"If you are anything like us, your freezer will always be stocked with logs of frozen cookie dough."
When I read that line in Aran's post "When muscovado sugar and fleur de sel make the best chocolate chip cookies" on Cannelle et Vanille, I was hooked. While I don't exactly go out of my way to do it, it's hard to go into any of our 3(!) freezers or a fridge without stumbling onto some sort of homemade treat, fully cooked or in dough form. For example, this moment I have peanut butter and chocolate eggs in the fridge, along with chocolate chip cookie dough, orange-chocolate ganache, ice cream, a peach pie, two fruitcakes, 24 bran muffin batter pucks and a dozen apple cinnamon muffins hanging out in the freezer. This afternoon, I baked off a batch of cookie batter that had been chilling in the fridge for 5 days, just to avoid putting that in the freezer. It's madness, I know!
However, around the holidays, batches and batches of cookie dough living in the freezer routinely save my butt. After all, I give out gift baskets of homemade goodies each year as my gifts, and with only one mixer (two if you count our antique hand beater), one oven and limited bowls it's not practical to be making everything from Step 1 the day before. Freezing dough - especially cookie dough - is also beneficial when working with whole grain or gluten free recipes that benefit greatly from an extended rest period. During the time it takes to freeze, then thaw during baking, the proteins relax significantly and the grains hydrate, allowing for soft, never-gritty, perfectly spreading cookies on bake day.
Frozen dough also transports better - especially plastic-wrapped logs that are stored in paper tubes (I put "big" cookies in bottle shipping tubes that I got when I ordered coffee syrup, and "small" two biters in paper towel rolls). Stacked in a cooler with a few ice packs, they will stay more or less frozen on short car rides, and the tube keeps any thawed dough in the proper shape. The rolls also allow you to just push out the amount of dough you need to slice off per cookie, keeping the round shape of the remaining dough intact. Perfect for toting to the trailer, the cottage, or even (if you're lucky enough to have one) the beach house!
So slice off a cookie or two, pack a sandwich and a refreshing drink while they bake and grab your picnic gear. Summer is almost here!
Summer means long lazy days, vacations, and if you are lucky, somewhere relaxing where you can put your feet up and and tune out for a while. Cookies can be the perfect snack any time of the day - yes, cookies for breakfast are a thing. Whether you bake up a quick batch whilst on vacation or decide to bring the dough with you ready-made, we’ve got a great list for you to choose from!
You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.
Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:
- Chocolate Coconut Oysters with Pineapple Buttercream by Cream and Butter Blog
- Dulce de Leche Blondies by The Spiced Life
- Gluten Free Chewy Chocolate Chippers by What Smells So Good?
- Sand Dollar Snickerdoodles by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
- Seagull Cookies by A Baker's House
- Slice & Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies 2 Cookin Mamas
- Starfish Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
Gluten Free Chewy Chocolate Chippers
Makes 24
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
¼ cup warm water
½ cup (110 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature - for dairy free I suggest Earth Balance sticks
½ cup (100 g) packed muscovado sugar
¼ cup (50 g) sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup (140 g) brown rice flour
½ cup (60 g) amaranth flour
¼ cup (30 g) tapioca starch
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp smoked salt (I recommend cherrywood or hickory - both are great for different reasons)
¼ tsp Kosher salt, plus more for topping
¼ tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chunks or chips (I mixed Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and Enjoy Life mini chips) - for dairy free use this bar, chopped up
2 tbsp turbinado sugar
- In a small dish, whisk together the flaxseed and warm water. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugars and vanilla extract. Mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the flax mixture and mix 1 minute on medium speed.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the brown rice flour, amaranth flour, tapioca starch, nutmeg, salts, and baking soda.
- Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix on medium speed until the dough comes together.
- Add the chocolate chunks and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Scoop the dough onto a piece of cling wrap and form into a log about 2” wide and 12” long.
- Wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour.
- Heat the oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Cut the log into ½” disks, placing them 2” apart on the sheets.
- Sprinkle the tops with a bit of Kosher salt and turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, until edges set and start to turn golden. They might look a bit underdone, but this is fine.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
- Store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze - these make insane ice cream sandwiches!
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 138.8
Total Fat: 6.4 g
Cholesterol: 10.0 mg
Sodium: 30.5 mg
Total Carbs: 22.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
Protein: 1.5 g
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