Is everyone else still eating a lot of comfort foods because of COVID-19, or is it just me? I feel like it might just only be me, and everyone else in the world is being super fit and exercising like crazy and eating salads and counting macros…and I’m over here still baking homemade breads and cakes and scones and cookies (and eating all of them).
Anyway – if you need a tip for freezing cookie dough because you REALLY don’t want to eat three dozen cookies between today and tomorrow but know you will if you bake them all, then this is the tip for you!
Lay out a piece of parchment paper and plop the leftover cookie dough on top. Lay another piece of parchment paper on top of the cookie dough. Pat the dough down a little with your hand through the parchment paper, and then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about as thick as you’d normally have your cookies on the cookie sheet.
Now take off the top layer of parchment paper and cut through the dough with a sharp knife. I aim for about 1″x1″ size for this part. Then put the top piece of parchment paper back over the dough, set it on a cookie sheet, and set the whole thing in your freezer for an hour or two.
Take the dough out of the freezer after an hour or two, take it off the parchment paper, and break the dough into sections that will fit in your storage container (a zip lock baggie, a glass container with a lid, even an old clean ice cream container works). Tear the parchment paper you used into sections just big enough to set between the cookie dough layers so they won’t stick to each other, slide it all into your container, and be sure to label it. I add baking directions as a reminder. Add one minute extra to the recipe’s baking time if you put the frozen dough straight into the oven. The dough will keep for three to six months without losing flavor.
This is also a fantastic way to use up close-to-expiration-date ingredients, AND it’s a great way to get ahead on your Christmas cookies! Also, if you want just one cookie, you can simply snap one off and bake it…but seriously, who eats just one cookie???
