Last week while whipping up a batch of kitchen sink cookies, I changed up the process in which I prepare the dough and it changed my world. Seriously, it was life altering, saved me time and is the only way I'll be preparing cooking from here on out.
For years the process in which I made cookies didn't deviate much. I'd mix the dough, snitch the dough (quality control you know), toss the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes and then fill my baking sheets with little scoops of dough. I'd toss the bowl back in the freezer and start the process all over again when my first batch came out of the oven. It wasn't until last week that I realized that I was doing things all wrong.
Because of time constraints, I wasn't going to have any time to bake the cookies I had started making. Usually when this is the plan (I like to make most my cookie dough in advance), I place the dough on parchment paper and make long rolls for the freezer. It's easy to slice off pieces as I need them.
Since this dough had so many bits and pieces of candy in them, making them into a log wouldn't be beneficial when it came time to slice them apart. Instead, I laid out one big piece of parchment and picked up my cookie scoop and scooped out the entire bowl into the little mounds you see pictured above.
The best part? I did it in all of 60 seconds. Because the batter was still warm and soft, it wasn't tough and went by so fast. I them picked them up one by one and put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and placed them very close together. I froze them in two batches, each one being chilled enough to pop off the parchment and into a zip top bag in just under 10 minutes.
Over the days I was able to bake off the exact number of cookies I wanted without dirtying my hands, fighting cold dough or really putting forth any effort other than getting off the sofa to do so. Sometimes the simple things can really make all the difference!
Related: Good Tool: Cookie Scoops
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)
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YES! I do this all the time. Takes all the tedium out of cookie baking. It doesn't work for all drop cookie doughs, though. I find that my oatmeal cookies don't spread enough to become crispy around the edges the way I like them. And cookies like peanut butter crisscrosses are best if you do the fork marks before you freeze.
My wife and I (with no kids) can't and shouldn't eat an entire batch of cookies by ourselves. But we crave.
I do the same thing, but I bake the 8 cookies for us, but scoop and freeze the rest for later. It make great client presents too. Just pop them out of the freezer as the oven preheats, and they are ready when the oven is!
I've been doing this for years. I think it came to me when neighborhood kids tried to sell me frozen cookie dough - I can do this, only better! I use butter and no chemicals when I make my own cookies. After the scoops are frozen, I put them in two zip loc bags. I write the baking instructions on the bags with a sharpie.
In addition to not eating an entire batch of cookies at once, I can have freshly baked cookies at a moment's notice.
This might sound sacreligious, but I just bake up the entire batch, and freeze (in a ziploc) the leftover baked cookies. Then, whenever I want some, I just pop them in the mircowave for a few seconds to defrost. That way, I only have to turn the oven on once, and have home-baked cookies ready in truly under 1 minute.
I thought most people who are freezing any amount of cookies already did this??
I always freeze cookies after they are baked and it never even occurred to me to freeze them before! They taste just as good as freshly baked when I thaw them out.
I've been doing for years! Also has the benefit of allowing you to bake off as few as 6 in a countertop convection oven, or a few dozen whenever you want them.
For more even cooking from frozen dough, lay a piece of parchment paper across the dough balls, place a baking sheet on top, and press down until the balls are slightly flattened. They will bake more evenly as discs than balls. They'll also be more stackable in the freezer this way.
This is what many restaurants and bakeries do - make huge batches, portion it all and freeze them for use over the course of a week.
Oh my gosh. . . . . SO going to bake some, freeze some cookies tomorrow!
I also do this all the time. I have bags of different doughs in my freezer. we bake a cookie sheet with 2-3 different kinds each time we make a batch!
When did people start "baking off" instead of just "baking"?
I started hearing that phrasing a few years ago on cooking shows--it must come out of the restaurant biz or it's culinary school lingo. It's sounds weird to me.
I've been meaning to get a scooper for ages!
Do you recommend a specific size though? I was thinking the general ice cream one, but I'm a bit afraid it'll make gigantic cookies.
I do this all the time. For the Holidays I also froze thyme and gruyere gourgeres (like mini cheese popovers). I posted the recipe on my blog!
Those are some good lookin' cookies in the photo! Yum yum!
How long can you keep cookie dough frozen. My daughter and I are baking for the cookie table at my son's wedding. It's March 9th. We need time to do this because we will be baking about 1,800 cookies. Your thoughts?