Gardners Cookies

Gardners Cookies is a family bakery in Northampton that posts hand-iced shortbread cookies across the UK, and its Monthly Cookie Box is the subscription version. For £12.95 a month you get a gift box of at least four iced cookies in a new theme each month, individually wrapped and sent by Royal Mail with postage included. There is also a £13.95 one-off box for a single month and a £20.95 XL box of 10 cookies from across the range. It is a pretty, giftable treat with a genuine family bakery behind it. It is not cheap per cookie, and the cancellation and dispatch rules are less tidy than the box itself, so read the verdict below. Our news story on the Gardners Cookies subscription covers a recent box.

Gardners Cookies price and plans

Postage is included on every plan, which is a real plus against most food boxes. The catch is the billing cycle. Gardners Cookies takes payment every 28 days, not on the same date each month, so a subscription that runs for a year will usually be charged 13 times. That makes the Monthly box about £168 a year and the XL about £272 if you never skip. The first payment is taken at checkout, and you receive the box theme for the month in which you pay.

What is in a Gardners Cookies box

Each Monthly box holds at least four iced shortbread cookies, each around three inches across, individually wrapped in compostable bags and packed in a gift box with rainbow tissue. Some months the brand swaps to more, smaller designs. The theme changes every month, for example Easter or Christmas, and the brand publishes a spoiler of the current month’s theme on its subscription page. You cannot request designs, because the monthly box is a mystery box.

• Monthly: a themed box of at least four cookies that should fit through most large letterboxes
• Monthly XL: 10 cookies from the newest and most popular designs, with no set theme, which may include duplicates from month to month and is not letterbox friendly
• Gift note: an optional free note, which stays the same each month on recurring plans
• Shelf life: up to two months at room temperature in the original packaging

Is Gardners Cookies vegan or allergen friendly?

Partly, and you need to read the small print. Gardners Cookies says its recipe is free from dairy and egg and suitable for vegans, and it sells separate vegan-friendly gift boxes. The subscription page does not promise a vegan monthly box or publish the designs in advance, so if that matters, email the shop before you subscribe. Every cookie contains gluten and sulphites, there is no gluten-free option, and the bakery also handles nuts, dairy, eggs, sesame and soya, so the brand cannot rule out traces.

How the Gardners Cookies subscription works

• Your first payment is taken at checkout, then roughly every 28 days.
• Everything is made to order. Cookies are baked and decorated from Tuesday to Friday and shipped on Wednesdays and Fridays.
• You can skip a month at any time by logging in to your customer account.
• To cancel, email [email protected]. The subscription page asks for at least three working days’ notice, because scheduled payments cannot be cancelled.

Treat the cancellation notice as a warning. The subscription page says three working days, but the brand’s terms and conditions say to email five days before your next billing date. Dispatch timings also vary between pages, from 2 to 3 working days on the delivery page to 3 to 7 working days on the subscription page. Our advice is to email at least five days ahead and expect a box within about a week of payment.

Who is behind Gardners Cookies?

The business is older than the cookies. James and Agnes Gardner opened Gardners Bakery on Harborough Road in Northampton in May 1910, and the family later added wedding and celebration cakes and takeaway treats. The postal cookie business began when customers who had moved away asked for the bakery’s treats by post. Today a team of 10 bakes, decorates and packs every order at the family bakery, which has a 5 star food hygiene rating. Cookies ship within the UK only.

Is Gardners Cookies worth it?

As a gift, yes. As a way to eat a lot of cookies cheaply, no. At £12.95 the Monthly box works out at about £3.24 a cookie, and the £13.95 one-off box is about £3.49. The XL box is the better deal at about £2.10 a cookie, but you give up the theme and the letterbox fit. You are paying for hand decoration, the gift box and the surprise, and for that the quality looks strong. We would send a one-off box first, and take the recurring plan only if the recipient loves it. Skip the subscription if you want a sure cancellation date: with conflicting notice periods, a one-off box is the safer way to test the brand.

Pros

• Hand-iced shortbread from a family bakery established in 1910
• Free UK postage, individually wrapped cookies and a free gift note
• A new theme every month, with a spoiler on the subscription page
• Skip any month from your customer account
• A larger XL box and a recipe without dairy or egg

Cons

• About £3.24 a cookie on the Monthly plan
• Billing every 28 days means 13 payments a year
• Cancelling needs an email and the notice period is stated two ways
• No gluten-free option, and vegan suitability for each month’s box is not guaranteed
• You cannot choose or request designs

Best alternatives to Gardners Cookies

• The Boozie Brownie Co: monthly artisan brownies, with a traditional alcohol-free option, if you prefer a squidgy treat.
• If I Knew You Were Coming: a monthly baking mix for people who want to bake the treat themselves.
• Mr Swainstons: a monthly box of retro sweets from a South Shields sweet shop.

For more ideas, browse our sweet subscription boxes and snack subscription boxes.

Gardners Cookies FAQ

How much does Gardners Cookies cost?

The Monthly box is £12.95 every 28 days on the recurring plan and £13.95 for a single one-off month. The Monthly XL box is £20.95 every 28 days. UK postage is free on all of them.

How many cookies are in the box?

The Monthly box contains at least four iced shortbread cookies, and sometimes more where the designs are smaller. The XL box contains 10 cookies in mixed designs.

How do I cancel Gardners Cookies?

Email [email protected] with your full name and the email you signed up with, or use the form on the subscription page. The page asks for three working days’ notice, but the terms say five days before your next billing date, so allow five.

Can I skip a month?

Yes. Log in to your customer account with the email you signed up with and edit your subscription.

Are the cookies vegan?

The brand says its recipe contains no dairy or egg and is suitable for vegans, but it also says its bakery handles dairy, eggs and nuts. Check with the shop before ordering the monthly box for a vegan.

Where is Gardners Cookies based?

Every order is baked at the family bakery on Harborough Road in Northampton. The brand posts to UK addresses only.