I love to bake, but...

no one could bake all that yummy stuff and eat it all right then. So, what is an enthusiastic baker to do? Freeze them! Yes, you read me correctly. When I make cookies, I freeze 1/2 to 2/3 of the cookie dough! It is really simple. All I do is bake one or two sheets worth of cookies, then while the cookies are in the oven, I scoop out the remaining dough in cookie-sized servings (I use my scooper) as if I were going to cook it. I place all the cookie dough scoops on a cookie sheet (close together because they won't spread) and stick the whole tray in the freezer for half an hour (or til the morning when I remember it again). Then I take the frozen cookie dough balls and put them in zip loc bags, write what kind of cookie they are, add the date, and put the bag in the freezer. That's it. Simple, isn't it?


To cook the frozen cookies, you just pull them out of the freezer, lay them out on your cookie sheet and preheat your oven to the same temperature at which you would typically bake these cookies. While the oven is preheating they thaw just a bit. Once the oven is up to temperature, pop them in and bake them. I've noticed I need to add about one minute to the baking time, but that seems to be the only adjustment necessary.

Doing this allows me to feed the craving when my family is having a late night a dessert craving, or whip up something fresh when I find I'm entertaining on the fly. I can pull out the cookie dough and serve fresh-baked cookies in 15 minutes with no mess and no fuss. So far, I've been able to do this with all my cookies (except decorated sugar cookies) and they cook up beautifully.

Now you know. This is how I can cook a ton of stuff on weekends or free days and have it whenever it we want it.