Freezing cookie dough

[fryguy]

I will be baking several dozen sugar cookies for my wedding and I was wondering how long either the frozen dough or frozen baked-off cookies will last? I googled it and got as short as 3-4 weeks and as long as a year for baked cookies, and about 4-6 weeks for frozen dough.

Thanks.

Larry

Edited January 4, 2005 by fryguy (log)

[claire797]

I will be baking several dozen sugar cookies for my wedding and I was wondering how long either the frozen dough or frozen baked-off cookies will last?  I googled it and got as short as 3-4 weeks and as long as a year for baked cookies, and about 4-6 weeks for frozen dough. 

Thanks.

Larry

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I wouldn't freeze it any longer than 6 weeks. Sure, you could freeze it longer, but I've noticed that dough that's been frozen for a very long time results in cookies that just don't taste quite as good. I wouldn't freeze the cookies themselves. I freeze cookies all the time, and they're just not as good as fresh cookies or even dough that's been frozen and freshly baked.

Then again, it's a wedding and everyone is going to be drinking and eating other food. If your sugar cookies aren't 100% perfect, probably nobody will care. But I won't lie and say there's no taste difference between dough that's been frozen for a long time and dough that hasn't.

[Wendy DeBord]

Everyone has their standards and there's no way you'll ever find agreement among everyone. I normally do my best to make things last minute but sometimes my schedule and work demand I hold items. I wouldn't make them 3 months in advance if I could find a couple hours at a closer date. It's comes down to, just how busy are you? If you can find a couple hours a week away from your wedding-that would be ideal.

I've held baked cookies for 2 months (and longer) well wrapped in the freezer (don't mix types of cookies in the same container). I've held raw dough for 2 months also, I don't see why you couldn't keep it up to 6 months wrapped well.

I'm going to contradict the vast majority of people when I tell you that I think raw cookie dough doesn't hold as well as baked cookies do. I make a lot of cookies in the summer months for work and this is what happens to me at work. The frozen dough I think loses something in the intensity of the flavor after it's been frozen for a while, also they don't seem to hold as long after they're baked.......the flavor deteriorates quickly. Occasionally I'll get a couple ice crystals that mark the surface of my dough too. Whereas with baked then frozen cookies I don't find the taste fades (even though they do stale in time) and I think they hold longer once defrosted. I'd rather freeze baked cookies and refresh them in a warm oven before serving, then bake off frozen dough thats more then a couple days old.

[JFLinLA]

I've been very successful with freezing unbaked dough -- of course it depends on the kind of dough it is. With buttery, drop cookies -- like chocolate chip -- I scoop the dough and freeze the unbaked lumps on a sheet with parchment or a silpat, then put in a freezer bag. I bake directly from the frozen state in a hot oven -- it only adds a minute or two to the overall baking time. For slice and bake cookies, I freeze the dough in whatever the shape calls for and then only defrost as much as necessary to bake. Obviously, you wouldn't do this for something like macaroons.

[JSkilling]

After making dozens and dozens this holiday season I can say that the frozen cookies thaw just fine and taste great. Are they exactly the same as fresh baked and iced, no. But they are still very good.

Though for me, I believe you should just eat them frozen as it's what I've always done. My mom used to "hide" them from us in the freezer, so we just ate them like that. Man, a bite into a frozen sugar cookie with peppermint butter/confectioner's sugar icing and I'm a kid again! And if it's blue icing, so much the better!

[ladyyoung98]

ive had good results with freezing cookie dough long term...ever since i discovered the glad press and seal plastic its liek a whoel nother world...however...ive often wondered iof one might get better results with one of those food savers that basically suck out all the air.....

[DiH]

ive  had  good results  with freezing  cookie  dough long  term...ever since  i  discovered  the  glad  press and  seal  plastic  its  liek a whoel  nother  world...however...ive  often wondered iof  one  might  get  better  results with one of  those  food  savers  that  basically  suck out all the  air.....

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The Food Savers are terrific for freezing cookie dough... the stuff takes on nearly the life span of a Twinkie. Not so good for baked cookies tho' as it sucks all the air out of the cookie too.

I've never taken a close look at the Glad press and seal... is it freezer safe?

Di

[jgarner53]

Another handy bit, especially with chocolate chip cookie dough (not useful for your wedding, I know, but handy to know). Those frozen lumps make for some good snacking straight out of the freezer!

When I was in high school, I worked in an ice cream shop that sold "freshly baked" Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. I can't tell you how many lumps of frozen dough I pilfered.

FoodSavers are awesome for anything that doesn't have air in it (like a baked good).

[Darienne]

It appears that unbaked cookie dough freezes well and for quite a long time.

No one spoke specifically about doughs with nuts in them, so I am wondering if you can freeze both cookie and biscotti batters with nuts in them. Thanks

[baroness]

Biscotti keep so well - if no one eats them - that I wouldn't bother freezing them.

[baroness]

Biscotti keep so well - if no one eats them - that I wouldn't bother freezing them.

[Darienne]

Biscotti keep so well - if no one eats them - that I wouldn't bother freezing them.

Thanks, but what I meant is freezing the unbaked biscotti dough...

And what I need most to know is how the freezing would affect the nut, if at all.

Edited October 28, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[Darienne]

I was just thinking about nuts in ice cream. Some of them seem to get softer in the frozen mixture. Would freezing the nuts in unbaked cookie and biscotti dough have the same effect? Or would the nut crisp up again when baked? Sorry I didn't think of this earlier.

[Darienne]

While looking for answers, I came upon the following: According to Natalie Haughton Food Editor of COOKIE CONFIDENTIAL. December 2006

You can make and freeze formed unbaked individual cookies months in advance if they are well-wrapped in plastic wrap. But be aware that some doughs -- such as meringue and biscotti cannot be frozen.

Too bad.

Edited October 28, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[stuartlikesstrudel]

Darienne, some people recommend storing nuts in the freezer to keep them from turning rancid, so I'm guessing the freezer doesn't affect the nut itself, it must be the moisture or sugar in icecream that changes the texture

When I make choc chip cookies, I love to keep a little bit of the dough and mix it into vanilla ice cream to make cookie-dough ice cream. It's so nice to find the occasional lump of buttery, salty dough in the icecream... mmmmm! I think some recipes would work better for this than others, my dough gets too hard in the icecream but i guess reducing something (less butter maybe) would fix this.

[KarenDW]

Why do you want to freeze the dough?

If you are trying to stagger your baking process, what about freezing the 1/2 baked biscotti? I do it all the time, with no change in results. After the first bake, cool, slice, then freeze on trays. Transfer to sealed bags/containers after freezing. Thaw on the baking sheet before baking.

[Darienne]

Thanks for the added advice.

Freezing the half-baked biscotti might well be the answer.

And I do store my nuts in the freezer normally...it's the mix of nuts and liquids I guess.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[CDRFloppingham]

I'm probably not that picky but some friends dropped over last weekend and I had some frozen commercial cookie dough in the freezer (not Pillsbury...the best brand I could get at the supermarket). Even though they weren't as good as a from scratch cookie fresh from the oven, the fresh from the oven quality of these cookies was nice. I'd like to do a little better and make my own raw cookie dough lumps to have on hand at all times.

Does anyone have a good recipe for chocolate chip cookies that freezes well raw?

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I made Compost Cookies recently (google them, the recipe has been going around recently) and froze some of the dough. I couldn't really tell the difference between those that I froze before baking and those that I baked off straight away (though you need to chill the dough anyway, so i guess it's not that different). They're pretty similar to the classic Toll House cookie recipe, but with a whole bunch of add-ins, so I guess that would work well too.

[KarenDW]

Does anyone have a good recipe for chocolate chip cookies that freezes well raw?

I have had success using my "usual" cookie dough recipes.

Do use double-acting baking powder if you can find it.

Also, portion the dough and freeze until firm before wrapping for longer storage.

*don't* forget about the dough for 3 weeks after you have put it into the freezer the first time

If you need lots, most food service suppliers have some sort of pre-fab cookie dough...