Holiday Cookies--Advice, Ideas & Help!

[3113]

So, all the Holiday baking magazines are beginning to appear, including ones on cookies (aka "Bikkies" or biscuits for non-Americans), and I find myself inspired to maybe try to bake a few batches this year, maybe even try and mail out some in tins as gifts.

However, I did not grow up in a family that baked annual holiday cookies, and so I'm at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding all the tricks such cookies require.

For example, icebox cookies...how long can the dough stay in the freezer? I rather like the idea of making up the log of dough ahead of time, keeping it frozen, and slicing off only as many cookies as I want to bake for guests and friends and such. How many days, weeks or months can I keep that cookie dough in the freezer?

Can any Holiday Cookie experts help me out here?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Freezing cookies and cookie dough.

Although if you're doing sugar cookies, we love to roll them out and cut them into shapes, then after they're baked, we frost and decorate them. It's the kids' favorite part of cookies. Besides the eating part.

 

[3113]

Thanks for that Selena!

So, you can't just take the dough out of the freezer and slice the cookies there and then for baking? I mean, doesn't that kinda defeat some of the purpose if you have to give the dough time to defrost?

Or is it just for those cookies listed as compared to icebox cookies specifically?

 

[English Lady]

There are cookies you can just slice and bake from frozen, you can probably find several recipes by googling, I've not done any that way though.

I do, every year bake gingerbread men for the church fair and do close to 100 of them, so I make up the dough and freeze it in batches. it defrosts really well then you can go on to roll it out and bake it. You may need extra flour after defrosting as the dough gets a little wetter in the process.

Here's the recipe I use but it says they can't be frozen. Probably means the baked biscuits can't be frozen, the dough however, can.

http://www.cookuk.co.uk/children/ginger_bread_men.htm

these are especially good to make, cut and bake then leave to kids or even adults to decorate themselves.

 

[Dianthus]

Everything I've read so far about icebox cookies indicates that, while you can freeze the dough, one has to defrost it to bake. I haven't read everything available on the subject though.

Martha Stewart offers you 22 different icebox cookie recipes here. And some of them look wonderful.

Thanks for the thread. This coming Sunday is 'Stir-Up Sunday' in our house. We make the fruitcake, so it can rest in rum for 6 weeks.

Cookies are next!