Since the holiday baking season is officially in full swing, I thought I’d share a holiday baking tip with you this Wednesday!
With Christmas over a week away, it’s still a bit early for me to start doing all of my holiday cookie baking. I don’t want my cookies to taste stales when my friends and family bite into them. But, I also want to get a head start on my baking. I bake a lot of cookies for Christmas, so I don’t have time to do everything in the last few days.
In the past, I have tried baking ahead of time and freezing the baked cookies until I’m ready for them. It seemed good in theory, but I always felt like the frozen cookies just didn’t taste as fresh as I would like. Maybe it’s in my head since I have a bit of a thing about hating cold food (and it doesn’t get much colder than frozen). I can’t take that risk with my Christmas cookies, though!
So, instead of freezing the baked cookies, I simply freeze the dough prior to baking! Simple, right? I mix up my cookies ahead of time, and then freeze the dough in small batches. So that I can pull it out and bake it later. It’s all of the convenience of store-bought, pre-made cookie dough, except that it’s homemade, from scratch cookie dough!
Freezing cookie dough works for me when I’m prepping for the holidays, but it’s also great to have on hand when I just want a few freshly baked cookies. Instead of freezing the cookie dough in one large brick in the freezer (which you can do, if you want), divide the dough up into smaller batches with just enough dough for about 1 sheet of cookies. Most recipes tell you how many dozen cookies the recipe will make, and a sheet pan will typically hold 1 dozen cookies, so you can use those numbers to help you out a bit. For example, for a recipe that makes 4 dozen cookies, divide the dough into 4 equal portions for the freezer!
Freezing Cookie Dough
Here’s what you’ll need to freeze your cookie dough…
- Waxed paper (or parchment, but waxed paper is typically cheaper)
- Clear tape
- Plastic wrap
- Masking tape or labels
- Permanent marker
First, wrap the cookie dough in the waxed paper and secure with the clear tape. Wrap again with the plastic wrap (I usually double wrap with the plastic wrap because I can be a bit OCD at times). Be sure to label cookie dough with the masking tape/labels and the permanent marker. Even if you think you’ll remember what it is, label it anyway. Trust me, in a few weeks, you’ll be glad that you labeled it!
You can leave the dough in the freezer for about 2 months. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, leave the dough wrapped as it thaws. It doesn’t have to thaw completely, just enough that you can break off a piece and shape/roll the dough. Bake as directed in the recipe.
For my 12 Days of Christmas series, I promised giveaways… It’s the season for giving, right?
As my blog has grown and I’ve attended conferences, I’ve accumulated a lot of free stuff. Instead of just keeping it all for myself, I thought I’d share some of it with you! Today, I’m giving away an assortment of brand new baking items…
- Flower shaped cupcake pan
- Kitchen scale
- Cupcake corer
- Icing squeeze bottle (perfect for decorating with kids!)
- Le Creuset spoon/spatula
- Holiday cookie cutters
This is going to be a quick one-day giveaway (since there are more giveaways to come!)… To be entered in the giveaway, leave a comment today (Dec. 15th) telling me your favorite type of cookies to bake for the holidays! I’ll announce the winner tomorrow!
Note – Since I will be shipping these items on my own budget, I have to limit the contest to US and Canada residents only.
Thanks for the freezing tip! My favorite holiday cookie…and it’s a tradition to make…is Cholcolate Crackle Tops. They are a chocolate cookie rolled in powdered sugar before backing so they “crackle” when baked!
Thank you for the great tips! At my age, I probably should add the date to the label too. :)
This year I made Russian Tea Cake Cookies. They’re fabulous…just a bite size of melt-in-your-mouth yum…and perfect with a nice cup of tea. (How ironic!) Best of all, I can always tell who’s been sneaking/snacking–I just look for the powdered sugar on their (his) shirt. (I’m an experienced sneaker/snacker and am always very quick to brush away any and all evidence…well that is unless you take a look at my hips.)
Thanks again and Merry Christmas!
My favorite holiday cookie – Cherry Bars.
LOVE oatmeal cookies! And my brother makes killer chocolate chip cookies. He used to ship them to me in college and people would come to my room holding glasses of milk.
I always make decorated sugar cookies – they’re so fun to personalize and share!
Pecan Butter Balls are it for me. Some may call them Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes but my grandmother with Swiss heritage would roll over in her grave! I love the cookie and I love the memory of her when I’m making or eating them!
I’ve been freezing the dough a lot lately…started with Jennifer Perillo’s chocolate chip cookies and now my grown children look in the freezer as soon as they show up; it’s become a regular cookie store in there!
Chocolate peppermint crackles have been a favorite lately.
alfajores! :D
Wow, everything looks so festive in the peppermint.
Awesome giveaway Jen. I love baking chocolate chip cookies. They are always a crowd pleaser and I can always enjoy them post the holiday season.
My favorite cookie would have to be Sugar Cookies! They are so much fun for the kids (and adults!) to make, not to mention DELICIOUS! :o)
Peanut Butter Blossoms!
Freezing cookie dough is definitely the way to go when it comes to holiday baking, great tip Jen! Gorgeous looking peppermint crackles by the way. :)
Soft Sugar Cookies
My favorite cookies to bake for the holidays (or anytime) are anything chocolate. I love those cookies you did and awesome idea for freezing!
I would like to make some sugar cookies for my church which I will need on December 21st. I discovered Martha Stewart’s sugar cookie recipe which states that they will hold for 4 days. Would it be possible to make the dough and freeze so I can make them on Monday evening? Here is the recipe title.
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies – Martha Stewart Recipes
Cheryl – Yes, that sounds to me like it would work. Though, I have never made that particular cookie recipe.
My favorites are cinnamon drizzle cookies. Everyone loves them!
My favorite cookie for the holidays are rugelach. I always had to hide them from my children when they arrived from college so that I would have a batch for Christmas.
Cowboy Cookies!!
Coconut Macaroon with the base dipped in dark chocolate yum!
Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies. Yum!!!=)
Ginger cookies are the favorite at Christmas. :) And one can’t go wrong with chocolate chip/chunk too.
I love the convenience of keeping cookie dough in my freezer.My favorite cookie is my iced spice cookie. :)
I am a cookie monster. I’m not picky. I guess my favorite would be peanut butter cup cookies.
Love gingerbread cookies!
White chocolate macadamia!
My favorite holiday cookies are sugar cookies decorated with royal icing!
I love making peanut butter and jam thumbprint cookies for the holidays
my mom’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are the best!
my favorite holiday cookies are chocolate dipped shortbread!! yum!
Love to bake gingerbread~ making a batch today!