How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Learn how to freeze cookie dough for later. It’s so easy, and one of my favorite ways to get your cookie fix whenever the craving hits!
Stashes of cookie dough in the freezer are my secret weapon for easy entertaining or satisfying a craving. It’s so convenient to be able to pull out a few balls of cookie dough at a time to bake when you like!
It also solves the problem of what do I do with a whole batch of baked cookies? and it saves me from eating them all. I bake off one sheet pan and freeze the rest for freshly baked cookies later.
So what’s the best way to freeze cookie dough? Come find out!
How to freeze cookie dough
1. Prepare cookie dough. Follow the instructions on the recipe.
2. Portion. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to portion the dough. Roll into a ball, if you like.
3. Do a quick freeze. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or wax paper, making sure that they aren’t touching. Place sheet pan in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.
Note: Freezing cookie dough balls individually before sticking them in a bag or plastic container prevents them from sticking together, which makes it easy to pick out just a few balls at a time to bake as you like.
4. Transfer to plastic bag or container. Remove cookie dough balls from the sheet pan and place in a zipped bag or plastic container.
5. Freeze for a month or more. The cookie dough will keep for even longer, but I’ve found that cookies taste their best when baked within a few weeks of preparing.
Bake as you like!
When ready to bake, grab as many cookies as you like from the freezer— the whole batch, or maybe just a few.
You can bake straight from the freezer of let cookie dough balls thaw a little while you preheat the oven. Bake as directed in the original recipe, adding 1-3 minutes of baking time as needed.
Cookie doughs you’ll most often find in my freezer
These are the recipes I have stashed in my freezer most often for on-demand cookie baking:
- Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Buttery Shortbread Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Chocolate Cookies
- Chewy Gingersnaps
- Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
My favorite cookie tools
This post was originally published March 2014.
What a wonderful and practical idea, except that my freezer is a minute section of my refrigerator and there would definitely be no space for a sheet pan to fit in!
Try a smaller baking dish, or even a plate. Freeze in batches if you have to! The point of this step is to freeze the outside of the cookie dough balls individually so that they don’t freeze stuck to each other in the bag.
What a fantastic idea I have seen it frozen in logs before but never like this. Thanks for the tips.
Annalise,
Great tips. I have done this but usually extra cookie dough gets eaten raw in my house.
Annamaria
I have a hard time storing it for too long either, it’s just too yummy!
WE love to freeze cookie dough in our house. You never know when you are going to crave some cookies.
Great tip!! I really need to start keeping cookie handy more often!
This is an awesome trick. I do this every year a few days before my family Christmas party so it’s one less thing to mess with that morning before everyone comes over. Just whip out the freezer bag, heat the oven and voila! Fresh cookies for everyone! Also, as an unrepentant cookie dough eater, the frozen dough balls are a fantastic treat, too.
Yes, such a great time saver for the holidays! I’m a big cookie dough eater too, thankfully I eat less from the freezer than I do from the fridge. Refrigerated dough won’t last a day if I’m around! 🙂
I do this all the time! Unfortunately the dough balls vary rarely make it to the oven… Love frozen cookie dough. 🙂
This is one of those times where I wonder why I’ve never thought to do this!!
we actually do this with homemade gnocchi and I see how this could work well for cookies Will have to give it a try thank you !!
I have been doing this for awhile! I also have zero space in my freezer but have found that leaving the balls in the fridge does the trick as well. I let the balls harden in the fridge then pop them in freezer bags for the freezer. Works great! And so easy to make any size batch. LOVE cookie dough!
Great suggestion, thanks for sharing!
I really need to start doing this!! My high school boyfriends mom used to do this all the time and everyone always loved to come to their house because she would always through a tray of snickerdoodles in the oven when they had a group over!
Do you find that some cookie dough freezes better than others? I freeze mine quite often, but the last few recipes spread into thin blobs on my cookie sheet after cooking them from frozen. It was weird and they were ugly… I believe one was an oatmeal cookie of some sort and the other was a chocolate cookie with mint chocolate chips… thanks!
Thanks for this tip! When I freeze cookie dough I try to remember to write the baking time and temp on the outside of the container/bag…so I don’t have to dig out the recipe when I’m ready to bake.
Great suggestion, thanks for the comment!
Loving this tip! It will be a lifesaver. =)