Can I freeze all cookie dough? How far in advance can I make it?

Question

I want to make about 15 varieties of cookies for an upcoming gift exchange. I have a number of recipes together. I already made a few that were listed as freeze, slice and bake dough.

• Can I freeze all cookie dough?
• What ingredients will be a tell tale sign that I can't freeze it?
• Whipped egg whites maybe? A lot of butter?
• If I can't freeze the dough, how far in advance can I make it and store it in the refrigerator?

Here is the list of recipes I've collected FYI. http://pinterest.com/superjac/holiday-cookies/

Answer 1

All baking dough does well in the freezer for a few days. But I'd suggest not thinking of meringue cookie mixture as cookie dough... it's an entirely different animal. I think of dough as anything with lots of flour and a decent amount of fat and moisture in it. You can't freeze anything with whipped egg whites and expect it to survive. You can't even leave whipped egg whites to settle on the counter for very long before they start to loose the air bubbles you've worked so hard to incorporate.

Answer 2

In addition to what hobs says, cookies which are supposed to be light and fluffy (like snickerdoodles) or fragile and delicate (like tea cakes) aren't a great idea to freeze; the dough texture can change too much during freezing and thawing. Cookies which are supposed to be hard or chewey (like oatmeal cookies or chocolate chip cookies) should do fine though.

However, consider taking an alternative route. First, almost all baked cookies freeze very well, so consider baking the cookies ahead of time and freezing the made cookies instead of the dough. Or, there are many varieties of Ice Box Cookies, which must be refrigerated or frozen before they are made ... and have the virtue of making a really large quantity.