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The Best Way to Freeze Cookie Dough

The best way to freeze cookie dough is in individually formed balls.
That way, you can take them from freezer to oven to lips to hips in no time at all… whenever the mood for fresh warm cookies strikes. This process works best for drop type cookies, where you use a scoop or form a ball with the dough and then place it on a cookie sheet to bake. Cut-out cookies and bar cookies actually freeze very well after being baked and/or even after being frosted.

Here’s the process to preserve cookie dough for the longest shelf life, the easiest convenience and the tastiest results. Who says you can’t have it all?

The Best Way to Freeze Cookie Dough

How to Freeze Cookie Dough

Frozen cookie dough is a good make ahead plan during the holidays and busy times, but freezing cookie dough actually makes sense all year long. Whenever the urge for a nice, warm, fresh from the oven cookie strikes – even when you’re home alone – go ahead and pop a little frozen ball into the toaster oven and enjoy the goodness just minutes later. Or, if company drops by unexpected (and there are actually enough balls left in the freezer to accommodate) you can pre-heat the oven and make a whole batch… you guests will think you have ESP and were expecting them!

Here’s the best way to make frozen cookie dough:

Make your favorite cookie recipe.
Actually, why stop there? Make a few different recipes while you’ve got all the ingredients and mess out on the counter.

Use your cookie scoop to place cookie dough balls close together, but NOT touching, onto a cookie sheet. If you don’t have a cookie scoop then look below under additional information – it’s soooo much easier than rolling a bunch of little balls by hand.

Freeze the entire tray(s) for about an hour.

Place the frozen balls into gallon freezer safe bags that seal tightly and label them with the cookie name and date, include the oven temperature and baking time if it’s different than what you normally bake.

When you’re ready to bake these frozen balls, simply remove the desired quantity and place them onto a cookie sheet as you normally would. Pre-heat the oven and then bake the cookies according to the recipe, or freezer bag in this case.

Note: Frozen cookies may need a minute or two longer in the oven than the original recipe recommends.

Note: Colder cookies will make thicker baked cookies. Since we prefer thick cookies that are gooey in the middle, we generally pre-heat the oven first and then arrange a cookie sheet with frozen cookie dough balls. You can thaw the cookies before baking if you prefer thinner cookies. Thaw them either on the counter on the baking sheet, if baking right away, or in the refrigerator overnight – keeping in mind that the balls will stick together once thawed, so you will want to separate the balls beforehand if thawing them in the fridge.

The Best Way to Freeze Cookie Dough

Additional Info

How long does frozen cookie dough last? We find that after about three months in the freezer the taste of the resulting cookies begins to decline.

Drop cookies are so much easier to make with a professional cookie scoop, just scoop and release to make cookie balls in a flash.

To find out how long other foods are good for, please visit the Dairy, Drinks, Fruits, Grains, Proteins, Vegetables and Other sections of Eat By Date or use the search function below.