This post is part of a series – “31 days to take the Stress out of Christmas”. You can read all the posts in the series here. And to make sure you don’t miss a post you can subscribe to have every post delivered to your inbox, or follow me on facebook.
I LOVE hot, fresh, straight out of the oven cookies! 
I am pretty sure I am in the majority with that either. But with just the two of us at home making a fresh batch of cookies when we want a sweet snack after supper isn’t practical. So a few years ago I saw a tip to make up a batch of cookie dough (bake what you want to enjoy that night) and stick the rest in the freezer to pull out for other nights when you want a warm treat or when you need a dessert to bring to a function. Or when the neighbor or a friend stops by, you can pop some in the oven and have hot, fresh cookies in less than 15 minutes.
This is a GREAT way to take some stress out of your holiday baking too. I am trying to build up my collection of cookie dough in the freezer for Christmas baking so I made a fresh batch of one of my favorite cookies – Cowboy Cookies!
You just make up your cookie dough and scoop out what you want to bake right then.
Then using an ice cream scoop, scoop out all the rest of the dough and put on a cookie sheet and pop in the freezer.
Let freeze for 4-6 hours until firm and frozen and then pop in a freezer Ziploc bag. Label the bag with the kind of cookies, date you made them, and instructions on how to bake them (ex: 350 degrees for 10 minutes). Disclaimer: I am not responsible for cookie dough getting eaten straight out of the freezer. Nor would I know anything about that. 😉
When I am ready to bake them, I just pull out as many cookie dough balls as I want to bake and pop them straight into the oven. No need to thaw. I find that they usually bake just 1-2 minutes longer than the original recipe called for or longer than you baked them when they freshly made. Just set your timer for about 10 minutes and then check to see if they are done. I like my cookies on the “not quite done – soft and chewy side” so adjust to your families taste.
I have done this with pretty much any cookies that I have made and they always turn out great! I would say they probably need to be used/baked in 3 months or less but we never have problem with that – they are gone way before that!
Here’s some of my favorite cookie recipes:
Cowboy Cookies – our all time favorite! Like a warm Mounds bar in a cookie! Don’t skip toasting the coconut.
Molly’s Chocolate Chip Cookies – this our favorite regular chocolate chip cookie recipe. Her recipe makes a TON so it is perfect to mix up to throw the extras in the freezer.
This another favorite! Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Sea Salt (I don’t always do the sea salt but we still LOVE these cookies)
Laine’s Simple Sugar Cookies – these are THE BEST sugar cookies I have ever made and had. And they freezer perfect too.
And this is one I plan to make next week – Brown Sugar Oatmeal Coconut Chewies.
I also love the idea of giving frozen cookie dough as a gift! You could even do a cookie sampler so like a dozen of 3 different cookies of 1/2 dozen of 3 different cookies. So fun!
You can see more cookie recipes on my Pinterest board.
Follow Christina {The Frugal Homemaker}’s board Food: Cookies on Pinterest.
Do you freeze cookie dough? Love fresh, hot cookies straight out of the oven?
I have really enjoyed this series!
Thanks to you I have most of my Christmas shopping DONE and I think I’ll try freezing cookie dough too.
Thank you so much!
wow! You are really doing great!
I am curious as to what kind of ice cream scope you use for making cookie balls? I’ve purchased the ones with the soft indentation in the scoop and they don’t work for me at all. Do you have any suggestions?
THANKS!
I have a Pampered Chef one. It is solid stainless steel. I would actually like to purchase one a bit smaller for smaller cookies/cookie balls.
If I froze cookie dough it would get eaten without baking … but such a lovely idea.
I understand! Maybe put it in a downstairs or outside freezer so it wasn’t so easily accessible?
What a great idea! I love the that you can make these ahead of time and pop them into the oven on a moments notice. Even if you get that late night urge to have warm cookies and milk. Thanks for sharing!
So many great tips and ideas on your 31 days!!! I like this idea , year round. This makes a great snack for unexpected guests .
Thank you for all your effort and sharing you put into each post on your blog!!
Have a Happy Thursday…
~Sherri
Yes, I do it year round! Great when there is just 2 of us to have hot cookies every now and then and to have them ready for a last minute dessert for a get together too.
Who says they have to be baked?! 😛
I need to do this…like right now. Thanks. I’ll be salivating for peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and Laine’s sugar cookies for the rest of the day. Yum.
Yep… Not responsible for frozen cookie dough eaten out of the freezer! 🙂
Great tip! I want to do this for a chocolate thumbprint type cookie. How long do you think they would take to thaw out so that I could do the thumbprint indentation?
Can you post the link to the Brown Sugar Oatmeal Coconut Chewies recipe? They sound really good – I found some recipes online but they are different from each other. I have to do more baking this year so I want to find more recipes!!!
Hey!! Sorry the link wasn’t in there- I added it now. But here it is too – https://thedoughwillriseagain.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/brown-sugar-oatmeal-coconut-chewies/
Happy baking!