Bulk Cookie-Making for Goodie Plates!

I love to do lots of baking this time of year. I especially love preparing goodie plates to give out to our pastors, friends, neighbors, librarians, etc. I used to just go on a cooking fest and bake a bunch of different cookies, arrange them all on goodie plates or in other containers, and then I would need to deliver them all within a couple days to keep the cookies fresh for the recipients.

Well...this year I did something different...I made up big batches of cookies and froze cookie balls to go in the freezer! It worked great! I just did two kinds of cookies this year - sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Next year I am going to do more different kinds since this went so well this year. It really did work very well...and this could be done weeks in advance of Christmas! All I had to do was pull out the number of cookie balls I wanted to bake, place them on the pans to thaw out, and then bake! I could then fill the goodie plates and deliver them...all in the same day!

Below I want to share these two recipes. These are "big batch" recipes so you will need a large mixer to mix them up (such as a Bosch or KitchenAid). If you don't have a big mixer, just cut the recipes in half or in fourth. It doesn't matter how big a batch of cookies you make...but the more you can do at a time the more time you will save in the long run! Ok...now for the recipes...enjoy!

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups whole wheat flour (you can also use unbleached white flour)
2 cups chocolate chips (I used 1 cup semi-sweet and 1 cup white chocolate chips)

Cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until mixed well.

Line cookie sheets with wax paper. Using a cookie scoop, scoop out cookie dough balls and place side by side on the wax-paper-lined cookie sheets. The balls should be about 1" in diameter. Fill up the cookie sheets with dough balls and then place the pans in the freezer to "flash freeze" for about an hour.

Once the cookie balls are hard, remove from pans and place in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Label the bag with the type of cookie, the oven temperature, and how long to cook (Chocolate Chip Cookies, 400 degrees, 9-10 min.). Now place the bag in the freezer until you are ready to bake some cookies!

TO BAKE THE COOKIES: Grease your cookie sheets and then place the number of cookie balls on the pans that you want to bake. I only have two cookie sheets, so I fill these pans (12 on each pan) and then set out any more that I want to bake on a plate. Let the cookie dough balls thaw out for about a half hour.

Once they are soft, flatten the dough balls (the ones on the cookie sheets) with the palm of your hand before baking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once oven is ready, bake for about 9-10 minutes. Let cool on pan for a few minutes, then remove to cooling racks.

Note: I got about 8 dozen cookie dough balls out of this recipe!

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Sugar Cookies

2 cups butter, softened
4 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups oil
4 teaspoons vanilla
12 cups unbleached white flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons cream of tartar

Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Line cookie sheets with wax paper. Using a cookie scoop, scoop out cookie dough balls and place side by side on the wax-paper-lined cookie sheets. The balls should be about 1" in diameter. Fill up the cookie sheets with dough balls and then place the pans in the freezer to "flash freeze" for about an hour.

Once the cookie balls are hard, remove from pans and place in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Label the bag with the type of cookie, the oven temperature, and how long to cook (Sugar Cookies, 350 degrees, 10-12 min.). Now place the bag in the freezer until you are ready to bake some cookies!

TO BAKE THE COOKIES: Grease your cookie sheets and then place the number of cookie balls on the pans that you want to bake. I only have two cookie sheets, so I fill these pans (12 on each pan) and then set out any more that I want to bake on a plate. Let the cookie dough balls thaw out for about a half hour.

Once they are soft, flatten the dough balls (the ones on the cookie sheets) with the bottom of a glass dipped in colored sugar (or just plain sugar if you don't want colored). I made red and green colored sugar by adding a few drops of food coloring to each bowl of sugar and mixing it up good with a spoon until all the sugar was colored. To flatten the cookies, first flatten a cookie with the glass to get some grease on it. Dip the glass in the colored sugar, then flatten lightly the same cookie. Now you can just dip the glass in the sugar and flatten the remaining cookies. The cookies are now ready to bake! If you have sugar left over, just place in some bowls with lids and save for later when you want to bake some more of those sugar cookie balls in the freezer!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once oven is ready, bake for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool on pan for a few minutes, then remove to cooling racks.

Note: I got about 11 dozen cookie dough balls out of this recipe!