Baking Recipes to Send to the Military

[sasha]

Please help! I've "adopted" a young man serving in the Army at Camp Scania in Iraq. Last week, I mailed him a package with goodies-all store-bought. I included Oreos because I hear they travel well in the heat. But, I really want to make home made cookies, etc. for this young man. I'd appreciate any suggestions egulleters might share with me as to what withstands the heat and the 3 week delay in package arrival to the Middle East. Thanks in advance for the help.

[glossyp]

Years ago, when I first lived in Korea, the mail frequently took a month or more. The summer heat and humidity were brutal. My Mom would send cookies baked from a standard peanut butter cookie recipe and they arrived in fine condition. Other winners were oatmeal/raisin/nuts cookies and gingerbread. Good luck - I'm sure whatever you make will be truly appreciated.

[Ling]

Biscotti and shortbread keep well.

[Jaymes]

Ask him what kind of cookies he prefers. Most recipes travel well. One of the secrets is to wrap each cookie individually in plastic or aluminum wrap. Not only does that help to seal the air out, but it also cushions the cookies one from the other, and makes it less likely that they will arrive in one giant cookie can of crumbles.

And consider bars as well. Lemon bars, date bars, etc. Tasty.

And if he's from the Southwest, throw in a couple of cans of Herdez salsa casera.

Edited April 29, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[highchef]

Biscotti and shortbread keep well.

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not my shortbread, it'd be flakes before it got there unless it wasn't cut and arrived as a sheet. Biscotti I second. I'll watch this because I've got a little friend who was shipped out on the 15th. Good luck. I'm thinking pecan tarts..

Ling, post your shortbread recipe, it's got to be tougher than mine. I use rice flour for a good deal of the reg. flour so maybe if I did not do that it'd be hardier.

[jsolomon]

Ginger snaps

[Wendy DeBord]

I'd definately only make cookies that I knew were his favorites. To me that's what I'd long for, a taste of the familar, a taste of home.

Theres not too many cookies that should be a problem.......... I'd avoid chunks of chocolate that might melt (but chocolate chips stand up to heat unlike couvetures)........but not too much else. Even if the chips in the cookies melted the cookie will taste good if you individually wrap it so it doesn't melt down into a block of cookies. I love warm cookies and warm chocolate, oowie and goowie.

Assuming this is a typical male who's list of favorite cookies would probably be:

chocolate chip

peanut butter

oatmeal raisin

chocolate

Make him whatever he likes and not what someone else thinks he'd like. That will impress him.

[ludja]

I was just reading Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited from the library and he has a recipe for ANZAK biscuits (cookies) from Australia that I had never heard of...

ANZAC is an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and these cookies (or, as the British call them, "biscuits") were made during the second World War by everyone Down Under to send to soldiers at the front.  My friend Melbourne food stylist Maureen McKeon, who gave me this recipe, wrote that she remembers helping her Irssh grandmother packlarge tins of the cookies.

Also,

The ingredients they used were: rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. All these items did not readily spoil. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

The article mentions no refrigeration for two months so I think these guys are hardy.

This recipe I found online is the same as Malgieri's. He also mentions that it is good to store them between layers of wax or parchment paper in a sealed container.

It is great you are doing this; maybe it will inspire more of us to follow suit! If you don't mind me asking, is there a general service online or elsewhere to hook up interested people with military 'adoptees'?

Edited April 29, 2005 by ludja (log)

[Jujubee]

Thanks for bringing this topic up. I'm also planning on sending cookies to a friend in Iraq. (Funny enough, she actually sent an email asking us NOT to send her any more care packages because we had already sent so much that, even after sharing generously, it would take her a while to get through everything, but she was very careful to make an exception for homemade cookies. We should still send those. ) I've read on some websites that give tips for baking for the troops that you should use margarine instead of butter because it keeps better. I am loathe to use margarine, but I don't want the cookies to turn rancid because of the butter. What do you think?

[highchef]

Thanks for bringing this topic up.  I'm also planning on sending cookies to a friend in Iraq.  (Funny enough, she actually sent an email asking us NOT to send her any more care packages because we had already sent so much that, even after sharing generously, it would take her a while to get through everything, but she was very careful to make an exception for homemade cookies.  We should still send those.  )  I've read on some websites that give tips for baking for the troops that you should use margarine instead of butter because it keeps better.  I am loathe to use margarine, but I don't want the cookies to turn rancid because of the butter.  What do you think?

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I'm with you, I'd use crisco first.

[sherribabee]

After reading this thread, I went home last night and did a Google search for "adopt a soldier" and I came up with several good links. I decided to adopt a soldier through the Manhattanville College program and I should be getting my soldier's info via email in the next couple of days.

I also found a good link HERE with a long list of things that various soldiers have requested. I snagged a few frisbees and stress balls from our company's HR department, which I will be including in my package.

I think I'm going to make some oatmeal raisin cookies and maybe try the ANZAC biscuits.

Thanks for starting this topic!

Edited April 29, 2005 by sherribabee (log)

[Susan G]

It is great you are doing this; maybe it will inspire more of us to follow suit! If you don't mind me asking, is there a general service online or elsewhere to hook up interested people with military 'adoptees'?

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[Ling]

Biscotti and shortbread keep well.

←

not my shortbread, it'd be flakes before it got there unless it wasn't cut and arrived as a sheet. Biscotti I second. I'll watch this because I've got a little friend who was shipped out on the 15th. Good luck. I'm thinking pecan tarts..

Ling, post your shortbread recipe, it's got to be tougher than mine. I use rice flour for a good deal of the reg. flour so maybe if I did not do that it'd be hardier.

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I should have clarified--any type of baked good that I make doesn't last for more than a day (two at the very most!) b/c I love sweets and eat them constantly! However, I received some cookies from a cookie exchange that took place a few weeks before I got a chance to taste them, and I remember the shortbread ones tasted the best--not stale at all.

Here's my favourite biscotti recipe (I've tried perhaps ten of them in total, including the ones in Baking with Julia). This one is from the King Arthur's Flour website:

Traditional Italian Biscotti

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/contentmgr/...ls.php/id/47458

[Fernwood]

One of the things I particularly like about Great Cookies by Carole Walter is that she flags each recipe with several little comments about its characteristics, like "freezes well", "festive", or "travels well". If you have access to the book, it is a wonderful resource.

[sasha]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I definitely will be making some raisin oatmeal cookies, shortbread stuffed with raspberry filling and some apricot cookies. I'll include some packages of individually wrapped coffee bags, the homemade biscotti, and powdered drinks made with sugar. Drink mixes made with Equal or any artificial sweetener become toxic in the high heat of the desert. So, after March and before December only goods with real sugar may be sent. Also, Wendy's suggestion of making chocolate chip cookies works during Winter. I've been told not to send anything containing chocolate this time of year (even choc. chips or M & M's) because the temperature is already over 110 degrees! When I receive a letter back from my soldier (Brian), I'll fill you in with what I learn. A friend suggested anyone wanting to "adopt" a soldier go to anysoldier.com. By the way, anyone sending goodies to a soldier can use the U.S. Post Office flat rate boxes which allow you to ship really heavy stuff for the same price ($7.70) as light items. I hope other egulleters will use their cullinary talents to lift the spirits of our service men and women overseas.

[sasha]

After nearly two and a half months, I received a short note from soldier Brian. Unfortunately, he's a young man of few words, so I learned very little about hi m. I adopted another soldier from soldiersangels.com so I'll report when I get a note from soldier Joshua. Meanwhile, I've decided to bake some pan cookies and add a bit of corn syrup to help keep them moist during the three week trip to Iraq. I'll make some brownies and oatmeal raisin pan cookies, stack them uncut in a metal pan from the 99 cents store (so they're less likely to dry out), and wrap the whole thing in heavy duty foil. The women I've spoken with who send cookies abroad say they must be layered with popcorn beads and wax paper so they won't break.

[BarbaraY]

We have a similar problem sending cookies to my grandson in Guantanamo. It took two weeks last time but he didn't complain. I guess stale homemade cookies were better than none. :D

This time we're going to vacuum bag them and see if that works better. He asked for peanut butter and oatmeal, raisin so let's hope that works.

[scordelia]

The Joy of Cooking has a recipe for Chinese Ginger Thins (I do not think they are really Chinese), but they are nice thin, crisp cookies. Also, the recipe makes a ton, so plenty to share!

[Misa]

One thing that needs to be taken into consideration, however, is that if you've not heard from a soldier that you've "adopted" then you should not send them a care package with homemade goodies in them, as it will probably be thrown out, due to fears of poisoning, etc.

[jsolomon]

Most soldiers I know there (the number is in the hundreds right now) will brave the chance of food poisoning for the chance at homemade cookies.

[Pan]

I heard an American who had served in the military in Iraq say on the News Hour on U.S. Public TV on July 4 that his base was so deluged with food donations that they had to try to find a way to give it away or throw it out. No further comment except that I recommend you all keep this in mind.

[Mnehrling]

I have many friends in Iraq and they love receiving candy bars because they give them to the kids.

[kdl1221]

I just sent a couple dozen cookies to my uncle in Afghanistan. My husband is Army also, and served time in Iraq during 90-91, thankfully he has not been sent back, yet.

He gave me his insite to receiving packages while overseas.

1. ANYTHING you send is greatly appriciated, because it is the thought that you took time to get things together, box them up, and ship them.

2. Chapstick, bug repellent(non aerosol), sunblock, wet wipes are always great items. Packaged koolaid, coffee and teas already come in the crummy MREs, and while not in high demand, would of course not be refused.

3. My husband did receive homemade cookies once. He said it didn't matter they were stale, he ate every single one, and did not share. He wished he had received them more often, for himself, and then he would have shared.

I wrapped them all indiv, then sealed with wax paper in ziplock bags. I also repeated this processes and kept some here in my pantry, to taste test in a few weeks (just curious how stale they get and might adjust ingrediants accordingly).

I sent my great aunt's snickerdoodles, grandmothers peanut butter cookies (these specific recipes mostly for sentimental value), and some oatmeal raisin, and some other odds and ends.

I will update in about 3 weeks with the stale results, and recipes if anyone wants.

[sasha]

I just sent a couple dozen cookies to my uncle in Afghanistan. My husband is Army also, and served time in Iraq during 90-91, thankfully he has not been sent back, yet.

He gave me his insite to receiving packages while overseas.

1. ANYTHING you send is greatly appriciated, because it is the thought that you took time to get things together, box them up, and ship them.

2. Chapstick, bug repellent(non aerosol), sunblock, wet wipes are always great items. Packaged koolaid, coffee and teas already come in the crummy MREs, and while not in high demand, would of course not be refused.

3. My husband did receive homemade cookies once. He said it didn't matter they were stale, he ate every single one, and did not share. He wished he had received them more often, for himself, and then he would have shared. 

I wrapped them all indiv, then sealed with wax paper in ziplock bags. I also repeated this processes and kept some here in my pantry, to taste test in a few weeks (just curious how stale they get and might adjust ingrediants accordingly).

I sent my great aunt's snickerdoodles, grandmothers peanut butter cookies (these specific recipes mostly for sentimental value), and some oatmeal raisin, and some other odds and ends.

I will update in about 3 weeks with the stale results, and recipes if anyone wants.

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[Verjuice]

I live in the Gulf, where it is now 122 degrees at 100% humidity. Send a soft. hearty, chewy cookie like molasses clove or oatmeal raisin. Anything crispy is going to end up that way anyway.

Avoid chocolate- we're not talking about a little gooey meltage but rather liquid molten mess.

It's unimaginably hot here. Really.