# Preserving a cookie intact **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438 "2017-07-16T22:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/1 "2017-07-16T22:12:36Z")
(Mods, this seemed more like GQ that Cafe Society, but your discretion). My daughter decorated a cookie for my wife for Mother’s Day, rather beautifully. My wife wants to keep it so it’s been sitting in a plastic bag, now I’m sure quite stale, just waiting for the accident that destroys it. The cookie is an ordinary sugar cookie. I don’t know what the icing is made from, but it’s the kind that sets up hard. I’d like to do something to help preserve the cookie, but I’m not sure how to go about it. Obviously it needs to be protected from humidity and pests with some kind of clear coating, which ideally would also give it some structural strength. I imagine mounting it to some kind of stiff board (with glue? with brackets?) would also help. Then finally I’ll put it in a nice frame. Also, did I mention the cookie is heart-shaped? Thanks for all your help. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/2 "2017-07-17T00:15:55Z")
Perhaps a [spray on shellac](http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-12-oz-Clear-Shellac-Spray-408/100176744) would be a suitable coating to preserve it? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/3 "2017-07-17T00:20:14Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > (Mods, this seemed more like GQ that Cafe Society, but your discretion). > > My daughter decorated a cookie for my wife for Mother’s Day, rather beautifully. My wife wants to keep it so it’s been sitting in a plastic bag, now I’m sure quite stale, just waiting for the accident that destroys it. > > The cookie is an ordinary sugar cookie. I don’t know what the icing is made from, but it’s the kind that sets up hard. > > I’d like to do something to help preserve the cookie, but I’m not sure how to go about it. Obviously it needs to be protected from humidity and pests with some kind of clear coating, which ideally would also give it some structural strength. I imagine mounting it to some kind of stiff board (with glue? with brackets?) would also help. Then finally I’ll put it in a nice frame. > > Also, did I mention the cookie is heart-shaped? > > Thanks for all your help. my grandfather used to make elaborate Christmas cookies for the family, IIRC they were iced with hard fondant. Some were “preserved” and used as ornaments, and as I recall they were sealed with some sort of shellac like _Iggy_ suggests. But you need to make sure they dry out thoroughly. > **[Preserving and Storing Cookies as Keepsakes - Top 7 Tips | Sweetopia](https://sweetopia.net/2014/09/how-to-store-or-preserve-decorated-cookies-as-keepsakes-top-7-tips/)** > > Top 6 tips for preserving and storing decorated cookies to have as keepsakes, show pieces or mementos. and they won’t be indestructible or anything, but the, uh, shellacking ( 😉 ) will make them a bit more chip- and crumble-resistant. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/4 "2017-07-17T01:27:13Z")
Ideally they’d be made without butter, as butter-made cokes will get a strong rancid odor after a few months. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/5 "2017-07-17T01:28:20Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Ideally they’d be made without butter, as butter-made cokes will get a strong rancid odor after a few months. \*cookies, not cokes! ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/6 "2017-07-17T01:48:39Z")
You could attempt — or better still get someone experienced — to encase it in acrylic resin. **[EHOW](http://www.ehow.com/how_8487163_encase-things-resin.html)** **[Family Education](https://www.familyeducation.com/fun/handicrafts/cast-your-treasure-plastic-resin)** Never tried this, but there are some dangers without precautions. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/7 "2017-07-17T02:02:55Z")
Hmm, the resin casting sounds interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-a-cookie-intact/791438/8 "2017-07-17T18:05:01Z")
So this is the way the cookie doesn’t crumble.