Freezing cookies:

Yes, you can freeze cookie dough. Yes, you can freeze “naked” cookies. Yes, you can freeze iced and decorated cookies. This is a magical thing about sugar cookies. I will freeze decorated cookies and get perfect cookies as a result weeks later.

Individually heat seal decorated cookies before placing in air tight container (note: the red rubbermaid containers are NOT fully airtight. Either overwrap with ziplock or plastic wrap. Better are the gray-lidded Good Home containers from Target, the blue-lidded ziplock brand, or the Sistema brand on Amazon). You want an airtight seal to avoid moisture.

Critical: When you pull your cookie container out of the freezer, let it sit for hours to thaw untouched, do not open the lid at all not one time. This allows all the condensation to occur outside the cookies.

There are numerous posts online about freezing cookies, go read them to find the best option for you.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (note: recommend you roll & chill your dough 30 minutes in fridge)

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Cup Unsalted Butter (2 sticks) cubed, cool & not room temp

1 Brick (8 ounces) Cream Cheese, cool but softened

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla

1 Egg

400 grams King Arthur All Purpose White Unbleached Flour

112 grams Swans Down Cake Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder (may be excluded, I find it makes my cookies fluffier and they don’t spread)

Cream sugar, butter, cream cheese and salt together until well incorporated (I ultimately get to a high speed so that this is very well blended and fluffy, but I chill my dough to prevent spread). If don’t want to chill your dough, cream these ingredients together on low and don’t mix in extra air. See original recipe link below for that explanation. If your dough is too wet, add a bit more flour, but be careful - you don’t want tough cookies. I have found Trader Joes and Gold Medal both give me a stickier dough. King Arthur works perfectly. Also, if you don’t want to use Cake Flour, no worries - but you’ll have a denser cookie - I suggest you use the original recipe linked below if you don’t want to use Cake Flour.

Whisk together egg and vanilla and add to sugar mixture. Blend until just incorporated. Add in flours and baking powder. Mix on low until dough pulls away from sides of mixer bowl and gathers onto paddle. Don’t overmix. Roll out on lightly floured surface or parchment to desired thickness. I chill my dough prior to cutting - this is important for shapes you want to keep intact with no distortion, not really an issue with spread.

Bake at 350 for anywhere between 9 minutes for mini cookies (2”) to 12-14 minutes for larger cookies depending on thickness. Cool on racks and then place on paper towel lined cookie sheets to absorb any butter prior to icing with royal icing. (This helps prevent the dreaded “butter bleed” to finished cookies. I never have this issue by the way.)

As a gauge: My cookies are 5/16” thick (so just a little bigger than 3/8”) - I bake a 2.5” cookie for about 10 minutes 30 seconds; and, I bake a 3.5” cookie for 12:45 seconds. It all depends on your oven and any other variables. Try a cookie to see how you want them done.

Suggestion: For large cookies - 4” or more - poke holes in the center of the cookie prior to baking with fork tines that allows the middle of the cookie to bake properly and avoid any doughy middle issues.

Tips:

Use silpat mats or parchment paper to line your cookie sheets. I use Chua Mats which I love so that I can get nice, even bottoms on my cookies and avoid dark brown bottoms.

Flip your cookies over and ice the bottom side - it’s flatter. Just remember if you have a directional design to your cutter, you need to flip it over before baking so that you have that flat side as the “right” side when you go to ice. Make sense? hope so.

You can find the original and delicious recipe here:

Perfect Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies - 6 Cakes & More, LLC (6cakesandmore.com)