Pecan Cookies and How to Bake in Batches at Holiday Baking Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like to do my holiday baking in batches, then freeze and store for the big day. You can also do this successfully over a couple of weeks with batch baking and batch preparing.

The biggest thing to remember is to only try a few different types of things in one day, or focus on just one type of baking in one day. Yesterday, I baked my Loaves – 3 Stollen, a Christmas fruitcake and a banana pecan loaf.  After dinner, all had cooled and I was able to wrap them, first in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil and into ziplock freezer bags and put them away. The Stollen (German Christmas fruit bread) were placed in the cold room. I will be serving slices of the bread in the next few weeks, so they do not need to go into the freezer. The fruitcake was liberally brushed with our favorite brandy, wrapped in brandy-soaked cheesecloth, wrapped in plastic wrap and then in foil, a plastic bag and tucked away in the refrigerator to mellow until serving time during the holidays. The banana pecan loaf was wrapped and frozen. Done!

Tonight I will get my recipes organized for my cookie batch baking day. So, what’s the best way to do this, you ask?

#1.  Find a Basic Starter Recipe

Every type of baked good has a basic starter ingredient mix. You could start with one basic cookie dough, or a basic quick bread recipe. These are mixes that you can add a few extra ingredients to in order to make them into new recipes. For example, a basic bread mix can become several different types of bread and a basic cookie recipe can become several types of cookies. I have included my recipe for Pecan Cookies that makes 12 dozen. I divide the dough into 4 portions and add pecans to one, coconut to another, chopped candied cherries to another, and almond extract and slivered almonds to the last.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For pies, you can make one type of pie crust, and freeze them as they are, or you can fill with different fruit mixtures for fruit pies. It’s up to you how to do this.

#2.  Get Prepared

Don’t try batch baking without a plan of action. Be sure to write down your plans in advance so that you are sure you have enough time to do everything that you’ve planned. To figure out a basic time line, add up the prep time, the baking time for each oven full, and then multiply that by 1.5 to account for a little extra issues happening. Then you should be sure that you have enough time.

#3.  Get Everything Ready to Go

Your kitchen should be spotless when you start, and ensure that you have all the ingredients and appliances necessary to make each item ready to go. If you know, for example, that today you’ll be using about 10 pounds of flour, consider using a large bowl to hold the flour so you can easily spoon the flour into the measuring cup, flatten off over the bowl, without having to get into the bag over and over which usually means spillage.

#4. Clean as You Go

Fill your sink immediately with hot soapy water so you can clean as you go. You will want to wash your mixing dishes and other utensils during the baking process so that you can use them again. There’s no point in totally destroying your kitchen as you batch bake, and you don’t have to. Set out a draining board, fill the sink with hot soapy water, and wash as you go. There are many opportunities during baking to wash a couple of dishes, and this will make the clean-up faster, and the process more organized.

#5.  All Day Batch Baking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can set aside a day for batch baking such as a Saturday. Plan for all day baking, which usually entails 8 to 10 hours of work. Ensure that any other chores are done, including the shopping, and the kitchen is clean and ready prior to baking day. It’s important to organize your recipes with some logic behind them. For example, if you need dough to rise, start that first, so that it can be rising as you are preparing other things such as cookie dough or pie crusts. Both can be put in the refrigerator or freezer after preparation while you bake the bread, then baked after you bake the bread while the oven is still hot and ready.

Read each recipe that you plan to use and pay close attention to certain clues. For example, if an ingredient requires a cold kitchen, you’ll want to start that first. If something takes an hour to bake like banana bread, you can use that hour to mix other batter, dough, crust, filling and so forth that you can store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them.

Organize the kitchen in stations. You will want a station for each type of baked good that you want to create. It’s a lot easier to lay out four pie crusts in pie tins, ready for fillings, than to do one at a time. As much as you can do for one type of thing in one run, do so.

Don’t try to stuff your oven too full. At most, you’ll want to cook two pies, four loaves of bread, and one large sheet of cookies at a time in one oven. Putting too many things in one oven can drastically change the temperature settings. Also, putting a dry item with a moist item in the oven at the same time can change the temperature needs. Read directions, plan ahead, and you’ll be fine.

 

#6.  After Dinner Small Batch Cooking

Another great way to do batch cooking is each evening after dinner or even while you are preparing dinner. Anytime you make something in your oven is a good time to throw in a few loaves of bread. For example, if you wanted to make one loaf of bread for dinner tonight, why not make four and save three.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feed the freezer – In some circles this type of baking is called feeding the freezer. It can be done with any type of baking, not just desserts and bread. If you’re having lasagna tonight, why not prepare two pans of lasagna and freeze the second. You can do this with many things. You can also take one night to prepare a lot of cookie dough, bread dough, and pie crusts for freezing, then the next night bake all the cookies, freeze, and the following night bake the bread and freeze and so forth until you are done.

Use the time available – What’s important is that you use the time you have available the best that you can. It’s important to be honest with yourself about the time you have to get things done. If you only have evenings after work, and don’t get a lot of time off, then you’re going to need to bake a little each evening for a couple of weeks to be ready for the holidays. Thankfully nothing smells better or more relaxing than freshly baked bread, cookies and pies.

Downsize –Small batch baking isn’t about trying to do a marathon on a night you have to work; instead it’s about just adding in a batch of cookie making, dough making, or something that takes an hour or two at the most after dinner or in conjunction with cooking dinner. Remember that you’ll be adding to these items later. So even if it seems like a small amount, over the course of time it will be plenty.

Baking in batches is a great way to increase your production amount, as well as to save time. After all, the holidays are so that you can enjoy your family and guests. There is no reason to get stressed out about the baking part. Instead, craft a plan, stick to the plan, and hey, why not ask for help from family and friends.

You could have a cookie exchange party where you don’t eat the cookies, but instead you meet together and each of you then trade a few dozen of a different type of cookies. So one family would make sugar cookies, another chocolate chip, and another peanut butter and so forth. Trade, and then you each have some of all of them.

Pecan Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Makes 12 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

3 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup pecans chopped*

Preparation:

You can make the entire recipe as a pecan cookie OR switch out some or all of the pecans and add your favorites – crushed candy cane, chopped candied cherries, coconut, slivered almonds, finely grated orange rind etc. For each quarter of dough, use about ½ cup of your new addition.

Preheat oven: 375°F

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar. Add to butter mixture.
3. If you are making these all into pecan cookies, add the pecans here.
4. Divide dough into 4 parts. If you are making 4 different kinds of cookies, add the other ingredients.
5. Shape into long rolls about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Roll each into waxed paper. Chill at least 4 hours. May also be frozen at this stage.
6. Slice into ¼ inch slices and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake in preheated oven about 8 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from cookie sheet immediately and cool on cooling rack.

 

 

Tags: bake in batches, cookie batches, cookie exchange party, feed the freezer, pecan cookies, starter recipe

Category: Baking Tips, Cookies & Squares