Obviously, I couldn’t keep that up forever, and I found the perfect solution. I make the cookie dough, and then freeze the cookie balls. I take out 4 at a time, one for each member of my family (although by the time hubs gets home from work I’ve usually eaten his…) and bake them.
A couple years ago I found the best chocolate chip cookie recipe! I was given The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook… BEST COOKBOOK EVER! Have you ever read a recipe that said “Braise the meat…” and thought “well HOW?” They SHOW you, with pictures! It’s fantastic! In fact, they also showed me, step by step, how to freeze the cookie dough. While it’s not rocket science, I appreciated it!
The cookies have become a weekly tradition here at my house. My kids have gotten in on the act. Yesterday my son helped me make the dough, and we’ve been enjoying the fruits (carbs) of our labor!
Chocolate Chip Cookies-(America's Test Kitchen)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 bag chocolate chips
1. Mix the dry ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, blend the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, yolks and vanilla.
3. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
4. At this point, if you want to freeze, roll the dough into golf sized balls and place on waxed paper on a cookie sheet. The recipe should make roughly 24 balls. Place cookie sheet in the freezer for a couple hours until the dough is hard.
5. Take out of the freezer and place dough balls into a freezer zip-lock bag. FREEZE.
6. When ready to bake, place the number of cookies you want to bake on the cookie sheet. Place cookies in the cold oven, set oven to 325, and bake. After oven reaches it’s temperature, bake an additional 10 minutes, or just until edges are golden but the centers are still soft and puffy.
*If baking un-frozen dough, just pre-heat the oven to 325 first, and then bake 17-20 minutes. But make sure the centers are still soft and puffy.
ENJOY!
