Freezing Cookies

[Raidra]

Every Thanksgiving and Xmas, I bake cookies (chocolate muddies) that take forever to make. But they come out great - soft and gooey, delicious. I've never frozen them, but I'm wondering if I could bake them soon and pop them in the freezer. What's the best way to wrap them? When I put them on a plate, they normally all stick together because, like I said, they're all soft and gooey. And will they still be soft after thawing them?

Thanks!

[Jenn98]

Well, there's only one way to find out! ;) I might try freezing the dough instead of the actual cookies themselves. If you want to try a batch of cookies maybe layer them with wax paper?

[writermama]

When I make cookies, I freeze the dough. I started off freezing a dough bucket, just like the buckets of cookie dough places sell for fundraisers, but after waiting for a bucket to thaw when I wanted cookies NOW, I started freezing individual cookies.

I use a disher (sold by OXO as a cookie scoop, I think) to scoop the dough and put the balls in plastic containers, making sore they don't touch one another so they don't stick together. My favorite container for this is a Sterlite deviled egg container.

After about 24 hours in the freezer, I pop the frozen dough balls out of the containers and move them to a freezer bag. I write baking directions on the bag with a sharpie.

This method had worked with choc chip, oatmeal, and the pumpkin spice choc. chip recipe posted here. Sometimes I thaw the frozen dough on the sheet pan before baking, sometimes I pop them in the oven straight from the freezer and just adjust the baking time.

It might be worth a try with your cookies -- recipe please!

[Raidra]

I hadn't thought of just freezing the dough.. great idea! Although what's really time consuming is the baking itself, but any head start will be a big help. :)

Here's the recipe, out of my Betty Crocker cookbook:

Chocolate Muddies

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup stick margarine or butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar (I use light brown)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup hot fudge ice cream topping (I use Smuckers)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped or semi sweet chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Beat cream cheese and margarine in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes or until fluffy. Add sugars, vanilla, eggs, and hot fudge, beat 3 minutes or until fluffy. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir into margarine mixture until evenly mixed. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfulls about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and bake 13 to 15 minutes or until edges are set. Centers will be VERY soft. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on rack.

Makes about 5 dozen.


You can substitute any kind of chips that you like. This is a very chocolatey recipe, I look forward to it all year!

[daisymommy]

nak:
You can freeze the dough balls on a cookie sheet so they don't touch, then dump into a ziplock bag. You can bake them frozen, just add a couple minutes to the baking time.

[kimbe]

Thanks for this thread! I've always wanted to freeze cookies too, but never tried! I'm inspired now!

[juliasmom05]

This is what I do all the time. It works great.

Marci