My Favorite Hack (And Greatest Weakness)

I don’t know about you, but I have a serious sweet tooth.  At the same time, I’m also watching what I eat. So, if I’m going to consume the calories, I’m gonna make sure they are worth it. 

Today, I’m going to share with you my favorite hack for setting aside delicious sweets to be consumed at your convenience, even when you don’t have the time or energy to whip up a batch of your favorite dessert right when the craving hits.

I’m not sure where I first came across this hack, but I’m pretty sure another blogger posted about it, and that post ended up on Pinterest.  In other words, I didn’t invent this hack, so I can’t take credit for it.  Regardless, it’s one that I’ve found to be a huge time-saver for me, and I recommend it to anyone who will listen.

It’s simple.

It’s easy.

It’s frugal.

Freeze your cookie dough.

This simple solution solves two problems at once:

1.     It gets the prep work out of the way ahead of time.

For me, my love of baking often conflicts with the time or energy I have available to actually do the baking (can anyone else relate?).  During those rare moments when I have the time, energy, and motivation to whip up a batch (or two!) of my favorite cookies, I’m going to take advantage of it. 

Because those moments are so rare, I usually do make a double or triple batch so that I have a steady supply of cookies to carry me through the busy season.  As long as I practice self-control, I can prep enough cookies to last my family several months.  Which brings me to my next point…

2.     It allows you to consume the cookies at your convenience

Often, when I crave a cookie (or just the cookie dough), it’s at an inconvenient time.  In other words, I usually crave it when I don’t have the time or energy to mix the ingredients together.  But if I have a baggie of frozen cookie dough scoops in my freezer… well, then I can grab one or two whenever I want.  A 30-second round in the microwave is all it takes to get a warm, gooey, half-baked cookie (the best!).

Freezing the dough also removes the pressure to eat cookies while they’re still fresh.  Some cookies tend to dry out or harden as time goes on, and some recipes make two or three dozen at a time without any convenient way to scale back a batch.  So, rather than bake dozens of cookies all at once (and then feel pressure to eat them all so they don’t dry out or go to waste), you can freeze your cookie dough scoops and bake only a half dozen or dozen at a time—whatever is convenient for you or your family. 

In my opinion, this is even better than freezing fully-baked cookies, because A) those cookies can dry out just as badly in the freezer as they can on the counter, and B) freezing the dough allows you to enjoy the freshly-baked texture you would have gotten had you baked the dough when you first made it—a texture the freezer destroys in already-baked cookies.

So, now that we’ve covered why you should freeze your cookie dough, let’s get to the how.

First of all, you don’t want to freeze an entire batch in a single bowl or container.  If you do, you’ll have to wait for the dough to thaw (defrosting it in the microwave is NOT a good idea!) before you can portion it out and bake it.  Not very convenient and definitely not time-saving.

Instead, here’s what you do:

Make your favorite cookie recipe according to the directions; don’t change anything as you prep your dough.  Of course, unless you’re baking some of the cookies immediately, there’s no need to preheat your oven.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Use a cookie scoop to portion out individual cookies, and drop them on the parchment paper.  There is no need to space them for baking; you can drop the cookie scoops side-by-side, leaving only a millimeter or so between each cookie (since you’re not baking them immediately, they won’t spread).  You want to cram as many cookies as possible onto each sheet, but you don’t want them squeezed so closely that they’ll freeze together in clumps.

Once your baking sheet is full, transfer it to the freezer.  Allow the dough to freeze through (I usually leave mine overnight).  Then, remove the dough scoops and store them in a freezer baggie.  These frozen cookie dough scoops keep for several months (or more, if you don’t mind a little freezer burn, which cooks off just fine).

At baking time, you’ll follow the baking instructions originally listed.  Preheat the oven to the appropriate temperature for the recipe (whatever is listed—don’t change it!).  Place the frozen cookie dough scoops on a parchment-lined baking sheet; this time, you’ll space them to prepare for spreading during baking.  The ONLY difference in baking frozen cookie dough vs. fresh is that you’ll add a minute or two to the baking time to account for the colder temperature of the dough. 

That’s it!

Isn’t that easy?

Not only does this make a convenient way to make and store cookies ahead of time, but I’ve found that it’s a great way to give gifts to friends and family.  When I resigned from my last job, I made literally hundreds of cookies of different varieties—peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal-raisin-pecan, white chocolate and macadamia nut, and more—and printed baking instruction cards.  I was able to give all my former colleagues a couple dozen cookies of their choice, which they could bake at their convenience.  Even if I wasn’t working there anymore, at least I could leave on good terms!

What do you think?  Have you tried this hack?  Let me know in the comments!