Can You Freeze Cookies?

What happens when you freeze cookies

Cookies are mostly sugar, fat, and flour, and none of the three mind the cold. Soft ones come back soft if they’re wrapped tight; crisp ones come back crisp after a few minutes in a warm oven. The freezer beats the cookie jar by a wide margin — USDA gives soft cookies 2–3 months at room temperature and crispy ones 4–6 months, against 8–12 months frozen for both. Frosted and cream-filled cookies are the exception: the topping sweats as it thaws and the filling softens the cookie under it.

How to freeze it right

1. Cool cookies completely — a warm cookie steams in the bag and freezes into a lump.
2. Freeze them in a single layer on a tray, then transfer them to a bag.
3. Lay parchment between frosted or delicate ones.
4. Press the air out, and keep soft and crisp styles in separate bags.
5. Label with the kind and the date.

Thawing and using it

Thaw cookies in their sealed bag at room temperature for half an hour, so the condensation lands on the plastic instead of the sugar. Crisp ones come back best with a few minutes in a warm oven; soft ones are good straight from the bag, still cold.

Can you refreeze it?

Don’t refreeze thawed cookies — each round dries the crumb and flattens the flavor, and there’s nothing to gain. Bag them by the handful so you’re only ever thawing what’s getting eaten.