My friends have often wondered how it is that I can have a variety of homemade cookies available at a moment’s notice. Today, I’m going to share my secret with you.
I used to cut every cookie recipe in half to reduce the temptation. Is there anything better than a homemade cookie right out of the oven with a cold glass of milk? I think not. At the end of the day, despite my best intentions, I was still left with too many cookies and a sugar high.
My friend, a baker, offered me a solution. She told me to make the full recipe, but only bake the amount of cookies that I actually wanted, then roll the rest into little balls and tray-freeze them for another time. Brilliant!
If you’ve never tried to tray-freeze cookie dough, it’s easy. Roll your cookie dough into little balls as though you were actually baking them. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper, place the dough balls on waxed paper and put the whole thing in the freezer for a few hours. Once frozen, pull the dough balls off the waxed paper and place them into a zippered plastic bag. Label, and you’re finished. When you want freshly baked cookies, just pull out as many as you want, put them on a cookie tray, and add a couple minutes to the baking time. The dough lasts roughly 3-6 months.
I do this with all of my cookie recipes so I have a variety on hand in my freezer. Whether I need to entertain at home, show up with a hostess gift, or say a quick thank you, I always have chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin ready in about ten minutes. But let’s just keep this between us, okay?
