Holiday Notes: Freezing Pies & Cookie Doughs

Last year, I did a series of posts on Holiday Notes, and I'm starting them back again now that the holiday season has started. Around this time of year, I'll get a head start on my holiday baking by making my favorite apple pies and an array of cookie dough to freeze. This way, half the work is done and all I have to do is bake come the time -- because I know the holiday season brings a lot of to-do's with it and I bound to get busier the closer to Christmas.

Since I love making different types of Christmas cookies to enjoy come December, making all of the dough ahead of time makes the process of baking easier. If you're wondering what my favorite holiday cookies are, I did a post a couple of years ago. I usually make a type of dough a day and freeze. The frozen dough is good up to 3 months so you can even start them earlier {next year in this case}. Then once I'm ready to bake, I place the frozen though in the refrigerator and work in batches. Sometimes it takes a few days to finish them off, but it's so worth it.

The kids stayed home from school today, so we're listening to Christmas music, our twinkle lights are glowing, and we're baking. This is just one of the reasons I love this time of year.

Holiday baking is a good excuse to get them in the kitchen to help and get them off the tv or iPad. And they love this tradition. I love it too! Of course they make a mess, but it's a good kind of mess -- a happy mess. In the end, they get rewarded with a tiny bit of raw dough.

And soon, we'll get started on our Christmas Gingerbread House.

Happy Holiday Season!