If you have an overabundance of cookies from holiday parties and cookie exchanges, you may be wondering, "Can you freeze cookies?" The good news is that you can freeze cookies to enjoy later, but that's not all.
Whether you’re making cookies to gift, serve, or trade, you can also prepare and freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months. That way, you’re not knee-deep in flour and sugar right before your party. Before you start loading up your freezer, take a look at our tips and tricks for freezing and thawing cookies and cookie dough.
How to Freeze Cookies
Most, but not all, cookies freeze well for up to three months. In some cases, well-wrapped cookies can last in the freezer for up to a year.
Considerations
Freezing is a great way to carry the taste of the holiday season throughout the rest of the year, but all cookie types aren't equally suitable for freezing. Thebest cookies to freezeare sturdy and simple, like drop cookies, cutouts, and cookie bars.
Overly delicate treats—likelight and airy meringue kisses—generally don't hold up to freezing well. Cookies made withjam, fresh citrus juice, or zest don't freeze well either.
Avoid freezing frosted or glazed cookies, too, because the cookie part absorbs moisture, and frosting loses its fluffy texture. The solution is to bake these types of cookies, freeze them uniced or unglazed, and then thaw and decorate them before serving.
Freezing
- Start with baked cookies that are completely cooled.
- Place them on a baking sheet in a single layer, and then set the sheet directly in the freezer.
- Once frozen, 30 to 60 minutes, stack them in an airtight food storage container with parchment paper or wax paper between layers to prevent the cookies from clumping together.
For extra protection or to keep cookies fresh for up to a year, individually wrap each frozen cookie in plastic wrap and then stack them in a container, Alternatively, store several cookies in a freezer storage bag and then in a container. The more layers between each cookie and the air, the better protected it is from freezer burn.
Thawing
- Remove them from the freezer a few hours in advance, leaving them to thaw at room temperature in the container they were stored in.
- Before adding icing or a chocolate drizzle, wait until they’re completely defrosted, and then have fun decorating!
Reheating
- To recreate that warm, right-out-of-the-oven, cookie-eating experience, you can warm up most thawed cookies by placing them on a baking sheet in a 325-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
- On a smaller scale, heating the cookie for a few seconds in the microwave gives you the same effect.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Having extra cookie dough isn't the most critical problem you could have. In fact, it's usually not a problem at all because you can freeze almost any kind of cookie dough for up to 3 months.
Considerations
The best kind of cookie dough for freezing is a thick, robust dough, like the kind used for drop or cutout cookies or the kind that requires refrigeration, like the store-bought slice-and-bake dough.
If a cookie's dough is thin, it's probably best to bake the cookies first and then freeze them rather than freeze the batter.
Freezing
Option 1
- Form the dough into one or more logs (making sure they'll fit into your freezer bag).
- Tightly double-wrap each log in plastic wrap.
- Place the wrapped logs in a freezer bag.
Option 2
- Spoon dough onto a cookie sheet and roll each into a ball or other cookie shape.
- Set the loaded sheet in the freezer.
- Once the individual unbaked cookies are frozen, layer them in a freezer bag—with parchment or wax paper between layers.
- Store them until you’re ready to bake.
Make sure to label and date these logs, especially if you're working with several different kinds of dough.
Thawing
If you've just taken a log of dough out of the freezer, it's best to set it in the refrigerator overnight to thaw thoroughly. You know it's ready when you can easily slice through it with a knife and then bake according to recipe directions.
If you're starting with frozen pre-portioned cookie dough shapes, place them on a greased baking sheet at room temperature for about 15 minutes, and then pop them in the oven.
Baking
You can also bake cookies directly from the freezer, but be mindful that frozen cookie dough may need an extra minute or two to bake, so keep an eye on the oven to make sure your treats don’t burn.
