King Arthur Flour (www.kingarthurflour.com) is a favorite site for all things flour-related (baking breads, cookies, cakes, biscuits, etc. etc.). Not only do they share very helpful general baking advice, flour storage and usage tips, and bread-making tips, but from time-to-time they will also recommend baking-related products that are worth considering.

A good example that just showed up in their most recent newsletter are these Cookie Dough Freezer Trays. I love the idea of having unbaked cookie dough in my freezer. So this product gets my attention.

And I’ve gone the cookie dough log routine and even stuffed empty frozen juice cans with cookie dough. The idea with these being that when ready to bake, I cut the bottom off the can and use it to push the dough up so I can make even slices. Both approaches have worked OK. In my humble opinion, though, I think a ball of dough makes a nicer cookie than a slice of dough.

So that said, I think this cookie dough freezer tray makes the whole thing a lot easier. It seems like being able to make and freeze perfectly formed scoops of dough easily is a sensible way to save some time.

King Arthur’s product description says they are made of flexible silicone, which easily lets you pop the frozen dough out for storing. When it’s bake time, you just place frozen dough balls on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven.

The only hang up I have with them is their price. They run $16.95 for two trays. That seems expensive. I’d like your thoughts on that? And so as I studied the idea closer, it seemed to me that maybe I could use my ice cube trays for freezing cookie dough balls. Right? The only thing about using an ice cube tray…there’s no airtight cover to protect the dough from freezer burn.

So back to looking at this item positively, that is the one thing I really like about these cookie dough trays. They come with lids to keep the "freezer flavors" out. The storage is more secure. They each have 15 wells, which means you can store a goodly amount of dough. They’re also BPA free. They’re also microwave-, freezer-, and top-rack dishwasher-safe.

The folks at King Arthur say this set of trays is an all-around workhouse for the baker's toolbox. They go on to suggest other ways of using them: You can fill with buttermilk (for perfect 1-ounce cubes); then you just pop out what you need when it's time for biscuits. And they add that the wells will also hold individual egg whites, and just enough batter for a mini muffin. I’d fill them with pureed fruit for my smoothies as well.

So as I’ve been writing, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that while a little pricey up front, the fact that these have airtight lids makes them valuable and I can definitely say this is a product worth considering. (Just for giggles I checked amazon.com for a price match. They’re 50¢ less than on the King Arthur Flour site.) What do you think? Worth considering?