4 Simple Steps to Hassle-Free Cookie Baking

Baking cookies can be a joyous process, but often it can also be disorganized and stress-inducing, especially during the holiday season. The process can be much less complicated if you take the time to organize your baking procedure. Follow these simple steps for a hassle-free cookie baking experience!

Step 1:

Do some research. Gather your favorite cookie recipes, and search books, family & friends and the internet for recipes you'd like to try. (Be sure to write down where you got each recipe, so if you have questions, the answers will be easier to find.) Print out the recipes or print them on index cards for easy reference.

Step 2:

Compile a list of what you'll need. Make a list of all the ingredients you'll need, compiling a rough list of how much you'll need of each ingredient. Before you go out to the grocery store, check your own supply of ingredients (and double check expiration dates), so you'll know how much you need to pick up. Check your baking supplies for wear, as well.

Make sure you have enough containers to keep the cookies in, and if you're giving them out as gifts, pick up some decorative plates or tins to hold them. (Dollar stores have some great items for storing and giving out cookies!)

Step 3:

Make your dough. If you don't have enough time to make the dough and bake on the same day, you can freeze the dough for days (sometimes even weeks) before you begin baking. Wrap each type of dough into separate parcels, and identify each by writing the name of the recipe on the plastic wrap.

Step 4:

Bake your cookies. Some recipes call for dough to reach room temperature, so be sure to leave enough time for frozen or refrigerated dough to get to a lower temperature. Start baking cookies whose recipe calls for the lowest oven temperature first. Then proceed to the next recipe, working your way up in temperature.

Cool cookies on a clean dish towel, wire cooling racks or aluminum foil. Once the cookies are completely cooled, line containers with wax paper and then with layers of cookies. Cookies can also be frozen for up to two weeks inside a container, or if you wrap them in small stacks, you can freeze them for even longer. Defrost the cookies by leaving them out until they reach room temperature.

And that's it! Five simple steps to hassle-free cookie baking. All that's left to do now is enjoy the cookies and share them with friends and family!

Tonia Jordan is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

Her portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/spidergirl so stop by and read for a while.

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