Cupcakes, un-frosted, sealed well, will last about 6 months in the freezer. Professional bakers routinely freeze cakes before they are frosted. No prob.

Cookies are another thing. Soft or crisp - to be sliced and baked later, or gooey filled, are another matter. It depends on which category they fall under. Biscotti (a crisp dry cookie) keeps at room temp for at least 1 year; its flavor intensifies and is improved, whereas soft sugar cookies become hard and crumbly when frozen and are only good for dunking after a few hours from defrosting. Refrigerator ("ice-box") cookies keep well in the refrigerator or freezer for at least a year until they are taken out, sliced, and baked, and served as fresh. Filled cookies totally disintegrate into crumbs (mostly because the base is usually a shortbread) when frozen and defrosted. Chocolate chip, a common shortbread style cookie, only tastes good freshly baked and eaten within 2 days. Oatmeal cookies can either be soft/chewy or crunchy/hard - both can be frozen as dough; either one can end up as cardboard depending on the amount of fat contained in them.

What kind of cookie are you planning on making ahead?

Nancy

Thanks for the help Nancy, I appreciate it. Katie wants Chocolate Chip (PW's recipe), a sugar cookie that's been in my recipe box for years and is really good, and Ann's Oatmeal cookie recipe. I had hoped that I could bake them a week or so in advance and keep them the way they come out of the oven. (I just invision grabbing cookie sheets out of the oven as I run out the door for the wedding). Oh well, I'm just thrilled my "baby" found the love of his life (at a red light).

If you can think of any other cookie recipes that are great and maybe a cupcake recipe with icing too, I would love if you or anyone would share. Thanks again, Cbad

Before Christmas we did a thread about favorite cookie recipes here on the forum. There were many really good ones posted.

Here's a link to those.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Cookalong Extra ---- Cookies

cbad, I freeze cookie dough every year, everything from peanut butter to chocolate chip to molasses and they all bake up fine. I usually portion out the dough into "balls" and freeze them on a baking sheet, then put the frozen dough balls into bags. I just take them out and place them on a sheet, thaw them and bake when I need them.

Frosted cookies and filled cookies, as Nancedar mentioned, do not freeze well.

I would not bake cookies a week in advance, I'd go for two days, three max, if I were going to bake ahead.

I'm experimenting right now myself with white/yellow cake for Ashley's wedding cake. The fiancee only likes plain white/yellow cake, and I don't usually bake that. I like Pixiestix hot milk cake a lot, and it might end up being Ashley's wedding cake too, it was mine. First, though, I'm going to bake Readinglady's buttermilk cake, she sent me a recipe. Ashley and Kevin get to sample every single one too, LOL.

Anyway, here is Pixistix' hot milk cake, it's plain and not too sweet, and stand up to icing and stacking. I really like the brown sugar icing too, although some people have mentioned that it's "gritty" from the brown sugar. I like the crunchy sugar texture, though, so it's all good by me.

Hot Milk Cake - Pixitix

Old fasioned, simple, melts in you mouth!

4 eggs
2cups sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp. bakiing powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Beat eggs and sugar well. Combine flour with bk. powder and add to egg mixture along with vanilla. Heat milk and butter together until butter melts: gradually add to batter, beating until well blended.

Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes.

Topping from the daughter of CindyNY

Brown Sugar Topping

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 T unsalted butter
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine the brown sugar, whipping cream & butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Let stand 10 minutes. Whisk until of spreading consistency. Stir in the pecans. Spread over the brownies or cake. Let stand 1 hour or until set. Serve cold or at room temperature. Makes enough for an 8x8 pan.

Just a note, the topping seems pretty runny when you put it on the cake, but it sets right up when cool, so don't worry,

Note from jude: I doubled the topping recipe since I was making the cake in a 9x13 pan.

Annie

It looks as if I've broken every cookie freezing "rule."

I've frozen layered bars (RLB's lemon bars on a shortbread crust and pecan pie bars), frosted cookies (sour cream date drops with browned butter icing), drop cookies including chocolate chip, all with great results.

There are some cookies I wouldn't freeze - meringues come to mind - but not many.

However, it does take a good amount of freezer space and frozen dough is definitely more efficient in that regard. Freezing either baked or unbaked for longer periods also goes better if your freezer isn't self-defrost.

Carol

I make decorated cookie favors for weddings & parties for friends. Baked undecorated cookies can be stacked in cheap plastic shoeboxes lined with waxed paper. Decorated cookies can be layered in plastic shoe boxes with waxed paper between the layers. Either way, the boxes need to be kept in a cool, dry place for at least a month or two.

I often use commercial plastic wrap to individually wrap each decorated cookie and then pop them in clear cellophane cookie bags tied with ribbon just before the event.

Whatever you do, always store cookies made from the same flavor separately or they will have a shortbread/chocolate/gingerbread taste! If you want to mix different flavored cookies in a gift box or bag, you must individually wrap each cookie to prevent flavors from crossing. If you are doing cookie platters with mixed flavors, wait until the latest possible minute to arrange the trays if the cookies are not individually wrapped.

I've made thousands of cookie favors and gifts this way and they are always delicious and fresh tasting. People love them and the requests for more keep coming!

Hope this helps!

Id' do as love2garden says and make cutout sugar cookies. Find several related cookie cutters...like a pair of lips or a ring ( both of which I own) or something elas that's significant in their lives.
bake the cookies, store and frost aw eek ahead and store again.
How many cookies will you have to make?
Linda c

My friend baked 500 cookies for her niece's wedding, packed them in men's shirt boxes, and drove them from Chicago to N Carolina the day before the wedding.

She made the dough over several months, froze the dough balls in bags, started baking the balls at 3 am on Thursday, packed the car and drove with her husband on Friday, served the cookies on Saturday. The following Tuesday I ate some of the leftover cookies, and they were still
delicious. She made peanut butter, peanut butter chocolate chip, chocolate chip, and sugar cookies she dusted with sugars colored in wedding colors after they arrived at the hall.

She did this in her ordinary home kitchen and oven, but...I should probably tell you that she is a retired professional baker who knows a lot of the tricks of the trade. Plus, she was pretty tired from the marathon baking, packing, driving, serving days, but she would do it again!

Pace yourself! Easy as pie, right?