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Even though there are plenty of tricks for storing already-baked cookies, let’s be honest. Nothing competes with the goodness of a just-baked cookie.
That’s why I ALWAYS have a stash of frozen cookie dough in my freezer.
(Secret confession: I pretty much feel naked without cookie dough stashed somewhere in my freezer).
Free Cookie Customization Guide!
The science-based guide so you can bake perfect cookies every time!
Having frozen cookie dough on hand means you can whip up a batch of homemade cookies any time in just minutes. This comes in handy in countless situations:
- You need to satisfy a cooking craving STAT and don’t want to bake an entire batch
- Company stops by unexpectedly (like your mother-in-law…)
- Back-to-school and other busy times
- Prepping ahead for Christmas baking or holiday baking
- Upcoming bake sales or parties
- Homemade gifts for teachers, students, new parents, neighbors, etc.
I’ve got lots of tips for freezing cookie dough included just below!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Equipment Needed to Freeze Cookie Dough:
- Cookie Scoop
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet
- Airtight container or freezer-safe Ziptop bag
Which Kinds of Cookie Dough are Best to Freeze?
Pretty much ANY drop-style cookie can be frozen successfully. Whether that be Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, Double Chocolate Chip Cookies… or anything in between.
Believe me, I wrote an entire cookbook about cookie baking so I’ve frozen my fair share of recipes!
Notes on what to do with cookies rolled in sugar (like my Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies or my Crispy Gingersnaps) are below.
If you’re making cut-out cookies, such as Cut-Out Sugar Cookies or Gingerbread Cookies, where you roll out the dough and cut it into shapes with a cookie cutter, those cookies are best frozen after baking.
How to Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies (or Any Drop-Style Cookie Dough)
- Make the cookie dough as the recipe directs.
- Use a spring-loaded cookie scoop to portion out balls of dough in a single layer, onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Important Note: If the recipe calls for ‘marinating’ or chilling the cookie dough (which does magical things for your cookies!) then be sure to allow the dough cookie dough balls to chill in the fridge for 24-72 hours before freezing – learn why chilling cookie dough is important here.
- Place the tray of cookie dough balls flat in the freezer. Freeze until firm and solid.
- Remove the balls of cookie dough to a labeled and dated airtight storage container or freezer-safe bag.
How to Freeze Cookies Coated in Sugar
For cookies like Snickerdoodles, which are rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking, you want to wait until just before baking to roll in sugar. Here’s that method:
- Freeze the uncoated balls of cookie dough.
- Once ready to bake, roll in the sugar and follow the directions below for baking.
- If you find the sugar doesn’t stick as well to the frozen dough, allow it to thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature until slightly more pliable, then bake as directed by the recipe.
Can You Freeze Glazed or Iced Cookies?
Glazed or iced cookies (like my Glazed Lemon Cookies) will get sticky and will no longer look nice, as the icing can weep. For best results, freeze the dough as directed below and wait until baked and fully cooled before icing or glazing.
You can also freeze the baked cookies as directed below, and wait until thawed and back to room temperature before icing or glazing.
Can You Freeze Sandwich Cookies or Filled Cookies?
For best results, freeze the dough as directed below and wait until baked and fully cooled before filling. Alternatively, freeze the baked cookies as directed below, and wait until thawed and at room temperature before filling.
How Long Can You Freeze Cookie Dough For?
You can store cookie dough in the freezer for up to 6 weeks. Be sure your airtight container or ziptop bag is well-sealed, to prevent freezer burn.
Does Freezing Cookie Dough Change The Softness Or Thickness Of Cookies After Baking?
Generally, the colder the dough is when it enters the oven, the thicker the cookies will be! If you don’t wish to alter the thickness of the cookie, allow your cookie dough balls to thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake as directed by the recipe.
How to Bake Frozen Cookie Dough
You can either let the dough completely defrost overnight in the fridge and bake as the recipe instructs. Or, if you’re impatient like me, you can bake from frozen. Here are the steps:
- Preheat the oven to about 20 degrees lower than the original recipe temperature.
- Remove however many balls of dough you need from the freezer and place on a parchment-lined baking pan.
- Bake the cookies for 2 to 5 minutes longer than the original recipe instructions, or until the cookies are golden at the edges but still slightly ‘wet’ looking at the very center.
Why Do You Have To Lower The Temperature When Baking Cookies From Frozen?
Using the above technique helps the cookie dough melt and spread out evenly from a frozen state. If you bake exactly as the recipe directs, you’ll likely get cookies that spread and crisp too much at the edges but stay super thick and undercooked in the center.
How to Freeze Baked Cookies
Practically all unfrosted, unglazed cookies can be frozen. Cut-out Cookies (like sugar cookies) freeze particularly well in airtight containers for up to 1 month. I like to place pieces of parchment paper between each layer, for easy removal later. Defrost to room temperature before decorating or serving.
If you’re enjoying something like chocolate chip cookies, you can also defrost and refresh in a 300°F oven for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until warmed through. An oven works better than a microwave, which will usually result in mushy cookies.
My Favorite Cookie Recipes to Freeze:
More Cookie Science Articles:
- Best Baking Pans
- Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans
- How to Bake THICK Cookies
- Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda – what’s the difference and how to test for freshness
- How to Cream Butter & Sugar
- What Does Sugar Do in Baking? (spoiler alert: it’s way more than just sweetening!)
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 1 batch of cookie dough
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough as the recipe instructs. Freezing works best with drop cookies (i.e. chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, etc.). Cut-out cookies actually freeze well after they’re baked!
- Roll the cookie dough into even balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet that fits flat in your freezer.
- Freeze the balls for 1 hour, or until solid. This prevents the balls from sticking to each other.
- Remove the balls to a ziptop bag or an airtight container. Be sure to label with the date, recipe name, baking temperature, and baking time.
- Freeze for up to 6 weeks. You can get away with freezing for longer but the quality may start to lessen.
Can you freeze baked cookies that were baked from frozen dough. In other words, can you freeze cookies twice? Once in dough form then in baked cookie form?
Hi Katie! We typically don’t recommend freezing baked cookies (with some exceptions, like cut-out sugar cookies, which freeze very well after baking) simply because we prefer fresh-baked cookies, for the best flavor and texture. While we don’t have a ton of experience with freezing dough, then baking the cookies from frozen, and freezing again, I’ve definitely done it with success with certain types of cookie – just keep in mind that it may dry the cookies out a little (freezers love to zap moisture), so be careful to freeze your cookies well-wrapped in plastic and inside an airtight container. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I froze my chocolate chip cookies and now they have defrosted in the fridge. After I bake them can I refreeze them?
Hi Nancy! We don’t typically freeze baked cookies such as chocolate chip cookies, as it can change their texture – but feel free to give it a try if needed! 🙂
I am looking to make frozen cookie dough balls as a gift. Will it be ok to coat them is sugar before freezing as I want it to be a simple process to bake the cookies?
Hi Sarah! Yes, that should be fine – just let the lucky person receiving the cookie dough know that the cookies will need to be baked from frozen and provide the directions Tessa outlines on this page, as allowing them to thaw can melt the sugar. Happy baking!
Thanks for your amazing site. Your recipe “Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies” is the favorite in our house. But this will be my first time freezing the dough balls for storage.
My question is if there is any difference in the results, whether the dough marinates first and is then scooped and frozen, or if scooping then marinating then freezing?
Hi Dave! Ahh, freezing dough is about to change your life 🙂 So handy!! There doesn’t seem to be much difference in results between chilling then scooping then freezing, vs. scooping then chilling then freezing. Tessa personally prefers to marinate in one large batch, then scoop, then freeze – she believes you get a little more depth of flavor this way, but it’s so small that if scooping first is easier, she says to go for it. Either way, you just want to allow the chill (‘marination’) period to happen before freezing, as Tessa explains above. The rest is whatever is most convenient for you! Happy freezing and baking 🙂
Thank you so much for the response and information. Can’t wait to fill the freezer with cookies 🙂
I have some store-bought cookie dough in the freezer. I’d like to take them out and bake them right away or let them thaw overnight. I would like them to come out of the oven spread out as thinly as possible, but not be crispy but rather chewy and floppy.
One idea I had was to poke a hole in the center of each chunk prior to baking and drop some melted butter into each hole of each cookie…not a lot of butter, just a few drops to make them spread.
If they are still frozen, I’ve been told to turn down the recommended temperature to let them spread.
What do you suggest?
Hi Ted! Pre-made cookie dough is well outside our area of expertise, but I would say that there is not much you can do to ensure pre-made dough turns out a certain way, as the vast majority of those factors are determined by the ingredients. I don’t believe your butter trick will do much, other than creating a lot of grease and potentially burn the bottoms of your cookies as the melted butter escapes out. If you want the dough to spread out thin, but not be crispy, I would recommend thawing the dough in the fridge overnight, then allowing it to come to room temperature for an hour or so before you bake it. The warmer dough will encourage spread. Bake on a light-colored metal pan (darker metals scorch the bottoms faster). Then be sure to pull them from the oven while they still look a touch underbaked (set at the edges, but still a little damp in the middles), which will allow the cookies to be softer. I hope that helps!
So helpful, thank you! When baking from chilled versus frozen, what do you recommend? I noticed that my cookies aren’t spreading at all when baked from the fridge.
Hi Stacy! When baking dough straight from the fridge, you shouldn’t have to change anything (timing or temp). Chilling cookie dough in the fridge does result in thicker cookies, but there should still be some spreading! Have you noticed this happening with a specific recipe? Typically if cookies aren’t spreading in the oven, it’s due to due much flour being added. Do you use a digital scale to measure your flour?
Have you ever tried baking a few cookies in the air fryer? I don’t have a toaster oven and don’t want to heat up my big oven for a couple cookies.
We haven’t! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Hi! At my first attempt with heating up the cookies without seeing this post, adding an additional 15 degrees F, my cookies puffed up as if there was an increase in baking soda (although when I baked them right after making them, they were spread out). Do you have any idea why this is? Thanks!
Hi Dez! Just to confirm I understand you correctly, did you reduce or increase your oven temperature? When baking cookie dough balls directly from frozen, the cookies will puff up as they bake due to their cold inner temperature, though they should flatten out once they sit on the cookie sheet after baking. I hope that answers your question!
Can you freeze Carmel covered chocolate pretzels
I’m not sure, we haven’t made those!
So I am doing a bake sale with my siblings on Saturday, and we are pre-making the dough on Thursday. So basically what your saying is to make the dough, put it on a cookie sheet, freeze it for an hour, take it out and put it in ziploc bags then freeze until ready to use? And then when it’s ready to use, let it thaw, and I can bake it normal right? I’m using the crisco recipe, will that change anything? Also any extra tips and tricks will be helpful. Thanks!!
Hi Alyssa! I’m actually thinking you might be interested in chilling your dough instead as it’s such a short period of time between when you’re prepping the cookies and baking them! Check out our article HERE for more details and tips! “Marinating” your cookies as discussed in that article is a GREAT way to increase the texture and flavor of your cookies. If you’d rather freeze them, please check out the tip titled “How to bake frozen cookie dough” in the pink tip box in the article you commented on (How to Freeze Cookie Dough) for details. You are correct in your question, but you can also bake your cookies directly from the freezer 🙂 Hope this helps!
Great information! Thank you. Cookie balls in the freezer is such a sweet move!!
Definitely makes it a lot easier during the week to satisfy cookie cravings! Glad this helped 🙂
Hi, Can you scoop the cookies first (easier to scoop just-made dough), then refrigerate, then freeze? Won’t that give the same result as refrigerating, scooping, then freezing? Thanks for any info!
Hi Julie, the directions say to scoop just made dough and then freeze! Or are you asking about cookie dough that needs to marinate in the refrigerator first?