Cookies are really the kind of gift that you can’t go wrong with. There are so many different cookie flavors available that you could go for anything from gluten free cookies to gourmet cookie baskets and more. Cookie recipes are a dime a dozen so you really have to make sure you hit the jackpot when you are looking for a recipe to gift someone with. Here are a few tips for making sure you find the perfect cookie recipes for your recipient.

Find Out Their Favorite
This is the most important one. If you are giving cookies as a gift to someone then you need to find out, inconspicuously, what flavor is their favorite. This will narrow down your options of cookie recipes considerable. Then, from there you should probably make sure that they don’t have any allergies or particular dislikes. For example, oat raisin cookies could be their favorite but while they may not be allergic, they hate it when people add walnuts to them or any kind of nuts. This is something you should know so you can find a recipe sans nuts.

Look for the Butter
If you aren’t trying to make a healthy cookie then look for a recipe that has a lot of butter in it. A lot of butter will make sure that the cookies have the smooth, lasting flavor. Too often, the dough is delicious but something goes amiss during the baking process and the cookies turn out pretty bland. This is usually because there is not enough butter. Butter holds all the flavors together and intact during the baking process. However, melting the butter to make it easier to mix will make your cookies spread to paper thin so make sure to avoid that all together.

Sample, Sample, Sample
A good baker will sample their work all the way through to make sure it is their best quality. So, make sure you make enough to allow for that. If you don’t like cookie recipes then have one of your kids or friends sample as you go. They’ll jump at the opportunity and then you’ll have an unbiased opinion to help you along the way. It’s the best way to make sure that you add enough or not too much of every ingredient that the recipe calls for.

Double the Recipe
If you decide to make cookies for someone then it’s probably a good idea to make sure that you double the batch so that they have enough to share but still enough to keep for themselves. You wouldn’t want to give them a small cookie basket only for them to feel guilty about keeping it to themselves but never really getting very many themselves because of sharing.

Present Them Appropriately
Last but not least when you are giving away cookies is all about how you present them. There are box options, basket options, bag options and more. There isn’t really a wrong or a right way but you do want to make sure they have cooled down before putting them away. The possibility of them melting into each other, crumbling or melting all over the packaging is very real especially if there is chocolate in them. So, wait for them to cool off, line the box, bag or basket with parchment paper or another prettier paper if you can find it and carefully lay the cookies in a nice pattern around the reciprocal. IF you’re using a box, you could merely close up the box and secure with a pretty ribbon. A bag is best scrunched at the top and closed with a twist tie and a nice ribbon on top of that. A basket can either have cellophane paper wrapped around the entire thing or just around the cookies inside the basket and secured with a good ribbon again.

Cookies are appropriate to give away for wedding favors, new baby gifts, sympathy presents, apology gifts as well as ‘just because’ times. They’re always greatly appreciated because they’re delicious of course and also because of the time and effort and money they take to make them home made. You can’t go wrong with cookies so if you can’t figure out what to give someone- make them a batch of cookies!