use, let’s examine some preservation methods that can be applied to make your cookies look beautiful and last longer when stored for future consumption.
Method 1: Preserve your cookies with resins
Here are some materials you need to preserve your cookies with resins:
- Resins and hardeners
- Cup
- Paintbrush
- Gloves
- Silicon mat
- Plate
Steps to follow
Measure out your resin and hardener on a plate in 50:50 ratios. When you have equal portions of the resins and hardener, mix them for about 3 minutes. Pour the mixture on top of your cookies. Using the paintbrush, smoothen out the mixture so that it gets into every nook and cranny of the decoration of the icing, and also spread it around the edges of the cookie.
If you add too much resin and it spills over the sides of the cookie, simply use your paintbrush to scrape it off or smoothe it out. While you need a thick coat of resin, you don’t want too much spilling over the sides of the cookie. Once you’re done, place it on your baking sheet to dry for 24 hours.
For cookies with a lot of delicate details, pour the resin onto each of those elements separately so you don’t brush them too much. Then use your brush to smoothe the mixture over, dabbing into the really delicate portions. You could end up ruining the icing and cracking the icing on those delicate portions if you’re not careful.
Please note that you would be doing each side of the cookies on different days. Start with the front on the first day and graduate to the back the next day. Once the front portion has been allowed to dry for 24 hours, flip them back and repeat the process. For the back portion of the cookie, you don’t need to apply too much resin. You just need it to be preserved and not appear super shiny. After about 48 hours, your cookie must have had the chance to dry properly and hard on both sides. Now, you can go on to display your cookies as ornaments.
Method 2: Preserve your cookies by freezing
Freezing is an excellent planning strategy, especially when you are headed for a really busy season as a baker and won’t be able to utilize all your cookies. So, it’s a good idea to bake the cookies and put them in a freezer and then just take them out when you are ready to decorate them.
Here are some materials you need to preserve your cookies by freezing:
- Freshly-baked cookies cooled
- Freeze food save containers
- Plastic wrap
- Freezer bags
Having obtained these materials, below are the steps to follow for freezing:
- Bake the cookies and let them cool completely.
- Package your cookies in the freezer.
- Use a freeze-safe container. But before inserting your cookies in the container, cover the insides of the container with plastic wrap Make sure that it overhangs and then you can line the cookies. Plastic wraps actually prevent cookies from freezer burns and it also seals in the freshness.
- Put a piece of wax paper between each layer or use parchment paper.
- When you’re done with the last layer, take a plastic wrap that overhangs and close it at the top.
- Seal the lid of the container and place it in the freezer.
- Now, if you don’t have a big freezer, or your space is limited, you can package your cookies in small Ziploc bags. However, before placing your cookies in Ziploc bags, seal them in plastic wraps layer by layer and then place the entire content in the freezer.
- When your cookies are wrapped in Ziploc bags, place them in a low-traffic area in the freezer so that they don’t get thrown around too much.
- When you’re ready to use your cookies, put them on a counter or let them defrost in packaging before decorating them.
In general, cookies will last for about three days at room temperature – if you store them correctly. Preserved in the freezer, they can stay up to 6 months. Cookies need to be completely cool to the touch before you store them.
If you’re storing different varieties of cookies, plan to keep them in separate containers. Otherwise, your soft cookies will moisten your crisp cookies and the flavor profiles of different varieties, say, sugar cookies stored with gingersnaps, will start to blend.
It’s okay to store crisp cookies in a container with a loose-fitting cover. But to keep cookies soft and chewy, store them in a container that has a tight-fitting cover.
Method 3: Preserve your cookies by vacuum sealing
Vacuum sealing or vacuum packaging is a method of packaging that removes air from the package prior to sealing. This preservation method removes atmospheric oxygen from the package the products are sealed in. This method can be employed for the long-term storage of cookies.
Steps to follow
- Obtain a sterilized mason jar (that has been sterilized in boiling water) and place your cookies in this jar.
- Place an oxygen absorber inside the jar containing your cookies.
- Wipe the edges of the jar around the lid with a paper towel to remove any form of moisture.
- Vacuum-seal the jar with reusable lids.
Vacuum sealers are available to accommodate a variety of usage levels. You can find these vacuum sealers on Amazon. Some brands are capable of sealing up to 300 packages per hour.
Enable your cookies to last longer by storing them properly. The method you prefer to preserve your cookies would largely depend on how long you want them to last and what you would be doing with them afterward.
