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.
Awesome – I just had a reader ask about freezing dough and I told her I wasn’t sure, so thank you! And my favorite cookie is good ole’ peanut butter blossoms!
I was wondering about freezing dough. Thanks for the info….and the winner is Oatmeal currant (or raisins they are good too).
My grandmother has always made Peanut Butter Blossoms and a yummy nut filled version of a Kolacky. They are all so bad for me, but I can’t help it! :)
i love making chocolate chip cookies and eating them straight out of the oven even for the holidays
My favourite are The Barefoot Contessa’s jam thumbprint cookies. They are the best, and of all the cookies I make (and I make LOTS) they are the ones most requested by the male of the species!
Love ya! Was searching the www just now for this information and here u r just giving it to me!. Thanx a lot!
Gail from One Tough Cookie reports taht she ALWAYS freezes the dough for her rolled cookies – the technique is cool; you take unchilled dough, roll it between two sheets of parchment paper, and then freeze until you are ready to cut out your cookies. Apparently baking the cookies while frozen helps them retain their shape. And I freeze dough, sometimes just overnight, to break up baking because I can’t always dedicate a full 60-90 minutes. It’s a necessity.
My favorite are my mom’s sugar cookies (decorated with way too much frosting, too).
My favorite cookie to make at this time of year is Holly Jolly Peanut Butter Cookies.
I love oatmeal raisin cookies! I think I’ll make up a cookie mess today making them!
I love having frozen dough on hand! I’d say my favorite cookie to bake for the holidays is snickerdoodles. Really, I just love snickerdoodles any time of the year!
I’m a sucker for ginger snaps during the holidays. That and a cup of hot chocolate (spiked with bourbon???)… perfection!
Great post! Love the peppermint mocha idea!!!
I love the soft gingersnaps with white chocolate chunks I posted today:) Great tips and giveaway!
Chocolate Chip are always a favorite.
My new favorite is Tracy at Sugarcrafter’s Cranberry Sandies. I successfully froze that dough pre-shaped, by the way. First I flash froze them individually, flat in a pan, then when they were hard I put them all into a ziploc bag. Then when it was time to bake, I didn’t even have to shape them – just place them on cookie sheets.
sugar cookies sprinkled with red or green sugar
I love PeanutButter Kisses cookies! They are my fave! I can eat the whole batch in about 2 days if I don’t give some away.
I make some pretty good chocolate chip cookies. I’ve had remarks like, “These taste like Subway’s cookies!”, which I guess I should take as a compliment!
Hi! My favorite holiday cookies to make are Linzer Tortes but last night I took some Ritz Pretzel crackers and dipped them in white chocolate, then milk chocolate. I topped them with toffee bits and a drizzle of white chocolate. They are super cute and delicious!
You can’t go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie – but I love trying out new recipes so there’s a lot of “to be baked” cookies to come!
a perfect soft chocolate chip cookie is my favorite year round. fun to eat the dough and the cookie :)
My favorite cookie is a new recipe I discovered last weekend. My husband asked me to try to recreate his grandma’s cookie recipe which no one else in the family has been able to do. I made some obvious changes from what I know about Grandma & he said they were spot on! I love that I can help him remember his Grandma!
Now that I have a family of my own and baking more for the holidays freezing the cookie dough makes so much sense.
Spritz! And I eat just about all of them within the first couple of days! Happy holidays!
I’m a simple girl. Nothing beats a warm, soft and buttery sugar cookie!
My favorite holiday cookie is the old classic cut-out sugar cookie! I love to decorate them in Christmas colors!
My favorite isn’t necessarily a Christmas cookie, but more of a fall cookie… Pumpkin Chocolate Chip! I could eat the whole batch!
I am in love with oatmeal raisin cookies. I think they are amazing any time of year.
I love to make cutouts. It’s the one time of year where I feel like I can face mounds of dough that have to be rolled thin and cut before baking. I especially love to make (and eat) chocolate cinnamon cutouts.
Great giveaway! My favorite type of cookies to bake for the holidays is scandanavian almond bars.
I love sugar cookies, un-iced, warm. So I freeze cookie dough. I don’t know what I would do without the invention of the freezer.
These will be perfect for my upcoming sugar cookie decorating fest! My favorite cookies around the holidays are No-Bake Cookies. Not too much effort during the busiest time of the year, but they always make me feel like Christmas!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I needed to read this, this morning!! Like you my kitchen turns into a mini bakery around the holidays. Last night I did my sugar cookie and Gingerbread dough and threw it in the freezer!! Thank you for your amazing tips on this Wednesday morning! My favorite holiday cookies to make and eat are Italian Pizelle’s!!! Happy Holidays!
I bake a lot at this time of year and I bake a Kitchen Sink cookie that most everyone loves. I also make an eggnog cheesecake bar that goes over very well.
Cut out sugar cookies with buttercream frosting are my favorite cookie!
My Favorite cookie of the Holiday season is Pecan Crescents.
Sugar Cookies, with lots of icing & decorations : )
My favorite cookie to bake during Christmas is springerles with a press that my father used in his bakery. Now that he’s retired (for many years now), I bake these especially for him, and he looks forward to it. When I bake, I think about those childhood memories in my father’s bakery, and I’m in a very happy place!
I’m a fan of either a classic sugar cookie with some cinnamon in the dough and some colored sugar to decorate, or no-bake cookies – they are delicious and a holiday tradition in my family!
I love to bake Almond Crescent cookies!
Thanks!
KellyH
I love to bake monster cookies and use holiday m&ms. We do these for every holiday!
My favorites are Fudge Puddles!
Frosted sugar cookies!!!
I love to make molasses cookies for the holidays.
My absolute favorite Christmas cookies are cherry jam prints! I use my homemade cherry jam for the filling in the center and the red color is super festive! They never last too long on my cookie platters!!!
My all time favorite cookies are sugar cookies! I love them plain, frosted, and with sprinkles! You can’t go wrong with a sugar cookie dressed up for any holiday or occasion!
I LOVE swidd bricelet cookies, we make them every year, lemon, vanilla, cinnamon… yum!
I make Tuxedo Biscotti–it’s an almond/chocolate cookie, twice baked until crunchy and then drizzled with white chocolate and milk chocolate. Super easy gift for coffee or tea lovers. They even well with hot chocolate. If making gift baskets, perfect addition along with mug and coffee/tea/cocoa.
Great thing about this recipe, the cookies won’t make you break a tooth and don’t have that I’ve-been-sitting-in-this-coffee-shop-for-fifteen years kind of staleness.
7 layers are pretty much requisite for any of our holidays :)
good tip, i’ll have to try this next year as i already have cookies in my freezer….
I love to make decorated sugar cookies. I am just now really getting into royal icing and the possibilities are endless. My other favorite are Russian Tea Cakes, what’s not to love there!
My favorite cookies to bake for the holidays are gingerbread men!