Make ahead cookie recipes

[stomkow]

I am looking for recipes for cookies that can be made now and will keep through the holidays.

I am not a big fan of freezing baked cookies as taste or texture always seems to be compromised.

My short list of T&T make aheads are gingerbread men and gingersnaps. And recently I came across a Martha Stewart recipe for shortbread that she reccomends making ahead, as the flavor improves.

Thanks in advance!

[lindrusso]

Are you asking for cookie recipes that you can make now and keep at room temperature?

How long do you want them to last?

If you mean lasting through until Christmas, I honestly can't think of anything I've made that would last that long without freezing. Even shortbread is said to last about 2 weeks.

If you do want them to last until Christmas, what about freezing the dough and baking them later?

[stomkow]

Hi !

I am looking to bake my make aheads this weekend, and wanted to include a couple of new recipes (to join the gingersnap and gingerbread men) to the mix. I typically store my cookies in my garage, in air tight containers, but the temperature is cooler than in the house....

It's great to do these now, and then work on the "shorter shelf life" cookies as December progresses."

for example, this one from MS caught my eye on a recent e-mail:


Basic Shortbread

Makes 36 bars This buttery cookie gets better with age: It can be stored up to a month, and over that time its flavor deepens.


Makes 36 bars
This buttery cookie gets better with age: It can be stored up to a month, and over that time its flavor deepens. Dip the tips of the cookies in melted chocolate for a decorative touch.


1 1/3 cups (2 sticks plus 6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 275°. Butter a 9-by-13-by-1-inch baking pan, and line bottom with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add salt and vanilla, and beat to combine. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, beating on low speed until just combined.

2. Press dough into prepared pan, leveling and smoothing the top. Using a dough scraper or the back of a knife, cut dough lengthwise into nine strips, each slightly less than 1 inch wide. Cut the strips crosswise into thirty-six 3-inch bars. Using the tines of a fork or a wooden skewer, create a decorative pattern on the surface.

3. Bake shortbread until evenly pale golden, but not browned, 70 to 85 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool. Invert pan, and remove parchment. Turn shortbread over, and carefully break, or cut with a serrated knife, into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

[lindrusso]

Sorry, all of the cookies I make would definitely not last that long.

Shortbread is the only thing I know of that will last long-term.

I hope you get some ideas - I'd be interested to see the recipes too. :)

[Kathy B]

Two that come to mind are peppernuts and lebkuchen. I used to have a recipe for lebkuchen that instructed you to let the cookies sit for two weeks in a tupperware with 1/2 of an apple to "ripen" before serving. Peppernuts also keep a long time. Biscotti keeps quite a while, too, but probably not a month without freezing.

ETA: I still have the Lebkuchen recipe if you are interested. It looks like it was clipped from Gourmet, although it doesn't look the same as the one I saw posted on epicurious.

[lorilei]

One that I know keeps well (for at least a month or so) is biscotti.
I doubt a few batches of biscotti will fulfill all of your needs for holiday cookies; but you could make a few varieties and keep them on hand. My husband is a big fan of double chocolate biscotti (dark chocolate w/ chocolate chips); and I generally like spiced or nutty varieties.

I often make biscotti and ginger snaps (which do improve with age) just after Thanksgiving -- and depending on how many we make, these often last through New Year's.

This is an interesting question!!

[tea4one]

I have frozen unbaked dough in the past with great success. I have heard you can do the same with baked cookies but have never done it myself.

[lcc]

I have never actually done this, but I have heard that Mexican Wedding Cake cookies get better over time, if you keep them in a container buried in a bunch of powdered sugar.

[lindrusso]

I have never actually done this, but I have heard that Mexican Wedding Cake cookies get better over time, if you keep them in a container buried in a bunch of powdered sugar.

They are a shortbread-type cookie, so I would imagine this would be true.