How To Freeze Cookie Dough

Learning How To Freeze Cookie Dough allows you to have homemade cookies whenever the craving hits without making a mess in the kitchen! Perfect when you want late-night sweet treats!

Load up your freezer with a batch of Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookie dough! That way you’ll never be caught without fresh, warm homemade cookies when company drops by!

Knowing How To Freeze Cookie Dough is one of my favorite kitchen tricks! It means there’s always time for homemade cookies since you skip making them and go right to baking them!

I especially love using this trick around the holidays! That way I can spread out my holiday baking yet still finish all of my desserts without overloading my kitchen or myself!

Learning How To Freeze Cookie Dough also allows me to only bake the number of cookies I want! Great for popping a few in the oven after dinner so our family can enjoy a delicious homemade cookie without any hassle!

How To Freeze Cookie Dough Balls

• Follow the instructions for your favorite cookie recipe! If your recipe rolls the dough in sugar before baking, you want to skip that step. Instead, that step will be completed when you go to bake the dough!
• Once the dough is made, portion it out using a cookie scoop. That way, you can grab a cookie or two and bake them only when you want to!
• Freeze the portioned dough in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper. This allows the dough to freeze first before placing it in storage bags. Whereas, if you tossed the portioned-out dough into a bag without freezing first, they would all freeze together in one big lump.
• Store the frozen dough balls in a Ziploc bag with the excess air squeezed out of it. Using storage bags means you won’t take up much of freezer space!
• Label your bag with the date, baking directions, and cookie name. This way there’s no guesswork when you reach for the bag of frozen cookie dough. Remember to note that baking from frozen may require a couple additional minutes of baking time.

Cookie Recipes That Work Great For Freezing!

Wondering how to freeze cookie dough for other cookie recipes? Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned about the kind of cookie dough recipes that freeze well and those that don’t!

• Drop Cookies – Basically any drop cookie can use the original method outlined in the recipe card. Drop cookies are usually those that are portioned out with a cookie scoop or spoon and dropped right on the pan before baking. Some of our favorites include our Peanut Butter Reese’s Pieces Cookies and our Brown Butter Pecan Cookies.
• Granulated Sugar Coating – Some recipes like these Peanut Butter Cookies and Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles call for the dough balls to be rolled in sugar before baking. For this type of recipe, you’ll skip the sugar coating before freezing. When you’re ready to enjoy the cookies, thaw the dough balls until they become a bit soft. After, roll them in their sugar coating and bake!
• Cut-Out Cookies – Cut-outs such as Classic Christmas Sugar Cookies, Linzer Cookies, and Gingerbread Cookies can be frozen two different ways! First, you can freeze the entire dough ball, I like to wrap my ball in plastic wrap before it goes in the freezer bag. Then thaw it overnight in the fridge to roll it out and cut the cookies the next day. Or you can roll the dough out and freeze it as a sheet. You would then thaw it in the fridge until it’s soft enough to use the cookie cutters.
• Slice & Bake Cookies – Cookie dough that you roll into a log to slice like in this Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies recipe freeze great! Just freeze the cookie dough logs and then thaw it in the fridge until it’s soft enough to slice and bake.
• Powdered Sugar Coating – Some cookie recipes, such as these Cool Whip Cookies, call for being rolled in powdered sugar before baking. For these types of cookies, you’ll skip rolling them in powdered sugar before baking. Instead, when you go to bake them allow them to thaw until soft first. Then roll them in powdered sugar before baking them.
• Dough Consistency – Before freezing your cookie dough, examine your dough. If the dough consistency is liquidy or they’re cake-like cookies, I wouldn’t recommend freezing the cookie dough. For example, Classic French Madeleines wouldn’t be a great dough to freeze!

Learning how to freeze cookie dough means I never have to go without a tasty Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie! Even if it is close to bedtime!

Do I need To Bake The Cookie Dough Longer From Frozen?

Yes, dough baked from frozen will need to be cooked a minute or two longer!

What If My Cookie Recipe Calls For Refrigerating The Dough Before Shaping?

Follow all of your recipe instructions, even if it includes chilling the dough. Once the dough is chilled and portioned out, you’ll then follow these instructions to freeze it.

Can I Just Freeze Cookies After I Bake Them?

Yes, freezing cookies once they’ve baked and cooled works too! However, freezing the dough and then baking it delivers that fresh, homemade cookie taste right from the oven!

Is It Better To Freeze Cookie Dough Or Baked Cookies?

This comes down to preference! How to freeze cookie dough and cookies is very similar in method, you just bake off the cookies before freezing. However, frozen cookie dough does take up less freezer space! I also feel like I have to be more careful when handling frozen baked cookies or they may break before getting to enjoy them!

I also think just freezing the dough allows you to still get the fresh-baked taste whereas fully baked and frozen cookies don’t.

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