Freezing Christmas cookie dough can be incredibly helpful during the busy holiday season by allowing you to prep your cookies in advance! This guide will walk you through exactly how to freeze your cookie dough so that your cookies will still bake perfectly when you're ready. Go ahead and check one more thing off of your to-do list!
Guide To Freezing Christmas Cookie Dough
The holidays are easily one of the most stressful times of the year. There is a ton of preparation, planning, cooking, and cleaning - especially if you are hosting!
One key way to help relieve some stress from yourself and make your to-do list just a tad easier is to prepare as much as you can in advance. That way, you won't be running around on Christmas morning trying to cook everything when you should be spending time with your family!
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This guide will walk you through the best ways to freeze Christmas cookie dough so that you can knock out all of your festive cookies before the big day! When Christmas rolls around, you'll feel completely prepared, relaxed, and ready to enjoy the festivities!
If you are preparing for Christmas this year, make sure to check out my helpful Christmas guide!
Best Types of Christmas Cookie Dough To Freeze
Believe it or not, not all cookie dough freezes the same. The varieties that are best for withstanding being frozen are the ones that have the highest fat percentage (this means a lot of butter, egg yolks, and oil).
Additionally, you'll need a thicker dough that can hold its shape when scooped. Thinner dough won't freeze as well (such as florentines or madeleines).
While these may seem like some specific requirements, a ton of Christmas favorites still meet these demands. Here are some great options for Christmas cookies with dough that freezes well.
- Gingerbread
- Chocolate Chip
- Oatmeal
- Peanut Butter
- Sugar Cookies
- Pinwheel
- Shortbread
- Icebox Cookies (Slice & Bake)
Feel free to use any variation of these cookie dough types as well. Adding in nuts, candy, fruit, sprinkles, and chocolate chips won't affect the cookie's ability to freeze and then bake well, so have fun!
If you mix sprinkles into your cookie dough, the colored dye may run once it is taken out of the freezer and baked.
To test your sprinkles, get a paper towel damp, add the sprinkles, fold the paper towel over it, and then pop it into the freezer. After the paper towel has frozen, you can remove it from the freezer. Allow it to thaw in order to check if the dye will run.
How To Freeze Cookie Dough
The specific process depends on the type of cookie dough you have. For drop cookies (like chocolate chip and peanut butter), you can scoop the dough onto a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper.
Your goal is to make the individual cookies, so make sure that the edges aren't touching one another.
Cover the cookies with some plastic wrap and then place the baking sheet in the freezer. Of course, you can simply leave them like this. However, if you want to save storage space then remove the cookies once they have frozen and transfer them to a storage bag.
For cookies that will be rolled and then cut out (such as gingerbread and sugar cookies), you'll want to form your dough into an even disc. Then, tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap.
If you have a cookie dough that will be cut into slices (like shortbread), form the dough into a log and tightly wrap it with plastic wrap.
How Long Can Cookie Dough Be Frozen
When you prepare your cookie dough to be frozen, make sure you label them with the date using a permanent marker. For best results, bake your cookie dough within three months of storing them.
Baking Cookie Dough After It Has Been Frozen
For drop cookies, you can bake them straight from frozen! Simply add a minute or two onto your total bake time.
If you have a dough log that needs to be sliced, you can also do this while still frozen. Simply slice your cookies and bake!
However, if you have dough that needs to be rolled and cut with cookie cutters, you'll need to allow the dough to thaw first.
To do so, move the dough to the refrigerator to thaw overnight (or up to 24 hours if necessary). Then you can move the thawed dough to a floured work space to roll out and cut.
Now that you know how to freeze your Christmas cookie dough, you can easily prep your holiday cookies in advance! Leave a comment down below and let me know which Christmas cookies are your favorite!
🎄 Tasty Christmas Desserts
- Christmas Gumdrop Cookies - These festive cookies have a sugar cookie base and are packed with red and green gumdrops!
- Crockpot Christmas Crack - This chocolate and peanut butter treat is incredibly easy to prepare!
- Christmas M&M Cookie Bars - These bars feature red and green M&Ms to make them extra festive!
- Christmas Nougat - This tasty nougat is both beautiful and delicious!
- Christmas Eggnog Meringue Cookies - These light and airy meringue cookie feature eggnog for a real Christmas twist!
- Traditional British Christmas Cake - This dense and warm fruit cake is easy to make and incredibly delicious!
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📖 Recipe Card
Freezing Christmas Cookie Dough: Christmas Cookies (Ultimate Guide)
Ingredients
Christmas Cookies {Sugar Cookie Recipe}
- 1 cup butter (softened - at room temperature)
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
Sugar Cookie Frosting
- 1 sugar cookie frosting (see recipe)
- sprinkles (optional - holiday colors)
Instructions
Christmas Cookies {Sugar Cookie Instructions}
- In a large mixing bowl add the softened butter, confectioners' sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Cream together the butter, confectioners' sugar, and sugar until just combined.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, cream of tartar, and 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Combine the ingredients until smooth.
- Add the flour to the wet ingredients.
- Mix the flour until it is just incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Cover your bowl with plastic cling film and chill the Christmas sugar cookie dough in the refrigerator for one hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Portion the cookie dough and roll into 1-inch dough balls. Place the dough onto your prepared baking sheets with 2 inches of spacing between each cookie. *For best results, return your readied cookie dough and the baking sheet to your refrigerator to chill between baking batches of cookies.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 8-10 minutes, or until puffy and lightly golden on the cookie edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely (before frosting). *For best results, allow your baking sheets to cool completely before readying the next batch of cookie dough.
Sugar Cookie Frosting & Holiday Sprinkles
- Combine your holiday sprinkles in a small bowl to make your desired color mix. I'm using Wilton brand holiday jimmies, holiday nonpareils, and a gold mix pictured here.
- Mix the frosting according to the instructions on the recipe here. I used butter flavored Crisco with lemon extract, for super white frosting use standard vegetable shortening (unflavored). *You can also use a buttercream frosting for the cookies.
- You can spread the frosting onto the cookies, or pipe the frosting. Apply sprinkles by dropping them onto each cookie and pressing the sprinkles into the frosting. *Leave cookies on a wire cooling rack above a rimmed baking sheet to catch the extra sprinkles.You can also dip the frosted cookies directly into your sprinkle mix, and press down gently to set the sprinkles. The image below shows the piped frosting with applied sprinkles on the left, and the spatula-frosted cookie that was dipped into the sprinkles mix on the right.
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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