We had our first trace of a crisp day… properly, OK, perhaps it was my late-summer morning creativeness. However as summer season is winding down and we shift our focus to the subsequent faculty yr, upcoming occasions, routines and traditions, I’m already pondering of how to make the approaching days additional particular.
There are such a lot of issues I need to do to make holidays memorable for my household, and but I typically underestimate the effort and time required to tug them off. This yr I am getting a head begin in little methods so my gatherings with family and friends may be targeted on the essential issues – the folks, not the preparations.
One in every of my all-time favourite gatherings is the vacation cookie swap. I really like that the good-natured problem of one-ups-manship has such assorted and yummy outcomes. And, I really like that my vacation dessert desk has such a pretty number of selfmade goodies with out the hassle of baking all of them.
My secret to attaining Cookie Diva standing this yr? Just a little synthetic chilly climate.
Whereas the actual snowflakes are nonetheless far sooner or later, I’ve put aside a nook of my freezer for what is going to guarantee my finest cookie swap ever. And, the added bonus is I’ve obtained recent actions to share with my summer-bored youngsters. (OK, the true added bonus is I will likely be queen of the cookie swap this yr, however involving the youngsters sounded higher!)
Cookies and cookie dough (in addition to many sorts of bars and tartlets) freeze and defrost simply. Relying on the kind of dough or cookie, you possibly can usually retailer them in your freezer for 2-3 months:
- Cookie dough: wrap in plastic wrap and retailer in an air-tight bag. Thaw at room temperature for baking.
- Brownies & bars: cowl tightly with foil or wrap in its baking pan. Thaw at room temperature earlier than eradicating the wrap
- Cookies: Freezing cookies wrapped individually preserves style better of all, however it isn’t obligatory. Layer cookies on wax paper in an air-tight container. Retailer crispy cookies and tender cookies in separate containers.
- Iced/Embellished Cookies: For finest outcomes freeze them undecorated and frost them as soon as they’re thawed. In case you should freeze them already iced, freeze them uncovered in a tray till the icing has set earlier than layering them with wax paper in an air-tight container
- Exceptions: Gluten-free cookies, meringues, and delicate cookies like tuiles will not be beneficial for freezing.
So, when you’re like me, you want the straightforward manner out with out trying such as you took any brief cuts. Select a versatile dough as the bottom for a lot of completely different sorts of cookies. For instance, an almond cookie base can flip into chocolate thumbprint cookies, almond crescent cookies, or be rolled with chocolate dough to type interesting pinwheel cookies.
My little man remains to be too small to do a lot within the kitchen besides hinder my baking efforts and make a multitude. The answer? Selfmade slice and bake dough logs. Just a little preparation to make the dough forward of time, and plenty of tolerance for misshapen kid-assisted slices, results in plenty of satisfaction and satisfaction a minimal of mess.
Halloween? Thanksgiving? Hanukkah? Christmas? Convey it on! I will be greater than prepared this yr.
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