My friend is having a baby shower in two and a half weeks and wants me to make cookie favors and cupcakes (60 of each). The cupcakes take a good amount of time since they will be decorated with babies under a blanket. My question is ......Can I go ahead and get started with the cookies? Would they still taste fresh if I go ahead and package them without having to freeze them?

Oh, and I was also wondering what method do you like best for decorating the cookies (what kind of icing). She wants cookies of baby faces and baby bottles.

I would decorate them and package them and then freeze them in a large tupperware container. That is what I do all the time and they come out GREAT!

If you can't freeze them then I wouldn't make them more than a week ahead. I'm not basing that on personal experience but I wouldn't think they'd be fresh.

Miti, perfect timing for your question! Last week I baked on sunday for the following saturday fundraiser and for halloween. I started decorating a little at a time each evening after work, and kept the decorated ones in airtight container NOT in freezer. The first ones that started getting decorated were not real fresh like I prefer to serve them. Never again! Bake them early, but put into freezer in airtight container, and return to freezer if you're decorating early. I think MMF is the only thing I've seen not recommended to be frozen (and I could be wrong about that)

I remember when I was little how my mother & grandmother would put a slice or two of bread inside the Tupperware container with the sugar cookies they made every Christmas. I was told that the bread helps keep the cookies soft. After a day or so, the bread would get hard & the cookies would still be soft & it was time to replace the slice of bread. I'm not positive but I think it was something to do with the bread releasing it's moisture inside the container & the cookies absorbing it. No 100% sure how that concept worked though, but it did.

AZcakegirls I am intrigued. I was always told never to mix cookies and bread or cake. That if you put cookies in a tin with a cake the cookies would go soft ie. stale!

Like if you store crackers with a piece of bread the crackers go soft or stale!

Some people like their cookies soft so putting bread in with them would make them soft but as part of the stale-ing(sp) process!

I agree with Bamba, cookies going soft are deteriorating. However, to keep a fruit cake moist my Mum always stored an apple in the tupperware with the cake and replaced it after a couple of days. Cookies should be crisp shouldn't they???? Look forward to other comments on this matter

I suppose there's more to stale cookies than texture...you know that slightly stale taste.

If you're making your cookies with butter then don't keep them out of the freezer for more than 1 week. Butter tastes rancid at that point. I love Antonia's icing and it freezes very well. Adding a piece of bread keeps moisture in the environment so the cookies stay soft. You have to be careful though, it doesn't prevent staling and the bread can introduce mold as well. It's ok for a short period of time (a few days) but not as a preventative or to lengthen the time they stay fresh, it can also alter the taste. Basically make your cookies and freeze them up until the day before you want to serve them for the best results.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1983-Antonia74-Royal-Icing.html