How To Make Your Frozen Cookie Dough Last Even Longer

The world has been baking more since the pandemic, resulting in a 24% increase in baking-related purchases in 2020 and sales amounting to $25.6 billion. Packaged Facts' Home Baking Report suggests the delicious trend has no sign of reversing soon, especially as home bakers are busy with cookie swaps and gift-giving this time of year, not to mention baking cookies for the big guy on December 24 (via Food Navigator-USA).

As we approach National Cookie Exchange Day on December 22, it's tempting to get a head start on the mixing up the dough, since holiday parties and shopping can tax our already busy schedules. If you're an organized baker or cookie fanatic, freezing a batch of cookie dough today ensures warm, soft cookies within minutes in the future. However, unlike mass-produced cookie dough, which contains preservatives, homemade cookie dough has a shorter shelf life, especially when it includes eggs. Even before the dough goes rancid, it can dry out, discolor, and go brittle if left in the refrigerator too long, resulting in cookies that taste and look bad. Fortunately, there's a solution — here's how you can make frozen cookie dough last even longer.

According to Bob's Red Mill, each cookie is created differently. Generally, raw cookie dough containing eggs can be left out on the kitchen counter for two to four hours before getting too dangerous to eat. Eggless or vegan cookie dough will last longer, although substitute ingredients like apple sauce do have an expiration date. In the refrigerator, cookie dough will last three to five days before it dries out or goes rancid, so anything you need to store longer than that should be frozen.

While there are some types of cookie dough you should never freeze (like those for delicate macarons or fortune cookies), most can be kept ice-cold for months, allowing you to bake up a deliciously warm and fresh-seeming cookie at a moment's notice. Depending on the recipe and how the dough is stored, frozen cookie dough can last for 6 to 12 months.

For drop cookies like chocolate chip, The Spruce Eats suggests freezing tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once frozen, store the dough in an air-tight container. Slice-and-bake or rolled cookies, meanwhile, should be formed into a log, wrapped in freezer paper, and placed in an airtight baggie until they're ready to portion out and bake. If you have a vacuum sealer, this is a great time to use it, since it sucks all the air out of the package and preserves the dough longer. Dough that is discolored, smells funky or has signs of mold is too old and should be discarded.