25 Freezer-Friendly Holiday Cookie Recipes You Can Start Today (2024)

FAQs

What Christmas cookies are good to freeze? ›

Slice-and-bake, cut outs, drop, bar, and some shaped cookies (thumbprints) freeze well. Avoid delicate cookies like tuiles, Florentines, meringues, and any sort of wafer cookie. Pre-baked cookies can be frozen for up to six months.

Feel free to freeze your cookies and cookie dough for up to 3 months. Perfect for making a big batch during the holidays and enjoying for weeks to come!

#1 Iced Sugar Cookie

The Iced Sugar Cookie takes the top spot, stealing the show as the most favorite Christmas cookie with classic sweetness and festive decorations. Simple, delicious, and a canvas for creativity- it's the “go-to” for holiday bakers.

In most cases, I prefer to freeze cookie dough over freezing baked cookies. That way, you still get the nice homemade smell and softness of the cookies when they come out of the oven. But if you want to get the whole job done, you can certainly bake the cookies, then freeze them later.

Your best choices are airtight containers (plastic or glass) because they protect the cookies from breaking. Choose shallow, square or rectangular containers with flat bottoms. (Rounded bottoms cause cookies to bend.) Place waxed paper or parchment paper in between layers.

Thin, delicate cookies like tuiles, florentines, lace, and pizzelles usually have liquidy batters that don't freeze particularly well unbaked or baked, so it's best to make these kinds of cookies fresh.

After baking, allow cookies to cool completely. Place them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet to freeze them, then store them in a freezer-safe zip-top storage bag labeled with the name and date. Squeeze out extra air and place flat in the freezer. To save space, you can flat-stack freezer bags.

Generally, it's okay to bake these types of cookies directly from the freezer, but they will not turn out exactly like those that are baked fresh. The taste will remain, but the cookies will not spread as large. If you want the spread to be the same, we recommend thawing the dough for 24 hours in the fridge.

Among those who can make a single choice, frosted sugar cookies lead the list (32%), with gingerbread (12%) and chocolate chip (11%) rounding out the top three. Snickerdoodles (6%) come in fourth place, followed by butter (4%), peanut butter (4%), and chocolate (4%) tying for fifth.

What is the least popular Christmas cookie? ›

On the naughty list of cookies, Americans gave the lowest win records to anise cookies, which only won 29% of its matchups.

Chocolate chip cookies

What is the most popular type of cookie? It might just be this one.

Cut outs, drop cookies and refrigerator cookies freeze well. Decorated, filled and cookies with a delicate texture such as meringues are more fragile. Although freezing won't change the flavor of decorated cookies, frosting may cause cookies to stick together.

Not all cookies freeze well

Cookies that are already decorated with frosting or coated in chocolate or powdered sugar are a no-go, as are delicate cookies like these peppermint meringues and these chocolate almond pizzelles. Just about anything else is a possibility!

As little as 30 minutes in your fridge or freezer can help your cookie brown better, spread less, and develop a richer chewy texture. There's a few reasons why, but one important part is it gives the butter in your dough a chance to firm up before baking.

Shortbread cookies and spritz cookies are real holiday troopers, lasting a bit longer than the rest. These buttery and crumbly cookies are a great option for a holiday cookie. Shortbread is known for its rich flavor, while spritz cookies are often made with a cookie press.

Fully Decorated, Dried & Heat Sealed/Packaged

Fresh is not *always* better. To freeze fully decorated cookies: make sure your icing is fully dry, then heat seal them for freshness (airtight is key) package into your final packaging whether that be a box or just the cello.

To help store-bought cookies stay fresh, remove them from their original packaging and place them in an airtight container. You can also freeze store-bought cookies to help them last longer.