Baking cookies, my way.

Has this ever been you? You've read that cookie dough is best when chilled... but then you find that scooping it out onto the cookie sheet is like chipping concrete out of an old sidewalk. Well, NO MORE!

Introducing... the way Maegan makes cookies!!! I don't think I invented this method... but I am so proud of myself for figuring it out.

After mixing your dough, when it is fresh and soft and pliable, pull out your largest cookie sheet and a couple of spoons. If you're lucky, like me, and have your kitchen outfitted with every tool and utensil necessary for baking, you can use one of these nifty spring-loaded scoopers. This one is a #60 - 2 teaspoons - which makes an average, "Chips Ahoy!" sized cookie.

Start scoopin'.



Fit them close together, as many in a row as you can manage.





Once you've scooped out all the cookie dough, which took me about five minutes since the whole darn mess was soft as butter, pop the cookie sheet, uncovered, into the freezer.



Once they're frozen solid, in about twenty minutes (possibly less), use a metal spatula to pop them off the cookie sheet. Store the frozen cookie dough chunks in a Tupperware container (as shown in the above photo, right above the cookie sheet).

When you want to bake them, heat the oven to 400 degrees and arrange them, fresh out of the freezer, on a cookie sheet. No need to thaw! Slide it right into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes (for this size cookie), until VERY lightly browned. Let them cool on the cookie sheet. They'll be soft, even when they've completely cooled. If they get to that stage, which is not likely if I am alone in the kitchen.

(This method has worked for me with many, many cookie recipes. I bake almost all my cookies at this temperature, despite the recipe's instructions. I think it makes them thicker, with crispy edges and a soft center. But... that may be just my preference. Who am I to guess at yours?)

Many thanks to my Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, who were kind enough to pose for this demonstration.