Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Tightwad Tuesday: Cookies!

It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. ~George Horace Lorimer

Few things make me crazier than seeing things in the grocery store that are only there because folks are unbelievably lazy. The thing that REALLY makes me wonder about folks buying habits? PB&J Uncrustables. WTH? People can't just make their own PB&J anymore?

The other thing is the cookie dough that you lift off the little tray and put on your cookie sheet and call homemade.

I KNOW it's easy and quick and ready to bake when you only have ten minutes... but I have an alternative.

Make. Your. Own.

Yep. With a little planning ahead, you can have your very own little dough hunks waiting for you when you need them.

How?

Make a HUGE batch of cookie dough -- choose your flavor. We like peanut butter oatmeal or chocolate chip. Triple or quadruple your batch and then chill it. Once it's fairly firm, either roll it into little 2 tsp balls and place on a greased cookie sheet or roll into a log using waxed paper. Place in a freezer -- the balls don't need to be wrapped or covered because, once they are frozen you can put them in a ziplock baggie all loose -- and because they were frozen separately, they won't stick together and you can pull out however many you want for your batch of honest-to-goodness homemade cookies on a tightwad budget! The log you can thaw and slice.

And the best part? You know what they are made from -- add a little whole wheat flour or cut back a smidge on the sugar (I almost always cut the sugar in half in my recipes with no noticeable difference).

So... cheaper. Healthier. What's not to like?

===========================




You Are a Jam Cookie



On the outside, you project a straight-laced, innocent vibe.

But on the inside, you're complex, exotic, and full of flavor.

9 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

Ugh, I'm an oatmeal raisen cookie. My least favorite kind. Oh, forgot to read my description.

I don't do so much baking. Good idea on freezing the dough though. Will have to try it. Though I've never bought the pre-portioned cookie dough, I have bought the tubes of dough before.

And as for grocery stores nearby, our closest is an old fashioned corner market that costs an arm and a leg. Anywhere else is a 40 minute round trip drive for me. I'm looking forward to a little convenience. But I don't understand when there are 5 grocery stores in a 2 mile radius of each other.

Allie Boniface said...

Know what I saw in the stores over the holidays that I couldn't believe? Premade sugar cookie dough - ALREADY CUT OUT IN HOLIDAY SHAPES. Isn't that part of the fun, cutting out your own cookies? Wow.

Dru said...

The Uncrustables does not sound or look very appealing. I prefer to make my own and if I don't want the crust, how simple is it to take it off.

You Are a Fortune Cookie

You're a rather normal person, except that you have extraordinary luck in life.

People want to be around you (even when they're a little sick of you), in hopes of being lucky too!

Melissa McClone said...

I've used that already made dough when I've needed cookies fast and it's worked great. It's saved me more than once! But there's nothing better than making it yourself!

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting.
You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

Maria Zannini said...

The pre-made is great when you're in a bind, but from-scratch food tastes better imo. It's hard to beat fresh.

Anonymous said...

I can't buy most pre-made cookie doughs anyway, because my kids have food allergies. I always roll my cookie dough into a log and toss it in the freezer. Just pull out, slice and place the little rounds on the cookie sheet....hey, presto! quick cookies.

Brandy said...

Thanks for the tip. I make my cookies from scratch, usually. But, every now and then I pick up one of those packs in white chocolate macadamia because my kids don't like them and it's a small batch. *G*
I'm a fortune cookie. I've never found myself to be very lucky.

I hope you're having a delightful day!

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you about both the uncrustables and the cookie dough!

I've heard that uncrustables are not very good. They were designed so moms wouldn't have to cut the crusts off their kids' bread. Apparently, the edges are really dry, so you would want to cut the edges off anyway. Then there's the cost issue - it costs me 38 cents to make one PB&J sandwich. Not worth it to buy one, in my opinion!

I don't bake cookies often, but I always bake from scratch. The store bought have too much of everything - fat, sugar, preservatives, chemicals, coloring. I'll stick with my 5 or 6ingredients, thankyouverymuch.

Jen said...

What I have to get back into is baking bread. Also, my WCW recipe this week could be tightwad, you could use any chicken parts and you could make a crust topping. As it was, the TJ's puff pastry wasn't bad - I think we did the pies for about $2.50/serving and they ROCKED.