I have a new project. Baking cookies and freezing them. We all need to have goals. For the last 3 years or so, I have made cookies to give to friends and family, it's been getting really hard to do it right before the holidays. Actually, hard enough that has become a bit stressful, so I thought why not start now? I actually threw out all my baking spices and got all fresh new ones. We made a special trip to the new Penzey's here (in a very strange location, in a stripmall next to a wallmart) and everything smells so fresh and wonderful now, very pleasing.
So, the new plan is to start making the dough now and freeze them in the full size freezer we have have in the garage. I got it when mom moved two summers ago. I have been spending a lot (too much?) time think about freezing cookies in the best way. Some cookies don't freeze. Some freeze better as dough (in loggy form) and then I think some really freeze better after they are baked. But I think this is harder to figure out, and god forbid the get that freezer taste.. also, the log is really the easier, but what about the cookies that you roll into balls? then do you freeze in ball form? or maybe just the log again. . .it's all about the log.
this handy dandy visual index is from the Holiday Cookies Magazine above. Thank god for this. Although it brilliantly has code for which cookies can be frozen, it's doesn't say at which stage to freeze them. . .
Yesterday Sadie and I made snickerdoodle dough and the next will be something chocolate. I will make Russian tea cakes (you will notice that I link to Mexican wedding cakes here, same thing, different name), my absolute favorite of all time. I love anything with butter and finely ground nuts. And then the usual ginger and sugar cookies. I hope to make a batch a week, which I think will actually not be too hard. What really get tedious is all the baking and the racks all over the kitchen. and sprinkles in this house, not laborious frosting. But I think if I freeze some that I have already baked (not log-ified), I should do that closer to Christmas, huh?
