I usually start brainstorming Christmas gifts for our friends and neighbors during the summer. I’m aware that it’s crazy, but I just can’t help myself! This year, I decided that we’d give pints of cookie dough. As with most projects, I started to have major doubts before starting. What if we end up having to make batch upon batch upon batch of dough? What if it takes longer than plates full of baked cookies (I know that one makes no sense)? What if it’s just a lame-o gift? After spending exactly 1 hour last night making cookie dough and exactly 1 hour this morning making the packages cute, I realize it’s pretty much the best present ever. For 2 hours of work and about $25 in packaging, chocolate chips, and butter, we have 24 adorable handmade gifts for our loved ones.
I wanted to make sure the cookies were as easy as possible for the people receiving them–who wants a gift that requires a bunch of work on their part? So we went with America’s favorite scoop-and-bake cookie, the good ol’ chocolate chip.
–The recipe for the cookie dough can be found HERE.
–I bought my cute cardboard pint containers at Cash-and-Carry (same as Smart-and-Final) for less than $.50 per container. You can also find them online for a little more HERE.
–I printed the labels myself onto natural kraft cardstock and cut them with a circle cutter.
–The super-thick red and white twine came from Anthropologie a long time ago, but red baker’s twine is easy to find.
What a fantastic idea! I think it’s funny that you doubt yourself, but I guess many of us with cooking blogs are perfectionists! Very cute & creative & I’m sure all the recipients will be thrilled!
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Thanks Susan. Merry Christmas to you too!
I made your cranberry pecan granola recipe this year! They’ve been a huge hit with our neighbors and visiting teaching and home teaching families! Hope you have a Merry Christmas!!
I LOVE this idea…!!!!
I love this idea and would like to do something similar next week for a Christmas party in January event. How many batches did you make to fill the 24 pints?
Paulitaz–I have to say the cookie dough was a pretty big hit with people! Lots of our friends were happy to get something they could save instead of another plate of holiday goodies that needed to be eaten right away. It took us 8 batches of cookie dough to fill the 24 pints we made. That probably seems like a lot of work, but we made 4 double batches in our KitchenAid and it only took about an hour to get all of the dough made and packed in the pint containers. Good luck!
What a wonderful idea. I was wondering how much cookie dough you have in each container? Is it already in pre scooped balls, or pre measured amount in each. Can the person put the container into the freezer and then take it out and thawed when they want to bake it, or does it stay in the fridge for a short time…
thanks for sharing.
Hi Debora. So we packed the containers with dough, not pre-scooped balls. We had a few extras that we put in the freezer and they end up working just fine a few weeks later after thawing and scooping, and we got about a dozen cookies out of each pint. If you’re planning on sticking some in the freezer, make sure the dough comes all the way to cool room temperature–just like it would be if you’d made it fresh–before trying to scoop and bake. We kept trying to scoop it too soon and it was super hard!
Hi Lulu
How long does this keep for and must it be stored in a fridge?
Looks awesome! Would love to try it this year!
Thanks
Kath
Hi Kath. Yes, it needs to be stored in the fridge or freezer. I would say it keeps for a week at the most in the fridge. In the freezer, I wouldn’t keep it longer than a month. You should definitely try it! It was much easier than I thought it would be, and the packages looked so cute!
i’ve only just found this and think it marvelous. i’ve always given gifts of baking to friends and neighbours so this is the perfect ‘twist’ on my traditional gift! thank you for coming up with the perfect gift for my little world.
an early merry christmas!
cheers
I’m glad you found it in time for Christmas presents this year. It really was pretty easy to put together and lots of fun to give!
About how many cookies will you get from a pint container? TIA!
Hi Karen! I don’t exactly remember how many cookies each pint ended up making, but I’m guessing about a dozen.
Not sure where my comment went but can anyone please tell me how many cookies a pint of dough makes? Ty!!
Hi! Thanks so much for this wonderful friend/neighbor gift of cookie dough in pint containers. I am curious about the tags on top– I am not very good using the computer, so do you have a spot I can go to, to copy the baking tag for the top of your cookie dough?
Hi Diane! I don’t have the labels for the tops uploaded anywhere, sorry! You could just hand-write some pretty labels, or write directly on the top of the containers.