How long can I refrigerate cookie dough? I made the made the mistake of making my neighbors these cookies peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies. Every time I see either neighbor they thank me again for the wonderful cookies, "Oh they were So Good!" hint hint

I'm breaking down and making them another batch tonight, but it got me thinking of a fun Christmas present for them. I'd like to give each of them a baking sheet, a cookie scoop, a roll of parchment paper, and a big batch of the cookie dough. Assuming the freshest possible eggs and butter, how long can I expect this dough to make tasty cookies if kept in the refrigerator? Freezing is an option too, but they're less likely to actually use it if they have to think ahead far enough to defrost it. (BTW, it is a great recipe.)

The recipe is in the link, but just in case the link dies, the ingredients are:


1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Substitution ideas that might lengthen refrigerator life are more than welcome.
Since those are drop cookies, the best approach is to portion them into individual cookie portions, and freeze them on a sheet tray.  Once solidly frozen, they can be moved into a zip back or other more convenient storage container.

They do not need to be thawed in order to bake, so they still are very convenient.  Simply lay them out frozen on a tray, and bake.

It will take a minute or two longer than the regular non-frozen time.  It might be helpful to drop the temperature by 25 F or so, but it shouldn't really be necessary.



The real issue with holding the dough is not just food safety (you should get 2-3 days given raw eggs as the most perishable ingredient); this doesn't give you a very large window.   Eat By Date suggests 3-5 days.

It is also the loss of leavening power as the baking powder may slowly react, although the dough should be thick enough that most gets retained.