Homemade freezer cookie dough is a really good idea. I’m not patting myself on the back here since I didn’t invent the concept, but more so wondering why I’d never thought to do it before!
Store-bought sweets can be pretty expensive! And making homemade cookies from scratch each time you want them can be a chore. So freezing homemade cookie dough that leads to on-demand fresh baked cookies each time solves both problems.
Even if you don’t eat sweets very often, these are a great idea for the random craving every few weeks. It’ll save you money, save you time and still be healthier than the store-bought version since you control the ingredients.
These freezer butter cookies are sweet, but not too sweet. So they’re great for dessert or to serve with coffee or tea as a weekend breakfast.
They’re also great for making guests feel special because it’ll look like you went through the effort of making them homemade cookies. But little do they know that you actually keep fresh baked cookies on tap. But hey, no harm in making someone feel special! 🙂
I do have to point out here that these are illegitimate brown butter cookies (imposters!). The right title would be DIY freezer brown sugar butter cookies recipe. But that is a freakishly long title, so I ditched a word or two. So there is no brown butter involved (sorry).
What you’ll Need:
- 1 cup butter, room temperature, cubed (2 sticks)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 1/3 cup all purpose flour, leveled
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Recipe adapted from: AllRecipes.com
Using the back of a spatula, mix butter until creamy. Mix butter and sugar together until it is combined well.Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, combine salt and flour together and incorporate into the wet mixture and combine until dough forms, the dough should be “cleaning” the bowl by picking up most pieces that were stuck to the side.
Sprinkle a bit of flour lightly on countertop, transfer dough and form into a rectangular log. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer for thirty minutes. The trick to getting the dough smooth and uniformly shaped is to smooth it once it’s in the plastic wrap.
If you’re a perfectionist you can push the sides of the cookie dough log against a flat surface (like a cutting board) for a more uniform shape.
Remove from freezer, cut into 1/4 inch rectangles. Place on cookie sheets and freeze for at least three hours.
If you prefer to only use one cookie sheet, you can freeze in layers, separating each layer of cookies with aluminum foil so they do not stick to one another.
Remove from freezer, transfer to freezer bag. Store for up to three months.
To Bake:
Place frozen cookies on cookie sheet, and preheat oven to 350. The cookies will thaw slightly while the oven preheats. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until the tops are firm to the touch and the bottoms are lightly browned.
Freezer Brown Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature, cubed (1 cup =2 sticks of butter)
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 ⅓ cups flour leveled
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Using the back of a spatula, mix until creamy. Mix butter and sugar together until it is combined. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine salt and flour together and incorporate into the wet mixture and combine until dough forms, the dough should be "cleaning" the bowl by pick up most of the pieces that were stuck to the side.
- Sprinkle a bit of flour lightly on countertop transfer dough and form into rectangular log. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 30 minutes. The trick to getting the dough smooth and uniformly shaped is to smooth it once it's in the plastic wrap.
- If you are a perfectionist, you can push the sides of the cookie dough log against a flat surface for a more uniform shape.
- Remove from freezer, cut into ¼ inch rectangles. Place on cookie sheet and freeze for at least 3 hours.
- Remove from freezer, transfer to a freezer bag. Store up to three months.
Baking Butter Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place frozen cookies on cookie sheet. The cookies will defrost slightly while the oven preheats.
- Bake 10-14 minutes or until the tops are first to the touch and the bottoms are slightly brown.
Notes
Nutrition
I really enjoy how inexpensive these are to make because it requires very basic ingredients that most of us are likely to have on hand.
I hope you enjoy this freezer butter cookies recipe! If you’d like, you can fancy them up a bit by…
- Adding icing
- Sprinkling nuts on top
- Adding sprinkles
- Making fun and pretty shapes.
But for the sake of keeping things fast and simple, I kept this quick and basic. Would love to hear your additions if you decide to change it up!
Need more freezer cooking ideas? Once a Month Meals has lots of ready-to-go freezer menu plans (Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Paleo, Instant Pot and more) and lets you customize your own menu plan.
This looks so simple and fabulous. I used to freeze cookie dough all of the time – I don’t know why I stopped. Homemade cookies hot from the oven cannot be beat! Thanks for this recipe, I will try it soon.
Great idea! This will be an easy project with my 5 year old this weekend.
These look easy enough. This would also be an easy fix for a craving. Thanks for sharing!
I used to buy the ready-made cookie dough when the kids did fundraising about a million years ago! It was sooooo easy just to make a 1/2 or full dozen anytime, especially after the little ones went to bed!!! [grin] Might have to do that again… 🙂
These look so good. They look like they would be great dipped in white chocolate.
Oh that’s a great idea, Julie!
Why not freeze the entire log? It saves space and is easy to slice when you are ready to bake… Would also eliminate freezer burn hazard 🙂
I’m sure that would work just as well! 😀