Freezer-Friendly Formulations

A little while ago, Marya, a reader and real-life recipe user, wrote in with a question about the freezability of my recipes. Here's what she had to say after making and freezing batches of my XXX Cranberry Cookies and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies:

Hi! Well, as of yesterday both batches of cookies were gone. I froze two giant ziploc bags of cookie dough, and we hardly made any actual cookies after the initial day of baking (a dozen of each). We just warmed some dough up in the microwave and ate it like that. And baking two different kinds at once is DANGEROUS. because you can't just have one, you need to have one of each, but really who only has one cookie at a time? So it was most often two of each kind, and dang it was good. I can't wait to bake another recipe--although it will have to wait until after the new year! I think I will stick strictly to your recipe this time instead of adding a bunch of stuff like I usually do.

Hi, Marya! It just dawned on me that I have a sandwich bag's worth of leftover Coconut, Walnut, and Chocolate dough hanging out in my freezer from my last round of baking. Thanks for jogging my memory! I've known it for a while, but you've prooved it: My recipes freeze really, really well.

I'm so glad you and your sister Em are real-life recipe users. I love hearing from you both. Happy baking. And have a happy New Year's!

Comments

[Shirley Pettis]

When I freeze cookie dough I use my cookie scooper and make balls like I would when baking the cookies. I put them on a cookie sheet and once they are frozen I put them in a zip lock bag then return the bag to the freezer. I take them out when I want fresh baked cookies.
This method has worked well for me and my mother-in-law loves to have them in her freezer.

[JS5981]

So can you bake them straight from the freezer or do you have to let the dough thaw?

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Shirley. Scooping and then freezing individually portioned cookie dough balls is an excellent idea. What a great daughter-in-law you are. Thanks for writing in and sharing your cookie wisdom!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, JS5981.Thanks for writing in again! I freeze cookie dough all the time. It holds up really well in the freezer for a couple weeks or so, and the baked-off cookies taste as great as the ones you bake with fresh dough. When you're ready, move the frozen dough to the fridge to thaw the night before you plan to bake. Then move the thawed dough to the kitchen counter for a few hours to come to room temperature before baking. Simple as that!

There's no harm in baking straight-from-the-freezer dough. The cookies will taste good, but they won't spread out much.

[Marya]

I use the same method of freezing as Shirley, although I had to shape the cookies into balls by hand. Em got me a cookie scoop for Christmas though, so I am going to try out the Coconut, Walnut, Chocolate oatmeal cookies that you have raved about and use my cookie scoop for the first time. Your friend's testimonial about the cookies sold it for me, so I had to go buy the ingredients. I'm missing the milk chocolate though. I'll have to run to the store. I'll let you know how it goes!