Custom Printed Cookie and Biscuit Bags for Bakeries

What is a cookie bag and what does it need to do?

A cookie bag has two jobs. It keeps the biscuit crisp by shutting moisture out, and it stops butter and chocolate marking the outside of the pack.

For a single cookie sold at a café counter, that means a flat bag with a heat seal, small enough to sit by the till. For a half dozen, it means a stand up pouch with a zipper so the pack can be reopened.

Both formats use the same laminates and print. Flat singles are covered in more detail on our printed flat pouches for single bakes page.

Who orders printed biscuit bags?

Most of the bakeries we print for started with clear bags and a sticker. A printed bag is the next step once a product sells in steady numbers.

Gift boxes and treat bags for the same bakes, including foil gusseted bags for wedding favours, sit in the sweet and gift bags range.

• High street bakeries selling branded cookies at the counter
• Home bakers registered with their council and selling online
• Shortbread and oatcake makers supplying farm shops
• Biscuit subscription boxes posting a new flavour monthly
• Coffee shop chains with an own-label cookie by the till
• Gluten-free and vegan biscuit brands listed in health stores

What size bag fits six 70 mm cookies?

Measure the widest cookie, then decide how they sit in the bag. Cookies lying flat need width; shortbread fingers standing on end need height.

Six 70 mm cookies stacked flat make a column about 90 mm tall. A 140 × 200 mm stand up pouch with an 80 mm gusset takes that stack with room for the zipper.

Allow 10 mm around the stack so the bag does not stretch and the print does not distort. More dimensions by weight are in the pouch sizes guide for UK producers.

Keeping biscuits crisp and butter off the print

Biscuits go soft because they pull moisture from the air. A metallised PET or foil layer slows that to a crawl, which is why most printed biscuit bags use one.

Butter is the other problem. Grease migrates through thin film and shows as dark patches on paper-faced bags. The PE inner layer and a grease-resistant option on request keep the outside clean. Shortbread is the worst offender, since it is nearly a third butter by weight.

Food-contact film is an option on request, confirmed on your quote. The laminates guide for food pouches explains which layer does what.

Window, photo or both on the front?

Cookies sell on sight. A window showing the chocolate chunks does a lot of the work, and a round window cut to the cookie shape looks sharp.

Butter can smear a window from inside, so keep it on the upper half of the bag where the cookie leans rather than presses. For soft-baked cookies, a photo on the front avoids that.

Both options are shown on the proof before anything is printed. Window shapes and sizes are listed on the stand up pouches with window page.

Zipper for multipacks, heat seal for singles

A press-to-close zipper makes sense on packs of six or more. The customer eats two, closes the bag and the rest stay crisp.

On single and double cookies, a zipper is wasted. A heat seal across the top with a tear notch is cheaper and quicker to fill by hand. A tear notch on both top corners lets a left-handed customer open the bag just as easily.

The flat bags in that format are made as three side seal pouches. Their sizes and seal widths are on the three side seal pouch page.

Printing and finishes for a bakery brand

Bakery branding tends to be warm and hand-drawn. Full colour digital print handles that well, including gradients and photos of the bake, as in the red cookie pouch in the photos.

Gloss film makes a photo of chocolate look richer. Matte suits a kraft-look design with a hand-lettered logo. Spot gloss on the cookie photo over a matte background is a nice compromise.

Leave space on the back for allergens in bold, since nuts and gluten are usual in biscuits. Our guide to pouch artwork and dielines lists the margins to keep.

How do you pack soft-baked cookies without breaking them?

Soft cookies crack when they are dropped into a tall bag. These steps keep them whole.

For a paper-faced bag with a natural look, the kraft stand up pouches with zipper use the same filling routine.

1. Cool the bake fully; warm cookies steam inside the bag and go soft.
2. Open the bag and stand it in a tray so both hands are free.
3. Lower the stack in on a card slip or a square of baking paper.
4. Fill to two thirds, leaving the zipper track clear of crumbs.
5. Close the zipper, heat seal above it and pack the bags upright in the carton.

Common mistakes with cookie and biscuit bags

The most common one is a bag sized to the cookie, with no room for the stack to shift. The bag splits at the gusset in transit.

Clear film with no barrier layer is another. The cookies look great on day one and taste stale by the weekend.

Printing a best before date as part of the artwork means the whole run is dated. Leave a blank box and use a stamp. For gifting lines, see how the foil gift bags for biscuits handle the date box.

How to order cookie and biscuit bags

Give us the bake, the count per pack, whether they lie flat or stand on end, and a rough quantity. Prices begin at £0.25 per unit and each order is quoted in writing with its own quantity.

A free design proof follows, with the window or photo placed and any allergen box sized. After approval, the bags take 4–6 business days to make.

Delivery is free and tracked to UK addresses, usually 2–3 business days. If a bag arrives misprinted or damaged, photos within 10 days get a reprint or refund. Start through the cookie bag quote request form.