"Storing Cookies Correctly will Ensure Freshness."
Storing Cookies You have measured, mixed, scooped and baked. You have spent several hours in the kitchen baking these fabulous chocolate and sugar concoctions. Now you are done but how do you plan on storing your cookies? Ah! Hadn't thought of that yet, huh? Well, you need to. You want to make sure your cookies stay as fresh as possible for as long as possible so your cookies can be enjoyed for several days. Remember, your cookies won't have the preservatives that store bought cookies have so the shelf life won't be months. At the most your cookies will last a couple of weeks. So, knowing this, how can you store your cookies so you get them to stay as fresh as possible? Freezing Cookie Dough If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have made your dough but you can't bake the cookies the same day or maybe you can't bake all of them, you can freeze your dough. Most cookie dough freezes quite well. The only doughs I would not recommend you freeze is any light or delicate cookies such as meringue cookies. But any drop, bar or refrigerator cookie doughs freeze great. If you freeze refrigerator cookies, simply form the dough into logs. Don't make them too long. About 6 to 8 inches work well. Why a log? Because as the dough thaws, you can slice the cookies easily and place them right onto your cookie sheet for baking. Make sure each log is wrapped in plastic wrap and then placed into a ziploc bag prior to freezing. For drop or bar cookie dough, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and press the plastic to get as much of the air out as possible. Then place that into a plastic ziploc bag. A really neat idea for freezing drop cookie dough is to drop spoonful size dough balls onto a cookie sheet lined in parchment just as if you were going to bake them. Then place the entire cookie sheet into the freezer for about an hour or until the dough is frozen. Remove the tray and place the frozen dough balls into ziploc freezer bags and place back into the freezer. Then whenever you want cookies, you can take out as many as you want and bake them. You don't even have to wait for the dough to thaw, simply place on a cookie sheet and bake as usual but just add a few extra minutes to compensate for the dough being frozen. Cool, huh? Once your cookie dough is properly wrapped you can keep it in the freezer for up to 6 months before it must be used. Freezing Baked Cookies Freezing is a great way to store cookies that have just been baked. This is a great option if you want to bake cookies for a party or a gift but don't need them right away. Whatever your reason, freezing your cookies is pretty easy.
Special Note About Bar Cookies Bar cookies freeze really well. There are a couple of ways you can freeze bar cookies.
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