Custom Pastry Bags

Packaging Bags, Not Piping Bags

A quick clarification first, because the phrase confuses people: these are not the cone-shaped piping bags used to pipe frosting. Custom pastry bags are the printed paper bags a bakery uses to hand over croissants, danishes, scones, muffins and turnovers. They are the bag in your hand when you leave a French bakery with a warm pain au chocolat, and the bag that sits on the café table next to a latte.

Pastries are fragile and buttery. Laminated doughs shed flakes, glazes stick, and the butter in a croissant can leave clear spots on plain paper within minutes. A good pastry bag is shaped so the pastry lies flat rather than being squashed, and it is printed so a few butter marks don't spoil your logo.

The buyers include French and European-style bakeries, coffee shops that sell pastries from a case, hotel breakfast counters, farmers market bakers, Scandinavian and Middle Eastern bakeries, and caterers serving morning meetings. Search terms on this page even include the Swedish "bageri påsar," which means bakery bags, a sign of how many international bakeries look for the same thing.

Shapes for Croissants, Danishes and Muffins

Pastries are wider than they are tall, so the bag should be too. Flat bags with a fold-over top suit single croissants and flat pastries. Gusseted bags suit muffins, scones and anything with height, plus orders of two or three. A window helps sell pastries pre-bagged on a shelf.

White paper looks clean and suits patisserie-style shops, though butter spots show. Kraft hides spots and suits rustic bakeries. For very buttery pastries, a grease-resistant paper is worth asking about, or line the bag with a sheet of printed custom glassine paper so the butter stays off the outer print. All food-contact papers meet FDA requirements.

Seasonal pastries are a good reason to think about a second design. A bakery that sells king cake in February, hot cross buns at Easter or pumpkin scones in the fall can run a limited bag for each, and at 100 bags per design the cost stays manageable. Customers often notice the special bag before they notice the special pastry, which makes it a useful nudge at the counter. Keep the logo in the same place on every design so the bags still look like one family.

Printing for a Bakery Counter

Pastry bags are often printed with an elegant, simple design: a script logo, a thin line border or a pattern of small illustrations. A pastry bag is held close to the eye, so finer detail works better here than on a grocery bag, as long as the lines aren't too thin for kraft fiber.

• A single PMS (Pantone) color on white looks classic in French-style bakeries.
• Gold foil on white or kraft adds a premium touch for holiday pastries and gifts.
• A repeating pattern hides butter spots better than one logo on a plain field.
• Embossing a logo onto plain white paper looks upscale without any ink.
• Print your café's opening hours on the back; pastry customers come back daily.

For bakeries that also sell loaves, using the same artwork on a longer bag keeps the counter consistent; our custom printed bread bags for loaves are sized for the job.

Bagging Pastries During Service

Use tongs or a pastry sheet to pick up each item, open the bag with the other hand and slide the pastry in flat. Fold the top over once. If the pastry is still warm, leave the fold loose so steam can escape; closed tightly, a warm croissant goes soft. For pastries going into a box later, bag them one per bag so glazes don't stick to each other.

Store bags flat in a dry cupboard near the case, away from ovens and proofers. A tidy pile of opened bags next to the till keeps the morning line moving. For individual muffins or cupcakes sold as single items, printed custom muffin sleeves are a lighter alternative that wraps around the base and leaves the top showing.

Placing an Order

1. List your best-selling pastries and measure the largest of each type.
2. Choose flat, gusseted or window styles and white or kraft paper.
3. Send your logo and any pattern or colors you use in the shop.
4. Request free samples and test them with fresh, buttery pastries.
5. Approve the proof; production takes 4 to 6 business days after approval.

Orders start at 100 bags per design, and volume discounts make larger quantities more economical. Free design help, free samples and free shipping to the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia are included. Request a price through the free pastry bag quote form.