Few comforts hit the spot like a warm, freshly baked cookie. Crispy on the edges, and gooey-soft in the middle, they hover at this peak of perfection for only a few hours. Day-old cookies are of course always welcome on my plate, but wouldn’t it be nice to have one or two freshies at a whim? Well, the Cookie Gods are listening, friends, and have provided you with a solution: Simply pre-portion and freeze your raw dough so you can make a few cookies on the spot, whenever you need them.
Whenever I set out to make a batch of cookies, I almost always bake off a dozen and then freeze the rest of the dough. This works for me because I live in a two-person household, so a dozen cookies gets the job done for the day (or half-day). The rest of the dough becomes what I call “emergency cookies.” Emergency cookies are scooped as if you’re about to bake them, but instead of greeting the heat, they get tossed in the freezer.
From there, they can be summoned in a moment’s notice and placed into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookie dough bakes like it hasn’t aged a day. I ate a whole batch of emergency peanut butter cookies last week (guess why!), from dough I made in June. They puffed, they browned, I ate; they got the job done.
Most cookies made with butter, sugar, and eggs are good candidates for shaping and freezing raw. If it’s dough that you’d scoop and drop from a spoon, or one that you roll into a log and slice, then it’ll work for this. Freezing your dough can extend its life by around six months with no adverse effects to the texture or flavor. This is a great way to save excess dough from the trash (I know, but some people have that problem), or triple-up your dough on purpose to prepare for the holidays.
How to portion and freeze cookie dough
1. Scoop or slice the dough
Mix your cookie dough completely and chill it in the fridge for 20 or 30 minutes so the fats can firm up; it’s easier to scoop this way. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an ice cream disher, or whichever spoon you like, scoop the dough and drop the mounds onto the baking sheet. They can be close together since you’re not baking them like this. Try to fit as many on the sheet as possible. If you’re making sliced cookies, slice them as directed and place them on the sheet in the same manner.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
2. Freeze the dough
Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour, or long enough so the cookie dough pieces are hard and you can peel them easily off the parchment.
3. Consolidate your dough balls
Take the cookie sheet out of the freezer. Peel all the cookies off of the parchment and drop them into a zip-top freezer bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can and seal it. They should be quite firm so none of the cookies will mush into the others. Now you can toss the bag of pre-portioned cookie dough into the freezer for a long nap, until the holidays or an emergency strikes.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
4. Bake from frozen
When the time comes, take out as many frozen cookie dough pieces as you need and space them apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Leave the rest of the cookies in the bag, with the air squeezed out, in the freezer. Bake them according to their original recipe, adding two or three minutes to the suggested baking time.
Now you can easily satisfy a craving with two freshly baked cookies, or brighten a ruined day with a dozen. No need to break out the mixing bowl, just click on the oven and bake. Depending on how big the emergency is, you might find that the cookie dough is good enough as-is.
