5 Christmas Cookies You Can Make Ahead and Freeze to Slash Holiday Stress

But there are some ground rules; not all cookies are conducive to the make-ahead treatment. Cookies with a cake-like crumb shouldn’t go in the freezer (think madeleines), but most doughs made with plenty of fat (read: butter!) are good bets. Even if you're making your cookies with a sugar substitute like Splenda, it's the fat that matters for freezing, so there's no need to constrain yourself to sugar as a sweetener.

Drop Cookies

Named for the way you simply scoop and drop balls of dough onto baking sheets, this type of cookie includes classic chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and peanut butter. Each kind boasts enough fat to freeze well. Just make sure to add 1 to 2 minutes of extra baking time for each batch (as needed) if you’re popping the dough in the oven straight from the freezer.

Gingerbread Cookies

Good news, Christmas bakers! This classic spiced cookie is one of the kinds that can be made ahead of time. For the best results, roll your dough out and seal it on both sides with plastic wrap before freezing. Filling your home with the sweet smell of cinnamon and nutmeg is as easy as letting the dough thaw for a few minutes, cutting out your favorite cookie shapes, and baking.

Sugar Cookies

Between the bake sales, holiday house walks, and Santa’s voracious appetite, it’s impossible to keep sugar cookies stocked for the last few weeks of the year. If you know your schedule is going to be packed, mix up a huge batch of dough and divide it for easy baking. You can freeze each batch as a ball or rolled out for easier prep before baking.

Slice-and-Bake Cookies

You need to chill these cookies anyway, hence their other name (icebox cookies), so mixing up the dough ahead of time only makes sense. Once you have the dough rolled into logs, wrap each of them tightly with plastic wrap and store them in a freezer-friendly bag. When you’re ready to bake, just give each log a couple minutes to thaw before slicing and baking as normal.

Shortbread Cookies

Like their icebox cousins, shortbreads can be frozen in logs and sliced right before baking after a quick dethaw. The thickness of the dough is important; crispy cookies made with thinner or liquidy dough don’t hold up well through the freeze and dethaw process.