Double Pins: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Freezing Cookie Dough

I love it when I am in the middle of a recipe or craft and realize that I can use some knowledge I gained from another Pin in order to complete my current pin.  That's what I did here and that's why this post is titled "Double Pins"!

I really like oatmeal raisin cookies, but I never make them and rarely buy them.  That's probably because this is how Konrad feels about raisins...

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Lately I have really been craving some chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.  I knew Konrad wouldn't help me eat them, dogs can't eat raisins, and Maddox is still too young to be eating whole cookies for dessert.  (I am sure he has his own opinion on the topic!)

That's when I remembered this Pin that I had pinned a long time ago.

Freezing Cookie Dough 

It's basic tips for freezing cookie dough in ice cube trays in order to help with portion control.  This sounded perfect for my situation.  I didn't want a ton of cookies that I couldn't eat by myself so I planned to make a full batch of cookie dough and freeze most of it for another time.

You will notice that link comes with its own oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, but I had really wanted to try this recipe that I had pinned recently.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe 

Don't they just look so tasty and chewy?  Well, that is what I thought, but it is NOT what I got.

I followed all of the directions exactly as they were in the recipe.  (This is rare for me.) 

 

 

I ended up with these tasty little Frisbees.

 They really did have a good taste, but they were hard as rocks.  I thought maybe I had done something wrong.  You know how on a cake mix it says to reduce heat 25 degrees for nonstick pans?  I decided to reduce the heat 50 degrees and see if that would be any better.  

I put one more little lone cookie on the pan and baked it for about 13 minutes.  It was nice and gooey coming off of the pan, but after about 2 minutes on the cooling rack it too was a rock.  

Now don't feel too sorry for me.  You see that third picture of me following the rules?  The one where I had mixed all of the ingredients except the oatmeal and raisins?  That uncooked mixture was amazing and I am pretty sure I helped myself to a cookie worth of dough (or maybe more) before I even got them into the oven.  But, do as I say and not as I do... that mixture had raw egg in it and I do not suggest that you eat raw eggs.

Also, I got to try my brand new hand mixer for the first time!  I know that sounds silly, but I was badly in need of a replacement.  You know how Target and Walmart do those back to school displays for college kids?  Well, I bought my original mixer off of one of those displays about nine years ago for about $7.  It was a pretty good deal considering it made it through 9 years, 5 moves, and misuse. (I used it to make the fondant for Maddox's birthday cake even though the recipe clearly stated to use a standing mixer!) It was not as pretty as this thought...

I did not let my Frisbee cookies keep me from trying out my second Pin.  I guess I thought the freezer would do something magical to the cookie dough and my next batch would come out nice and gooey.

So, I took out my ice cube trays to portion out the dough and then I thought of something.  These were the same trays I used to make Maddox's baby food in.  That means that these tiny little cubes were the correct portion for a baby... I am not a baby nor do I have a baby's appetite.  Those tiny little cubes were not going to cut it for me!

That's when I got out a clean cookie sheet and covered it with wax paper.  I balled the dough just as I had for the cookies I had already baked.

 I froze that dough overnight.  The next morning I took the cookie dough balls out and placed them in a freezer bag marked with the name and date.  That is an important step at our house!  Our freezer is filled with all kinds of homemade goodies.  I have meatballs and pancakes for Maddox and even homemade Frosty Paws for Olive!  I have to keep track of the dates and names of everything.

I have to admit that I did not eat any more of the original batch of cookies.  They were way too hard for my taste.  I did thaw one of the cookie dough balls a few days later and mixed it with ice cream.  It was heavenly, but again not very healthy due to the raw egg.

Last night I decided to try to bake some of the cookie dough again and see what would happen.  I had come to terms with the fact that they would still be hard as a rock, but at least I could test the concept of cooking dough that had been frozen.  I had never done this with homemade cookie dough and I didn't know if I needed to adjust the heat or time at all.  I went ahead and baked them at 300 since that seemed to work slightly better with the fresh dough.  It took a few more minutes than the original batch, but not too long at all.  They came out the same consistency as the first time. (That gives me high hoped for trying this with another recipe!)

 I'm sure they answer to this next question is obvious.  Especially since I did not even bother to post the recipe.

Would I recommend this recipe to a friend?  NO

Unless of course you really like hard cookies.

Would I recommend freezing cookie dough to a friend? ABSOLUTELY!

Even though the cookies did not taste that great the whole concept of freezing the dough and saving it for later was great.  It was so easy for me to just take out the number that I wanted, put them on a pan, and bake them!  If you have a recipe you love this is a great idea.  I think next time I will try the recipe that came with the Freezing Cookie Dough link.

I hope that post was helpful.  It's always nice to learn from another's mistake!