FAQ Quick Links:

No, we do not. We understand that may be disappointing, but it is for an important reason: to preserve each flavor best. Each Moravian Cookie flavor must be sealed individually, or the different flavors will blend. And though each flavor is fantastic, the Ginger Crisp and Black Walnut Crisp flavors, when muddled together, will likely be less than fantastic.

Unfortunately, we do not. Our cookies are made by us in our bakery on shared equipment, and therefore, any flavors may contain the following allergens: Milk, Egg, Soy, Wheat, and Tree Nut (Black Walnut).

If the package remains unopened in a climate-controlled environment, the shelf life of each flavor is:

• Ginger: 12-18 months. The molasses and spices (and the absence of eggs) contribute to this being our most extended shelf-stable flavor.
• Sugar, Lemon, and Butterscotch: 6-8 months.
• Chocolate and Black Walnut: 4-5 months.

You can, but taking up the space in your freezer may not be necessary. Some customers visit us and stock up on their favorite flavors. Chocolate Crisp and Black Walnut Crisp have the shortest shelf life (4-5 months) due to their higher fat content, so those might be the ones you would want to freeze. We suggest putting them in an airtight container before putting them in the freezer.

Sure! To restore your cookies to their crispy goodness, place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake them in a 325-degree Fahrenheit oven for 1-2 minutes. Keep an eye on them; they can burn quickly.

Sure! All our cookies are thin and crispy. Here’s how our customers describe each flavor:

• Ginger: This molasses-based cookie is sweetened with brown sugar and spiced with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It has no eggs and very little milk. One customer said it tastes like “Christmas,” and another said it smells like grandma’s kitchen. Some consider it a bit spicy because of the ginger. This is our most popular flavor.
• Sugar: A straightforward sugar cookie with an extra dash of vanilla. For a “plain” cookie, this is very flavorful. This is our second most popular flavor.
• Lemon: The sugar cookie base with lemon flavoring. It has a very light flavor, and our younger customers sometimes tell us it tastes like a well-known fruity breakfast cereal.
• Black Walnut: This aromatic cookie is made with bits of black walnut and black walnut flavoring. Customers sometimes tell us it tastes like a blueberry muffin with a nutty finish. This is a rich and savory cookie, perfect with coffee.
• Chocolate: Our Chocolate cookie is made with lots of cocoa. Its flavor is like hot chocolate in cookie form and mildly sweet.
• Butterscotch: Butterscotch is a cousin to caramel. It is often said to taste like butter rum hard candy.

They sure are! We do it the old-fashioned way, with rolling pins and cookie cutters. We roll the dough with a rolling pin, cut them individually with a cookie cutter, and package them by hand after they’ve been baked. We even have a video that proves it!

Lots of practice. Our cloth-covered board helps achieve a thin cookie, as does some impressive upper-body strength.

It takes approximately three months to train a roller fully. When you make a cookie eight hours a day, five days a week, you accumulate a lot of experience quickly. However, each flavor of dough has different characteristics, so it takes a while before the roller has learned each one.

No, we typically only make one flavor a day.

Our current inventory, the date on the calendar, and any upcoming holidays determine our baking schedule. Ginger is our most popular flavor; we make over 50,000 pounds each year. Ginger has the most extended shelf life and takes the longest to make, so we start making it in January. It takes us until July to make the Ginger, and then it’s on to the other flavors.

We have 40 years of records that tell us what we make each year, how we package it, and how much is sold. We watch mail-order trends and walk-in sales. As we plan our baking schedules each year, we also consider the ability to hire and retain high-quality employees.

We cannot assure you there is no cross-contamination. Our cookies are made in the same production space. If your sensitivity to tree nuts is high, we recommend not consuming any of our cookies.

In 2022, we made over 96,000 pounds of cookies, which works out to over 9 million cookies. We made them by hand, one by one. Our goal is to exceed our 2020 numbers—11 million cookies!

The short answer in general numbers are:

• Ginger: 30,000 – 35,000 per day
• Other flavors: 42,500 – 52,500 per day

If that’s the short answer, what’s the long answer? Ginger dough is dense and takes longer to knead and roll it. Because it is so tough, you can also get it the thinnest. Since it takes longer, you don’t make as much in a day. Other flavors, which we call soft dough, are much easier to work with, resulting in faster production. Since we make our cookies by hand, the number of cookies made depends on the number of employees present each day. The more staff, the more cookies. Along with the flavor, it also depends on what day it is. Our staff are more productive earlier in the week than at the end. That has a great deal to do with how physical their job is. When you stand on your feet for 8 hours and physically exert yourself all day, you are understandably tired by the end of the week.

Soft dough is made without molasses and has a higher fat-to-flour ratio. Our Ginger recipe is roughly 1/3 molasses, 1/3 flour, and 1/3 everything else. Our rollers would tell you there is nothing soft about ginger dough!

Every cookie recipe includes milk, soy, and wheat. Every cookie recipe except Ginger includes eggs. The Black Walnut recipe includes tree nuts (black walnut).

Allergen Statement: We make our cookies in our bakery on shared equipment, and therefore, any flavors may contain the following allergens: Milk, Egg, Soy, Wheat, and Tree Nuts (Black Walnut).

Yes, we do! Mail order is about half of our sales.

We have shipped our cookies to 74 countries and all 50 US states. If you have the address, we’ll ship cookies to it.

No, we do not. We understand that may be disappointing, but it is for an important reason: to preserve each flavor best. Each Moravian Cookie flavor must be sealed individually, or the different flavors will blend. And though each flavor is fantastic, the Ginger Crisp and Black Walnut Crisp flavors, when muddled together, will likely be less than fantastic.

Our Tubes (cylindrical cans) hold 6.3-7 oz of cookies, all round shapes. Our Tins come in two sizes: 14 oz or 28 oz. Each container holds ONE flavor. Each tin has food-safe foam circles on the top and bottom and a piece of food-safe corrugated paper around the sides for cushioning. Cookies are stacked and hand-wrapped with parchment paper or cocktail napkins (depending on the flavor) for even more cushioning. 14-oz tins hold eight stacks of cookies, and 28-oz. tins hold 16 stacks. Tins always have scalloped-shaped cookies in the middle. Ginger tins have stacks of round and heart-shaped cookies in a circle around the scallops. All other flavors have a scallop-shaped cookie stack in the middle and heart-shaped cookies around the scallops.

If you would like a mixture of flavors – consider purchasing several tubes.

We have cookies packaged in cellophane bags. Each flavor is available in 7 oz or 14 oz bags. We do not ship our cellophane bags.

Moravian (pronounced "muh"+"RAY"+"vee"+"uhn") is a Protestant Christian denomination. Originally from the Czech Republic area of Europe, Moravians settled in Colonial America in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1741. Later, in 1753, groups of Moravians traveled down the Great Wagon Road to North Carolina to survey and settle in the 100,000 acres they had purchased. Their first community was named Bethabara (pronounced “beh”+”THAB”+”uh”+”ruh”). Once they had scouted their land for waterways, suitable topography, and areas favorable to a larger town, they built Salem in 1766. Salem was an industrial trade center with a gunsmith, potter, doctor, apothecary, weavers, and many other trades. Salem was the central town of the Wachovia tract, and the church controlled five surrounding rural and agricultural areas. All members of the communities had to be members of the church. In 1857, the church divested control of the town and allowed the residents to purchase their property. Salem then became a legal municipality. Moravians are a small denomination with concentrations in Winston-Salem, NC, and Bethlehem, PA. Moravian missionaries have had a significant impact worldwide, with churches in the Caribbean and Tanzania.

No, they do not, although we have several employees who are members of local Moravian churches.

The first Moravian star appeared in the 1830s as a geometry lesson at the Moravian Boys School in Niesky, Germany. It was adopted as a symbol during the church year's Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons.

The smell! We can tell you about our cookies and let you taste them, but when you walk in the door, and the intense smell of cookies hits your nose, there is nothing like it. If only we could bottle it.

Absolutely! We want you to know that the flavor you purchase is one you like. If it is during the Christmas season and the lobby is crowded, we might be unable to accommodate sample requests.

Our lobby has a wall-to-wall window that looks into our production area. You can watch our Artists in Aprons as they make the cookies by hand, kneading, rolling, and cutting the cookies from the dough. It is a mesmerizing process.

Moravian Stars (12” & 21”), Mrs. Hanes’ cookbook, Supper’s At Six, And We’re Not Waiting, handmade pottery by the Hanes Family, and Mrs. Hanes’ autobiography What More Could I Ask For: My Story.

Yes! Mrs. Evva (spelled with two “v”s) was the daughter of Alva and Bertha Foltz. Mrs. Bertha started making cookies in the 1920s to supplement their farm income. Mrs. Evva (who married Travis Hanes) helped her mother as a child and took over the seasonal business in 1960. It became a full-time enterprise in 1965. There’s a picture of Mrs. Hanes on every package of our cookies.

She was up until her death in June of 2023. She was retired and preferred cooking and working in her garden to making cookies every day. But she lived next door to our bakery, so she would come by whenever she wanted. She weighed in on new ideas and kept an eye on what was happening.

Yes, they are! Mrs. Hanes' son and daughter led the cookie business for many years. Now, the oldest grandchild, Jed, is making the big decisions and getting our technology up to speed.

Yes. Other businesses in Winston Salem make Moravian-style (very thin) cookies, but, as far as we know, are the only ones that still make them by hand. At this location, we’ve been making our cookies by hand, with rolling pins and cookie cutters on cloth-covered boards, for over 100 years!

Look for Mrs. Hanes' name and picture on the package label to ensure you have ours.

No, we do not. When you make a cookie by hand, there’s not much wiggle room for discounts.

We offer tours from January through mid-October. Tours are BY APPOINTMENT ONLY! Call us, and let us know how many people would like to come and what dates you have in mind. We will see what our availability looks like. If you are planning for a group, call early! February, March, and April are very busy with school tours. There are NO tours in November and December.

Our tour guides are part-time employees. Since their only job duty is giving tours, we must schedule their time based on the tour bookings.

We can schedule a tour for you either in the morning or afternoon. Our morning reservations can be scheduled starting between 9:00 and 10:30 am. Our afternoon reservations can be scheduled to start between noon and 1:00 pm. Again, a reservation MUST be made for a tour.

We prefer a group with at least ten people over eight years old.

We can accommodate up to 60 people at one time.

Yes, that is a possibility. Since we have limited tour guides, we like to be as efficient as possible. If your group has ten people and another group of 3 would like to come, we will combine you into one group for the tour.

The tour contains information about the Hanes family, production, shipping, and packing. Although walking through our facility interests everyone, it is most appreciated by guests ages eight and above. Parents, use your judgment on the ability of your young children to enjoy the tour. To a three-year-old – 45 minutes can be a lifetime!

Tour guides are part-time employees, and some are retired teachers. During the holiday season, they also work in our sales department.

Yes, the charge is $5.00 per person ages five and above ($5.35 with tax).

Anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour. The length depends on the average age of participants, the number in the group, and how many questions you have.

Yes, it is. Wheelchairs, walkers, and strollers can access all areas.

A tour consists of six different stops throughout our 30,000 sq. ft. facility. You will visit our production room, mixing room, offices, packing room, shipping room, and Grandma’s Kitchen. At each stop, you will hear comments about various areas of our business and receive a different cookie to taste.

Yes! Our sales lobby has wall-to-wall windows that look into our production area. We recommend you come between 8:00 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. to see the ladies and gentlemen making our thin, flavorful cookies. Our rollers start cleaning up at 2:40, so if you are here by 2:15, you can see the entire process before they stop for the day.

Unfortunately, we can’t offer a tour without a reservation. However, we can guide you to our wall-to-wall windows that look into our production area and tell you lots of information you would typically hear on the tour. We have samples you can taste. We are happy to answer all your questions. And, of course, we will be glad to sell you as many cookies as you want.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover credit cards.

We use the Shopify platform for our website. Shopify uses 256-bit SSL certificates (encrypted and secured data) to keep your order details secure.

No, we do not! If you send cookies to someone, they only receive cookies. If they want to be on our email list or receive a catalog from us, they must request it themselves.

Absolutely! Want to get your Christmas order done in October? Enter your order and choose the preferred delivery date; we will handle the rest.

Yes, we will add you to our customer list (which we do not sell to third parties). We will not overwhelm your physical or electronic mailbox. We send emails near major holidays (Valentine's, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving) and mail our physical catalog by USPS in the fall. If you do not want to receive emails from us, you can unsubscribe anytime. If you do not wish to receive a yearly catalog from USPS, call us, and we will remove you from our mailing list.

When you complete your order, you will receive an order confirmation number. If you don’t get this, your order did not go through. You will also receive email confirmation of your order. Please check your email for correct spelling. If you misspell the email, you won’t receive one.

First, check your spam folder. Our emails can sometimes end up there. If it is not in your spam/junk folder, go back into your account and check the spelling of the email address you entered. If you did not enter the email address correctly, please contact us at 888-764-1402 or orders@hanescookies.com.

You will receive tracking information when the carrier picks up your order from us. That information will allow you to see where your package is and when it is out for delivery.

Yes! Call us at 888-764-1402 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and we will gladly take your order. As an extra benefit, you can hear our southern accents!

Unfortunately, you cannot return cookies. If your cookies arrived damaged, please call us at (888) 764-1402 to discuss your situation.

You can choose multiple shipping locations during the checkout process. Please call us if you have any questions.

Standard delivery is $10 for any package to one address. This applies to all 50 US states and all APO, FPO, and DPO addresses. We use UPS SurePost. Shipping times can vary from 2 days to 9 days. SurePost is a delivery method provided by UPS, where UPS is the primary shipper, but USPS might handle the final delivery mile.