How to Freeze Cookies and Cookie Dough

How to freeze cookies and cookie dough for delicious treats anytime you want! Freeze unbaked balls of dough or freshly baked cookies. It's easy!

You might also like this collection of famous chocolate chip cookie recipes!

I'm of the opinion that if you are going to trash the kitchen to make a pie, you might as well make 2 pies...or 4. If you are going to take the time to make a loaf of bread, why not make 2? And if you are going to bake up a batch of chocolate chip cookies, why not make a double batch and freeze half of the dough? It doesn't take that much time, but it saves you so much time in the long run!

3 Reasons to Freeze Cookie Dough

Frozen cookie dough balls will last 3 months in the freezer.
You can bake one cookie or 12. Just grab as many dough cookie dough balls as you need.
You can bake the cookies directly from the freezer.

Years ago, my sister shared how she freezes cookie dough balls so that she can make hot cookies anytime she wants. It also comes in handy during the holidays when you want to get a jump on holiday baking, but aren't quite ready to have piles of cookies all over your kitchen yet.

3 Reasons to Freeze Baked Cookies

Frozen cookies stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Frozen cookies thaw quickly when ready to eat! Simply thaw on the counter or microwave for a few seconds.
Freezing cookies relieves the stress of feeling like you need to finish eating an entire batch of freshly baked cookies before they go stale. 🙂

My Grandma Eva always had bags of cookies in her freezer. She didn't take any special care to wrap them, just froze them in plastic bags. You can do this, but I do have a couple of tips to prevent freezer burn for long-term storage.

Cookie Dough Recipes that Freeze Well

Drop Cookies

You can freeze most cookie dough recipes. Peanut butter, Snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, chocolate, and drop sugar cookies are all frozen in cookie dough balls.

Cutout Cookies

Recipes for cutout cookies can also be frozen. I prefer freezing baked sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, but you can freeze the dough too.

Are there any cookies that don't freeze well? Honestly, you can freeze most baked goods. I've heard that you should avoid freezing meringues and madeleines due to being delicate and affected by changes in moisture, but I've never baked either of those.

How to Freeze Cookie Dough Balls

Scoop the cookie dough (using whatever scoop you want) onto a baking sheet, platter, or plate. Don't worry about spacing out the cookie dough balls more than ¼" or so. Load the sheet completely full.
Freeze the cookie dough balls for 1 hour. This prevents the dough from sticking to eachother when you transfer the cookie dough to a freezer bag.
Once the cookie dough balls are hard, place them into a freezer bag or container.
Label the bag with the date.

Ready to bake? No need to thaw the dough. Bake at the regular temperature, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time (if needed).

A note about freezing Snickerdoodle dough: I freeze the dough WITHOUT rolling it in cinnamon and sugar. You can freeze the dough with the cinnamon and sugar coating if you'd like, but I like doing that right before baking. Let the cookie dough balls thaw on the counter for 20 minutes, then roll in cinnamon and sugar before baking. No need to add extra baking time since the cookie dough balls will be a little softer from sitting out.

A note about freezing peanut butter cookie dough: Flatten each dough ball with a fork before placing the cookies into the freezer (unless making peanut blossoms which doesn't require you to flatten the cookie dough balls).

How to Freeze Cutout Cookie Dough

Method 1: Cut out cookies with cookie cutters and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. When the tray is full, you can place a couple pieces of parchment paper on top and add another layer of cutout cookies if you want. Wrap the baking sheet in plastic and then place it into the freezer.

Ready to bake? Transfer frozen cutout cookie dough shapes to baking sheets and bake at the regular temperature, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time (if needed).

Method 2: Divide the dough into two pieces. Flatten each piece into a disc (like you would when refrigerating gingerbread or sugar cookie dough) and wrap in a layer of plastic. Place into a gallon freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Ready to bake? Remove the disc of dough from the freezer and thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Roll out and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake as usual.

How to Freeze Baked Cookies

Let cookies cool completely after baking.
Transfer cookies to an airtight container, adding parchment paper between each layer. To really protect your cookies from freezer burn, you can wrap the cookies in plastic wrap in stacks of 3-6 cookies, then place the stacks into a large freezer bag.

Ready to eat? Remove the cookies from the freezer and take off any wrapping. Allow cookies to thaw on the counter until room temperature.