Bagel is a bread that originated in Poland and has become popular in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Traditionally made from wheat flour, salt, water, and yeast leavening, bagels come in a variety of flavors including plain, blueberry, cinnamon-raisin and garlic.
While hardy and can withstand the rigors of shipping, bagels are only really fresh for about 2 days at the most. If you are planning to send some bagels to someone where these delicious rolls-with-holes are not available, here are some tips on how to properly pack and ship bagels to ensure that they arrive fresh and delicious.
Only ship freshly-baked bagels to ensure that they will arrive in their best condition. Buying them from your favorite bakery in the early morning is advisable. Once they are completely cooled, wrap each bagel loosely in a square of wax paper or brown paper. The paper will prevent the rolls from sticking together, absorb moisture, and prevent flavors from mixing up when shipping assorted bagels.
Place the wrapped bagels inside a Ziploc bag, 4 can fit into a gallon-sized bag. Squeeze as much air out from the bag as possible before sealing. If shipping various flavors, pack sweet bagels (e.g. cinnamon raisin) in a different bag from savory types (e.g. garlic or salted).
Line a shipping box (flat-rate Priority Mail box of appropriate size) with crumpled newspaper and place bags of bagels on top. Fill remaining spaces in the box with more paper to prevent the bagels from moving. Close and seal the box. Address and label the package and immediately take to the post office. Ship the same day via Priority Mail.
Do not ship near weekends or holidays. Also avoid fruity bagels (blueberry, strawberry, etc.) that might contain more moisture and can spoil much faster.