Can You Refreeze Cookie Dough? Here’s How to Re-freeze Thawed Cookie Dough

Published Categorized as Journal, Baking Tagged

If you’re wondering, “Can you refreeze cookie dough?” it’s likely that you’ve whipped up an awesome cookie recipe and need a few storage tips. Thankfully, we’ve covered all of that and more in today’s post. In a nutshell, you may be able to refreeze cookie dough, but doing so will require you to bear a few things in mind. Want to know what those requirements are? If so, be sure to stick around. We’re diving into all you need to know about whether or not you can refreeze cookie dough.

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<strong>can You Refreeze Cookie Dough? How To Re Freeze Thawed Cookie Dough</strong>

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The simple answer to this question is yes, you generally can refreeze cookie dough.

However, doing so may lead to a few ramifications.

Consider the following reasons not to refreeze your cookie dough:

  • Altered taste – It’s worth mentioning that freezing, thawing, and refreezing your cookie dough may alter the taste of your cookie dough a bit. While this won’t always be true, it can sometimes be the case that the flavor of your cookie dough changes when undergoing these processes. You may find your cookie dough to taste dull or as if it has freezer burn after a while.

Of course, there are things you can do to keep freezer burn at bay, even for refrozen cookies. But we’ll be getting into more of those details later!

  • Strange texture – Like with taste, texture can change when attempting to refreeze cookies. You may find the dough to be more gritty, liquidy, cook differently, or yield a different consistency after a while. If the cookie dough is the type you need to roll, you may find it stickier after being refrozen. However, this won’t always be the case.
  • Illness – As with anything else, you’ll want to be careful how long you let cookie dough sit at room temperature. Although cookie dough isn’t quite the same as meat, it is often best practice to allow your cookie dough to thaw in the fridge before using and refreezing. Refreezing cookies after thawing them this way cuts down bacteria and, as a result, can prevent you from becoming sick.

Refreezing cookie dough is easy, but there are a few considerations we’d like you to keep in mind when doing so.

Follow this step-by-step guide to refreeze your cookie dough to maintain optimal flavor and, hopefully, shield you from unpleasant consequences.

  1. Once you’ve made up your cookie dough, the best thing to do is portion it. This involves rolling it into small balls or cutting it into shapes before placing it in the freezer. This enables you to thaw your cookie dough and use them whenever you need to without needing to thaw out all the cookie dough at once.
  2. If you do not want to portion your cookie dough, you can still thaw and refreeze it. Take your portioned or unportioned cookie dough and place it in a freezer bag or sealed freezer-safe container. For an extra layer of protection against freezer burn, try wrapping your cookie doughs in plastic wrap before placing it in a freezer safe bag or container.
  3. When you’re ready to thaw the dough, the best thing to do is to thaw it in the refrigerator. This helps to cut down on bacteria produced when thawing it at room temperature. Just remember that thawing the cookie dough this way may take longer, from an hour to even overnight.
  4. When you’re ready to use the dough, place your thawed cookie dough on the counter for 30 additional minutes to help make it pliable for baking. Note: It is entirely possible to bake cookies from frozen cookie dough.
  5. Once you’ve baked up the amount of dough you wish to use, rewrap it the same way you did prior and place it back into the freezer. It is important that you rewrap and freeze any unused dough as soon as possible, especially if it has sat out on the counter.
  6. Do not let your cookie dough sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours before placing it back in the fridge. If your cookie dough contains dairy in the form of butter or milk, it is possible that the cookie dough could become spoiled.

That’s it! Once you’ve refrozen your cookie dough, you can follow the same processes detailed above to thaw it again, but be sure to use your eyes, nose, and taste buds to let you know when enough is enough.

If you notice mold growing on your cookie dough or that has an “off” smell or taste, it is likely time to pitch it. Always trust your instincts when it comes to the food you eat.

Can You Refreeze Cookie Dough? Here’s How To Re Freeze Thawed Cookie Dough

You can freeze and refreeze cookie dough for up to 3 months, but as mentioned, there are specific guidelines you’ll want to follow to ensure it stays safe.

As always, if your cookie dough doesn’t look or taste right, or if it has sat past two hours at room temperature, the cookie dough is no longer safe to cook or refreeze.

Thawed cookie dough stays good in the fridge for about 2-4 days assuming that the batter is homemade. Store-bought cookie dough is generally good up until the date printed on the package.

Cookie dough that has a noticeable odor, flavor, or mold should be discarded immediately.

Remember that it is fine to freeze and refreeze cookie dough when within the correct parameters. However, know that there are other steps you can take to ensure your leftover cookie doughs turn out perfect every time.

Most cookie doughs will fare best if you bake the dough prior to freezing. This means that it may be worth it to bake up all of your cookie dough and freeze the cookies afterward. Just be sure to let the cookies cool completely before freezing or refreezing cookies.

While freezing cookie dough is entirely acceptable, you’ll want to be careful when you refreeze it. Cookie doughs freeze and refreeze well in most instances, but you should thaw them in the fridge before allowing them to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.

Any frozen cookie dough that has sat out for longer than 2 hours after freezing may need to be discarded and should not be refrozen. 

I hope this has cleared up any confusion surrounding how to freeze cookie dough.

Until next time!

FAQs

What happens if frozen cookie dough thaws?

There are times when refreezing cookies or cookie dough can yield a change in texture and taste. This isn’t always the case, though. In many cases, cookie dough that has been frozen and thawed will still cook up just fine, especially if it’s only been thawed once.

Can you thaw and refreeze baked goods?

In most instances you can, but it really depends on what the baked good is made of and how you thawed it the first time. Remember that most baked goods containing dairy shouldn’t be left out for more than 2 hours at a time, but this varies from dessert to dessert.

By Anna

Hey, I’m Anna; writer, editor and amateur cook extraordinaire! Food has been my life and my passion for the most of my life – it’s crazy to think I didn’t pursue a career in cooking. I’m obsessed! However, keeping cooking as an obsessive hobby has worked for me – my passion grows as the years pass by – maybe I wouldn’t say the same if it was also my day job! I hope you find cooking inspiration, entertainment and “stop and think interesting tid-bits” throughout my writing – and I’d love to hear from you if you’ve got anything you want to share. Food feeds the soul – so get eating! Author Pinterest Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Tumblr Reddit Quora

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