Cookies to go

I discovered* the magic of freezing cookies and cookie dough while working on my sister's wedding and now it's my standard method. It's perfect for people like us because we never keep anything sweet in the house and we're fine with that, but it makes impromptu entertaining a little tough. I feel oddly compelled to provide some sort of dessert when we have guests.

We had people over a couple weeks ago and we wanted chocolate chip cookies. I made a double batch of dough, scooped it out onto a couple of baking sheets and stuck them in the freezer for a few hours. Once the dough is frozen, you can transfer all the cookies to an airtight container and just store them in the freezer until the next time you want them. No need to defrost - they'll only need a minute or two of extra baking time.

{cookie dough balls}

The advantage to this method is that you can bake just as many cookies as you need - no trying to pawn the extras off on your dieting coworkers. The disadvantage is that frozen balls of cookie dough are insanely delicious, so it can be tough not to pop one every time you walk through the kitchen. I store them in the most inconvenient place possible, forcing us to dig through piles of frozen stuff to get to them. It helps, a little. Consider yourself warned.

{cookie dough ball}

This method works perfectly with most cut out cookie recipes as well. As far as longevity goes, I've stored dough up to 2 months in the freezer and it's been fine. We've never managed to make it last any longer than that.

*Discovered is the key word here - not invented. Freezing baked goods or dough is pretty common, but I had never thought of doing it until I was faced with the logistical difficulty of making hundreds and hundreds of cookies.