Freezing Bread Dough

[lisa7688]

I want to bake some bread for a bake sale in a couple of weeks. It's during the week though so I will have to bake the bread in the evening after work. And I bake my bread completely from scratch, without a bread maker. I already have a couple of people who have "pre-ordered" so I think I have to bake 4-6 loaves.

I wonder if I can make the dough ahead of time on the weekend and then freeze it? I thought I might try it out this weekend, before I bake it for the actual bake sale, to see if I can do it. Anybody know how to do this? Will it come out just as good from the freezer as if I just made the dough? Help

 

[Andy M.]

You can make and freeze the dough then defrost it in the fridge overnight and bake it the next day.

 

[pacanis]

When exactly do you freeze it, Andy? I can never remember.
After the first rise I think?

 

[DMerry]

I have no idea where I got it from, but I have a TNT recipe for Freezer Rolls where you made the dough, let it rest for 20 minutes, then formed the rolls and froze them. There is nothing special about the dough that I can tell. For the rolls, you put them frozen on baking sheets then let them rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours before baking. For bread dough, Andy M's idea to thaw it in the refrigerator looks good. You might find that the dough not only thaws but also rises, as a refrigerator dough does.

 

[CWS4322]

Way back when, I traded cinnamon rolls for ski passes at a local ski area. I would make the rolls the night before (4-5 large pans), refrigerate them, take them out in the morning to let them rise, and then bake them. I used my grandmother's recipe (pre-bread machine days) for the dough (which was the same recipe she used for white bread). When my parents owned a restaurant, the pastry chef would make rolls for the weekend on Friday and put them in the walk-in fridge. I don't know how long you can keep dough in the fridge...but we had rolls at the restaurant both days on the weekend, so at least 36-48 hours, I would guess. The point is you might be able to make the dough and hold it in the fridge...