My friend and fellow writer Niki Hampton is well known for her gift baskets full of baked goodies. But this year, she tells me, she's trying something new. "Every year," Niki says, "I spent the week before Christmas in baking chaos. It was absolutely ridiculous! I'm not going to lie - I wasn't the nicest person to live with the week of Christmas." This year, though, she's making everything in November - then freezing it until it's time to deliver. How ingenious!Niki came up with the idea accidentally. "Last year I ended up with an overwhelming amount of Amish Friendship Bread starters and decided to just start baking," she says. "I think I ended up with about 15 loaves. I threw them in the freezer, hoping for the best. When it was time to make my Christmas basket gifts, I took the bread from the freezer and discovered they were perfect! I received tons of compliments."
This year, she vows, her goodie basket extravaganza will be much less stressful because she'll stretch out the work over the course of several weeks.
Want to follow Niki's smart example? Good candidates for baking, then freezing include:
* Quick breads (like banana, pumpkin, cranberry, and zucchini bread)
* Shortbread
* Cheesecake (firm in the freezer before wrapping and storing in the freezer)
* Cake (undecorated, it freezes for up to a month)
* Pie (freeze before baking, unless it is nut based, like pecan pie)
* Most types of cookies (avoid freezing cookies made with artificial vanilla, or that have cream fillings, soft frosting, or meringues)
All baked goods should be completely cool before you double wrapped them in heavy duty foil and place them in the freezer. Niki recommends the additional protection of putting foil wrapped goodies in a sealable freezer bags. In addition, cookies freeze best if placed (unfrosted) in an air-tight, freezer proof plastic container. Use plastic wrap, foil, or wax paper to separate layers of cookies.
For easier handling when it comes time to put together gift baskets, Niki suggests freezing goodies in small amounts. For example, if you give away smallish squares of short bread, cut the short bread into pieces before freezing, and wrap each small piece individually.
Thaw baked goods at room temperature (not in the refrigerator, where they might absorb odors). Or deliver the treats frozen and provide written instructions for thawing.
GREAT idea!!!
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