Photo credit: www.seriouseats.com

Maximizing Cookie Delight: The Art of Pre-Portioning and Freezing Dough

Many enthusiasts of baking often grapple with the yield produced by various cookie recipes. While it’s hard to resist the allure of delectable treats like brown butter and ricotta cookies, one might wonder if it’s necessary to whip up 35 at once. Similarly, the easy-to-make chocolate chip cookies and trendy snickerdoodles are delightful but are better enjoyed in smaller quantities. The challenge lies in the inevitable consumption of cookies—often leading to the situation where one finds themselves indulging in several at a time to prevent them from going stale, transforming a joy into a task. When attempting to share these treats, the reality is that they may soon lose their freshness, complicating the act of generosity.

While some specific recipes, such as those for ricotta cookies, allow for scaling down, many others are inherently crafted with a full egg, making it difficult to adjust the quantity without compromising quality.

This is where the ingenuity of baking expert Stella comes into play, creating a buzz among fellow baking aficionados. During her recent demonstration, she unveiled an efficient technique for pre-portioned and frozen cookie dough—a method that, while not groundbreaking like the toasted sugar technique, proves to be highly effective. Her approach was recently showcased in a video featuring her version of Tate’s-style chocolate chip cookies.

Stella emphasizes the importance of using a cookie scoop to neatly portion out the dough before baking. Any leftover dough, or perhaps a complete batch intended for later use, can easily be scooped onto wax, parchment, or deli paper in specific groupings—be it six, ten, or any other desired baking quantity. Once portioned, these neat packets can be stored in zip-top bags, where they will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about a week or frozen for a period ranging from three to six months. To enhance organization and ensure clarity, she suggests labeling the bags with details like the type of dough, the date it was made, and the baking instructions. While this may appear exasperating to some, having this information at hand ensures that recipients—or one’s future self—can easily follow through with the baking process. The satisfaction gained from the first few batches of warm, freshly baked cookies will surely offset any hesitations about sharing those earlier near-stale cookies.

March 2019

Source
www.seriouseats.com