Thursday, October 22, 2009

Flash Freezing Fun

I didn't marry one of those men that comes home with the occasional bouquet of roses, I married one of those men who brings home an upright freezer after months and months of subtle hints. He also remodeled our kitchen to make it prettier and more functional after a year of out right begging. I love my husband. He's awesome!
So, this freezer is my new favorite toy. I've been able to store tons of fresh homemade juice for jams, make lots of stuff in bulk for use later and today I tried my hand at flash freezing to make some chocolate chip cookies for later cooking. I'm trying to steer away from anything store-bought or processed and am trying to create my own convenience foods - I'm going to try to make my own frozen pizzas soon.
I was really pleased with my results today and it was super easy - first I plopped little balls of cookie dough on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and placed it in my new awesome upright freezer for about.. well, I didn't time it.. but long enough to freeze the outer edges of the dough. Yeah.. and be careful when taking the cookies out of the freezer. Don't be in a hurry like I was with my second batch and bump the cookie sheet on the door of the freezer and drop all of the little balls of dough all over the floor. Luckily it was the second batch of flash freezing and there were only 8 balls - not a big loss, but frustrating still.

Once they were ready to go, I put them in a freezer ziplock with the cooking instructions on the front.

Now I have cookie dough that I can bake up anytime.

And, in case you wanted the recipe, which is delicious and the only chocolate chip cookie recipe that I've been able to make work since we moved to Utah. I got it out of the Lion House Recipe book and it's wonderful.

Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 3/4 cups softened butter
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
5 1/2 Tbs water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
6 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3 cups chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, water and vanilla; mix until creamy. Add flour, salt and baking soda; mix well. Gently fold in chocolate chips, mixing only until chips are evenly distributed. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 5-6 dozen 3 1/2 inch cookies.

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