can u freeze cookie dough and use later? i use the no fail recipe but as newbie its too much batter for what i want 2 practice with but making it ahead of time will save time later. can i do this?
I just took a class in San Diego with Amy Malone on cookie bouquets and she said cookie dough freezes wonderfully. She suggested rolling it out between sheets of wax paper and if you want more than one sheet she said let the bottom cookie dough sheet freeze first then add as many layers as you like. That way you are always ahead of the game when you need cookies.
Here is the recipe she used.
NO FAIL SUGAR COOKIES
This recipe is GREAT when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking. Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking these or any other cookies.
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)
Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350
degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe
can make up to 5-dozen 3 cookies.
HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to
chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.
I personally don't have any success using frozen cookie dough, unless the shapes are already cut out. It seems to take forever to thaw. The dough is dry and I don't like adding anything after (water or milk) to try and get the consistency back; it's never the same anyway.
I always freeze my already made dough. I just either roll it out so that it's ready to cut using cookie cutters or if I'm working on a particular cookie shape, I freeze the cut outs. Works like a dream. Just pop into the oven, frozen. No need to thaw.
Just make sure you layer between parchment before freezing and you should be all set.
HTH. Good luck!
Then what do you do with all the excess from cutting out the cookies?
Re-work it back together and cut out some more cookies, if I'm freezing the dough already rolled out but not cut out. By the time I'm ready to do that, the dough has softened enough to be workable and I put it in the fridge to chill before I cut out and bake.
I make dough and freeze it all the time; sometimes for a particular project, sometimes just to have it on hand. I just pat it into a couple of disks and put it in a freezer bag. When I want to use it, I just remove it from the freezer overnight and give it a little knead - no problem! I have even, in a push, defrosted it in the microwave for 10 mins on very low power (NOT defrost setting!).
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%