Cookies that freeze?
November 27, 2012 11:14 AM Subscribe
I love to bake cookies for the holidays. I'd like to do most of my baking the second weekend of December (8 & 9), but that's earlier than I've done my baking in the past. Do you have recipes for cookies that freeze well? Preferably after baking?
I'll also entertain recipes for dough that can be frozen with the caveat that the cookies can be shaped before freezing (so that I can just put them on a sheet to thaw then bake). I'm also open to bars, breads, and muffins. Anything I can do ahead and freeze.
I'll also entertain recipes for dough that can be frozen with the caveat that the cookies can be shaped before freezing (so that I can just put them on a sheet to thaw then bake). I'm also open to bars, breads, and muffins. Anything I can do ahead and freeze.
Trader Joe's sells frozen macarons, and the texture upon defrosting is just like the kind I've had in fancy French places.
You can freeze Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies (which are chocolate & fleur de sel sables) either as a log or as sliced-but-unbaked cookies.
I love Nick Malgieri's Cantuccini (hard biscotti, made for dunking) and while I have not frozen them, the texture and dryness makes me think they would freeze perfectly after the second bake. If you were going to, say, coat them partially in melted chocolate, you might wait to do that until they're defrosted and you're closer to serving time.
posted by bcwinters at 11:38 AM on November 27, 2012
You can freeze Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies (which are chocolate & fleur de sel sables) either as a log or as sliced-but-unbaked cookies.
I love Nick Malgieri's Cantuccini (hard biscotti, made for dunking) and while I have not frozen them, the texture and dryness makes me think they would freeze perfectly after the second bake. If you were going to, say, coat them partially in melted chocolate, you might wait to do that until they're defrosted and you're closer to serving time.
posted by bcwinters at 11:38 AM on November 27, 2012
I think most cookies freeze well. My mom starts her Christmas baking in October, and freezes EVERYTHING. She waits until they're thawed to add "garnishes" (drops of jam in the thumbprint cookies, a dusting of powdered sugar on her bite-sized brownies, the drizzle of chocolate on her shortbread, etc). But other than that, she's never had a problem freezing any of the 20 some-off varieties of cookies she makes on a yearly basis.
Actually, now that I think about it, she even freezes her Hungarian cookies with the fruit filling already inside, and they defrost just fine. (That's A recipe for them, may or may not be HER recipe :)
posted by AlisonM at 1:22 PM on November 27, 2012
Actually, now that I think about it, she even freezes her Hungarian cookies with the fruit filling already inside, and they defrost just fine. (That's A recipe for them, may or may not be HER recipe :)
posted by AlisonM at 1:22 PM on November 27, 2012
Go ahead and freeze them all, but in separate containers for each type of cookie. Otherwise the moisture differences can make hard cookies soft, for example. Or the flavoring extracts can migrate tastes a little between cookies.
posted by Malla at 2:16 PM on November 27, 2012
posted by Malla at 2:16 PM on November 27, 2012
Growing up in a cookie-crazy family (7 kinds of cookies absolutely required even for a weekday get-together) we usually froze all kinds of cookies for at least a month - about how long they lasted, although sometimes more.
Agreed that you should store only the same types of cookies in the same plastic container, and make sure that it has a good, well fitting lid. Masking tape and sharpie will allow you to mark the containers so you don't have to open them unnecessarily - thereby introducing moisture. Sometimes adding a sheet of paper towel between layers in the container will help control the moisture in cookies that are intended to be hard.
Make sure to thaw by keeping them at room temperature for a little while on the serving plate, don't be tempted to microwave them.
posted by gemmy at 9:10 PM on November 27, 2012
Agreed that you should store only the same types of cookies in the same plastic container, and make sure that it has a good, well fitting lid. Masking tape and sharpie will allow you to mark the containers so you don't have to open them unnecessarily - thereby introducing moisture. Sometimes adding a sheet of paper towel between layers in the container will help control the moisture in cookies that are intended to be hard.
Make sure to thaw by keeping them at room temperature for a little while on the serving plate, don't be tempted to microwave them.
posted by gemmy at 9:10 PM on November 27, 2012
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are awesome for the freezer. Welsh cookies (which are really more like a dry skillet fried biscuit) and almond tea cakes (the first hit on google from a Taste of Home) also fare really well.
My mother is an obsessive holiday cookie maker and I've learned A LOT from her. She generally only freezes the ones that are studier (like the ones I've listed above) and that's only when the cookies are made more than 2 weeks before the holiday. Generally, she stores them in big tins or other air tight containers, with wax paper in between the layers of cookies, in the coldest place in the house. They keep just fine for about a month.
posted by godshomemovies at 6:45 AM on November 28, 2012
My mother is an obsessive holiday cookie maker and I've learned A LOT from her. She generally only freezes the ones that are studier (like the ones I've listed above) and that's only when the cookies are made more than 2 weeks before the holiday. Generally, she stores them in big tins or other air tight containers, with wax paper in between the layers of cookies, in the coldest place in the house. They keep just fine for about a month.
posted by godshomemovies at 6:45 AM on November 28, 2012
I make rugalach every year, using a recipe similar to this one, and they freeze really well. I put them in airtight containers after baking, and they keep for months. To defrost, just put them out on a plate for an hour or so.
posted by msbubbaclees at 12:33 PM on November 28, 2012
posted by msbubbaclees at 12:33 PM on November 28, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks for the feedback! Seems like I can probably bake and freeze most of my usual cookies, then.
posted by kimdog at 7:11 AM on November 29, 2012
posted by kimdog at 7:11 AM on November 29, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by xingcat at 11:19 AM on November 27, 2012