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How to Freeze Cookie Dough

With the holidays approaching you might be wondering if you can freeze cookie dough and bake the cookies later? Yes, you can!

There are several ways to freeze cookie dough so that you can quickly have fresh baked cookies whenever you want them. Let’s chat about the different ways, what cookie dough freezes best, and how to bake frozen cookie dough.

child cutting out shortbread cookie dough with biscuit cutter.

Like most families, we don’t just celebrate Christmas on one day….oh no, it’s a multiple day event for us….there’s parties to attend plus splitting time with various segments of our family. Freezing cookie dough ensures that I can have everyone’s favorite cookie available for each of these times…without spending all my time in the kitchen.

But freezing cookie dough isn’t just for the holidays. Most cookie recipes make about 3 dozen cookies, I don’t know about your family, but mine doesn’t need 3 dozen cookies at one time. So we bake enough for that day and then freeze the leftover dough to bake another day.

Frozen cookie dough also makes a great gift. I know lots of people give baked goods as gifts and those are wonderful. But during the holidays you can end up with too much of a good thing. I love being able to pull out frozen cookie dough in February to enjoy after we’ve had a little break from the overindulgence of the holidays.

How to avoid freezer burn

Freezer burn is caused when the frozen food is exposed to air while in the freezer. Be sure to limit the air exposure by using air tight containers and using the right size container.

If you’re using freezer storage containers, but sure to use just the smallest container you need to store the cookie dough so that there’s not a lot of extra space in the container.

If you’re using bags, use a straw to remove as much of the air as possible before sealing.

Wrap cookie dough logs tightly in plastic wrap.

child mixing cookie dough

Supplies for freezing cookie dough

There are no fancy supplies needed for freezing cookie dough, just regular things you probably already have in your kitchen.

Baking sheet – I like to scoop my cookie dough on to a baking sheet to freeze. If you don’t, you’ll end up with a big clump of frozen cookie dough.

Cookie scoop or spoon – you need something to scoop the cookie dough and make balls, you can use a spoon like you do for drop cookies or you can use a cookie scoop and have more uniform cookies. Both work great.

Plastic wrap or parchment paper and string – For some cookies, I like to freeze them in logs and wrap them in parchment paper. Once they’re wrapped I tie a string around the log to keep the paper closed. I’ve tried tape but it doesn’t really stick for me. If I think the dough will be in the freezer for longer than a month, I wrap it in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn.

Freezer bags or container – You need something to put the frozen cookie dough in. Depending on how much we have and how quickly I think we’ll use it I’ll either use freezer bags or storage containers.

Permanent marker – Be sure to label the freezer bag or container so you know what cookie dough is in it. I like to write the name, the baking temperature and any other baking/thawing instructions right on the bag. If I’m using a storage container, I write the information on masking tape and use it to label the container.

scoops of cookie dough on baking sheet ready to freeze

How to freeze cookie dough by the scoop

I prefer to freeze most cookie dough in individual cookie sizes. This works great for any kind of drop cookies like chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter (or sun butter) snickerdoodles.

Using a dough scoop put the dough on a baking sheet. The cookies on the left are Mexican Wedding Cookies and the cookies on the right are chocolate chip cookies for the peanut butter cup cookies. Because cookies dough doesn’t spread when freezing like it does with baking you can put the scoops really close together.

Put them into the freezer for about 20-30 minutes to partially freeze or several hours to completely freeze.

While they are freezing, I write on the freezer bags the name of the cookie and how to bake it. Be sure to add an extra minute or two since the cookie dough is frozen.

scoops of frozen cookie dough on baking sheet with a freezer bag beside them.

After the cookie dough is frozen (or mostly frozen) put each variety in it’s own labeled bag and return to the freezer.

chocolate sugar cookie dough log on parchment paper

How to freeze cookie dough in a log

Freezing cookie dough in a log is great for slice and bake (or icebox cookies) such as cut-out cookies, shortbread, sugar cookies, gingerbread and molasses cookies.

Put the prepared dough on a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and form into a log.

Tightly wrap the cookie dough log and put it into the freezer. Once it’s frozen you can put it in a freezer container or bag so you don’t have a bunch of cookie dough logs all over the freezer.

What cookie dough can be frozen

Most cookie doughs can be frozen with one of these two techniques bur avoid freezing delicate cookies such a meringue, pizzelle, macarons and madeleine cookie doughs.

For cookies that a rolled in sugar such as peanut butter cookies, freeze the dough before rolling in sugar. When you bake them, let them thaw just a bit and roll in sugar and then bake.

For large skillet cookies, cookie cakes, and cookie bars, wrap the prepared cookie dough in plastic just like the logs, but there’s no need to shape it into a log. Let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking – this will allow you to spread the dough out to fill the pan.

For thumbprint cookies, use the scoop method and form the thumbprint before freezing. However, wait to fill the cookies until you are ready to bake them.

For cut-out cookies you can freeze the dough in a log or cut the cookies out and freeze them on a baking sheet like the scoop method. It just depends on when you want to actually cut out the cookies.

How to bake frozen cookie dough

For the most part, baking frozen cookie dough is just like baking fresh cookies, you just need to add a few minutes to the baking time. Bake the cookies at whatever temperature the recipe calls for. I like to write the temperature on the freezer bag so I don’t have to look at the recipe again.

Most frozen cookie doughs do not need to be thawed out first, just put the cookie scoop or slice on the baking sheet and bake.

However, there are some doughs that will need to be completely thawed out before baking such as cut-out cookies, skillet or bar cookies and cookie cakes. To thaw frozen cookie dough, put it in the refrigerator overnight.

For cookies that are rolled in sugar or other toppings, let them partially thaw so that the topping will stick to the cookie, usually 15-20 minutes is plenty of time.

chocolate chip cookies on cooling rack before freezing

Freezing baked cookies

Freezing cookies after they’ve been baked is also an option. Before making a bunch of cookies for the freezer, I would try freezing just a few to see if you like them. The texture of some cookies changes a bit once they’re frozen and then thawed.

I find that some cookies such as shortbread don’t have much texture change, and others such as chocolate chip cookies have more texture change. Don’t get me wrong, they are still tasty, just not quite as wonderful as freshly baked.

The most important step in freezing baked cookies is to let them completely cool before putting them in a storage container. This will keep ice crystals from forming in the container.

But if you find yourself with too many cookies to eat in a reasonable amount of time, freezing them is a great option. I like to freeze cookies in storage containers instead of freezer bags to help keep them from getting broken. I also like to stack them on their side instead of flat so I can get more into the container.

Another option is to stack them like a log, roll them in plastic wrap and then freeze the log. If you have access to tubes like Pringles cans, they can be put in the tube for freezing to keep them from breaking.

To thaw frozen cookies, let them sit out at room temperature until they’re completely thawed.

chocolate chip cookie scoops on baking sheet for freezing

Thanks for sharing with your friends!

Kathy Jackson

Friday 8th of January 2016

Your five year old-probably six by now- is adorable! I have been sick for several years with Fibromyalgia, and I have about 30% of the stamina I used to have. And we do Christmas BIG in my family! I do my cookies like you posted, but I need to do the writing on the ziplock bag from now on. I had to go back and look up the cooking temps and times.....I also freeze the sausage cheese balls. That is my whole family's favorite snack and it's so much easier to do things ahead of time. Starting early on gifts helps too. I wrap gifts as I purchase them and put them in the top of my closet. Then when it's time I get them out and decorate them. Doing things ahead is the best timesaver I know!

Angi Schneider

Friday 8th of January 2016

Thank you! She's such a fun helper and I'm fortunate that she enjoys hanging out with me and helping. Yum, those sausage cheese balls sound wonderful! Thanks so much for the tip of wrapping the gifts as you go along. We buy early but I don't wrap early, I think I'm going to change that.

Nicole @Little Blog on the Homestead

Monday 22nd of December 2014

I love this! It's great to have frozen dough on hand for when you're feeling a craving and can just pop in a few cookies and not have to make a whole big batch (and then eat them all)

Angi Schneider

Tuesday 23rd of December 2014

Yeah, even with a large family a full batch of cookies is a little too much all at once. Although my kids would love it.