I Am Tired, Lord.

 

Hints to make ahead cookies and freeze them

 

Every year I make 12 to 15 different kinds of cookies in double and triple batches for Christmas. By doing that I can make them before Thanksgiving and be able to enjoy them through the holidays.

I have repeatedly been asked how I freeze them. It helps to have a full sized freezer.

1.  I buy disposable jelly/cake roll pans from Dollar Tree. They can be reused for several years.

     The jelly roll pans are deeper than the cookie sheets. They allow for space between the top of the 

     cookie and the top of the pan. The frosting will not be crushed.

2. Place the cookies in the pan to decorate them. Place them in the freezer before wrapping them so the 

    frosting hardens. 

3. Once the frosting is frozen, place the sheet ON TOP OF the plastic wrap. Pull up the ends and cover 

    the top of cookies. Pull up the sides and put on top of the end pieces. The sides only partially cover        the top, but the cookies are completely wrapped.

    The opening on the top makes it easy to remove a few cookies at a time and not have to uncover the  

    whole sheet as you would if you covered the top and wrapped it around the bottom of the pan.

4. Place a cake cooling rack on top of the edges of the sheet as in the phtoto. If you don't have a cooling

    rack, you can use anything that it rigid and that will span the space.

5. Repeat the steps 1 through 3 and place each sheet on top of a cooling rack. 

6. Place in the freezer.

The recipes I use freeze well. Some are on this blog site. I also freeze divinity and fudge.

Note: I use the large roll of plastic wrap that is purchased at Costco or Sams. I put two lengths side by side because a single width isn't wide enough.  I overlap them about 2 inches to allow for the width of the pan.

I hope this is helpful and you are able to bake ahead and relax through the holidays.