How Far Ahead Can You Make Christmas Cookies?

Dough or baked cookies: two different clocks

Raw dough keeps only days in the refrigerator. King Arthur Baking's hotline gives basic drop and roll-out doughs up to 5 days, after which the dough picks up fridge odors. America's Test Kitchen (ATK) found the leavener sets the limit: dough with only baking soda is best within 2 days, dough with baking powder and soda within 4, and dough with baking powder or no leavener lasts a week.

The freezer buys weeks. Extension guides disagree on how long: the Pacific Northwest Extension guide gives baked cookies 4 to 6 weeks and dough 2 to 3 months, North Dakota State University (NDSU) gives baked cookies 8 to 12 months and dough 2 months, and Kansas State goes as long as a year for unfrosted cookies. These are quality limits, not safety limits, so we use the shortest: 4 to 6 weeks for baked cookies and 2 months for dough. Counting back from December 25, that means baking and freezing from about mid-November, or freezing dough from late October.

Which cookies keep, and which don't

NDSU says homemade cookies keep 2 to 3 weeks in an airtight container in the cupboard, but recipe developers are often stricter. King Arthur gives its classic Scottish shortbread up to a week and says the flavor improves as it ages. ATK keeps its gingersnaps up to 2 weeks. Lebkuchen is the long keeper: King Arthur says its Lebkuchen last several weeks in an airtight container with a slice of apple, and taste even better made 2 to 3 days ahead. Our Nuremberg Elisenlebkuchen are stored the same way, and what makes Lebkuchen different explains why.

Some cookies won't wait. King Arthur says meringue cookies and lace or tuile cookies should be baked right away rather than held as dough. Frosting shortens the clock too: Kansas State gives frosted cookies only 2 months in the freezer, and the Pacific Northwest guide warns that fluffy egg-white frostings don't freeze well. Thin, crisp spice cookies such as our Swedish pepparkakor and Moravian spice cookies are the ones to bake early.

Keep crisp and soft cookies apart

King Arthur calls this the number one rule of cookie storage. In a shared tin, crisp cookies pull moisture from chewy ones, so the crisp ones go soft and the chewy ones dry out. Put gingersnaps and crunchy shortbread in one container and chewy chocolate chip or sugar cookies in another, and keep strong flavors like gingerbread away from everything else.

Use an airtight container, not a loose-lidded cookie jar, which lets them dry out. For soft cookies, King Arthur adds a slice of fresh white bread to the container. Skip the refrigerator: NDSU notes that cookies don't need it.

Freezing and thawing

Cool cookies completely, then pack them in a rigid container with waxed or freezer paper between the layers, as the Pacific Northwest guide advises. Kansas State freezes frosted cookies on a sheet first so the frosting sets, then layers them. Thaw them in their container at room temperature so condensation forms on the outside, not on the cookies.

For dough, the Pacific Northwest guide freezes drop cookies as balls on a sheet, bags them, and bakes them without thawing. Our Christmas dinner planner puts the cookie plate on the make-ahead list, and more recipes are in our cookies hub.

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