Most cookie doughs can be frozen if they're not a really soft, runny dough or something delicate. I just make logs of them using plastic wrap and freeze them. That way, my husband can slice off a few at a time, bake them in the toaster oven, and have fresh cookies neither of us has to mix and bake in a big batch or make a big mess for. He can also bake a few of two or more kinds to have some variety without having to make multiple batches. It helps me a lot, weight-wise, not to have a large batch of temptation cookies sitting around. Plus, for two people, a regular batch gets stale, although of course finished cookies can be frozen, too. But those are also a temptation.
Because they're wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and therefore have very little air around them, the cookie logs keep a very long time in the freezer. I just roll them up and leave extra-long ends, then tuck them under, freeze on a cookie sheet so they don't freeze in weird shapes, and then usually set them in one of the baskets at the top of our freezer, minus the cookie sheet. If you're hung up on having perfectly round cookies, then you might not be happy with the freezer method because the bottoms of the rolls tend to flatten, so the cookies are often shaped more like a slice of bread. But of course they taste just as good.
Currently, there's a quadruple batch of dreamsicle cookies (taste like orange sherbet) in there, some chocolate chip, oatmeal scotchies, white chocolate almond, gingersnaps, and maybe some kind of peanut butter cookies, too. I'm not sure, offhand.
For a dough that calls for pressing the cookie down, like peanut butter cookies, we just slice them and let them sit on the pans for a few minutes, then press them down after they've thawed a little. Much easier.
We prefer using an ulu to slice them, but a traditional knife will work too.
For cookies with larger pieces in them such as chips or nuts, we cut the slices about an inch thick and then cut into two or four, depending on how large the log is.
I never made gingersnap dough for the freezer before because the recipe calls for them to be made into balls and rolled in sugar, and I'm far too lazy to do that, especially for a food I'm not supposed to eat in the first place. But it finally occurred to me (DUH!) when you buy gingersnaps in a box from the store (ick) they don't have sugar crystals on them. So I figured I'd just make up some non-sugared gingersnaps (AKA nekkid). As I was making up the logs, I thought about some raw sugar I had lurking in the pantry, so I rolled them in that. I need to perfect that technique but it worked well enough to see it's a good idea. So that's worked out nicely. It pays to try new stuff!
Next up to try for the freezer, snickerdoodles.
It still completely amazes me people will actually pay ridiculous prices in the store for little cookie dough logs, when it's so easy to DIY. What a great marketing plan, but as a consumer that one ranks right up there with the shake and pour pancakes that make me just scratch my head in wonder.
Maybe I'm not really that lazy after all!
