Name: Christina Tosi’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 42
Ingredients: 3 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour; 4 tbsp Non-Fat Dried Milk Powder; 2 ½ tsp Course Kosher Salt; 1 tsp Baking Powder; ½ tsp Baking Soda; 1 lb Unsalted Butter, melted and still warm, not hot; 1 ½ cups Light Brown Sugar, packed; 1 cup Granulated Sugar; 2 Large Eggs; 4 tsp Vanilla Paste or Vanilla Extract; 1 12 oz. Bag of Chocolate Chips; 1 10 oz. Bag of M&Ms

Back when my girls were in elementary school, the school used to run a fundraiser with Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. They came frozen, ready to bake whenever you wished. I thought it was genius and filled my freezer with them for the holidays. But they switched to other fundraisers and I have missed them.

Recently, it came to my attention that I could be doing this myself with my own cookie dough. Talk about a light bulb moment. You may already be doing this. If so, you are brilliant. If you are slow to the party, like me, it could be a game-changer for you this coming holiday season.

There are certain cookies that freeze better than others. These include drop cookies – chocolate chip, oatmeal, monster cookies, and shortbread, gingerbread, icebox cookies, and sugar cookies. These doughs freeze best because they are high in butter or fat.

Drop cookies are usually how we roll here, so I thought our new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe would be a great cookie to try freezing. Our newest favorite is from the cookbook, “Milk Bar Life” by Christina Tosi. I picked this book up while in New York City and consider Christina the Queen of Cookies.

The chocolate chip cookie recipe Christina Tosi makes is high in butter – a full pound of butter when doubled. Yep, that’s right – a full pound of butter, and they are worth every calorie. I am including her recipe here for you, already doubled, which makes almost 7 dozen average-sized cookies for freezing, baking or a mix of the two. But if you would like to get her cookbook for yourself or as a Christmas gift for your favorite foodies, you can find it here on Amazon.

To freeze cookies for baking later, mix the dough as you normally would and scoop out rounds of dough as you would for baking. To make this step even faster, use a cookie scoop. You can find one on Amazon here. When freezing them, you can add more to a pan than you normally would, but don’t let them touch. Then you pop the whole pan in the freezer to flash freeze the dough. Leave them in until solid, which takes about 30 minutes or so.

Once frozen, the dough rounds can be stored in a freezer storage bag for up to a month. Be sure to include instructions in the bag so you remember how to bake them. I found that writing the instructions on a piece of parchment paper with a Sharpie works well.

If you are making other cookies such as gingerbread or sugar cookies, you can make the dough, roll it out into flat sheets between wax paper or parchment paper and freeze solid. Allow the dough to soften for a few minutes before using cookie cutters and baking as usual.

Imagine how these methods could change your holiday season. If you have an extra hour or two some evening or weekend, whip up a couple of batches of dough and freeze. Then when holiday guests arrive, simply bake as many cookies as you like.

Better yet, you could give frozen cookie batches as Christmas gifts. You can store them in smaller bags, like these holiday themed Ziploc Bags on Amazon. Give them as hostess gifts or gifts for friends and they can bake them up when they are ready for a sweet treat. If giving frozen cookies as gifts, be sure to include instructions and a list of ingredients, to avoid problems with allergies.

For reference, you can fit 4 dozen dough rounds in a gallon storage bag, and 2 dozen in a quart sized bag. Be sure to label each bag with the date they were frozen.

If you have been freezing cookies, I would love to hear your favorite recipes and tips. Happy Baking!

AuthorMelissa JoyDifficultyBeginner

Yields42 Servings

Prep Time20 minsCook Time10 minsTotal Time30 mins

3 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour

4 tbsp Non-Fat Dried Milk Powder

2 ½ tsp Course Kosher Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

½ tsp Baking Soda

1 lb Unsalted Butter, melted and still warm, not hot

1 ½ cups Light Brown Sugar, packed

1 cup Granulated Sugar

2 Large Eggs

4 tsp Vanilla Paste or Vanilla Extract

1 12 oz. Bag of Chocolate Chips

1 10 oz. Bag of M&Ms

If baking some cookies immediately, heat your oven to 375ºF. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients - flour, dried milk powder, kosher salt, baking powder & baking soda, and set to the side while you mix the wet ingredients.

Melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl. Melt until it is warm and liquified but not hot.

Add the sugars to the melted butter and mix vigorously until well combined.

Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until combined.

Gradually mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture and stir until just combined.

Mix in the chocolate chips and M&Ms until mixed throughout.

If baking, use a cookie scoop to place rounds of dough about 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

If freezing, make cookie rounds with a cookie scoop and line a cookie sheet with the dough rounds. You can place them closer to each other than if you were baking, but not touching one another. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen solid, about 30 minutes or so. While one pan is freezing, you can fill the other pan with dough rounds.

Once the dough rounds are frozen solid, place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag and include instructions for baking.

To bake from frozen dough, take out the number of cookies you wish to bake and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Let rest on the counter for 15 minutes. Then bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients