Do fancy sugar cookies freeze well?

[Tina]

I'm thinking of making some sugar cookies frosted with royal icing, you know the ones that look professional and shiny.  What I'm wondering is--can you freeze them already iced?  Do they maintain well through defrosting?  I was thinking of making them up ahead for my son's wedding.   Thanks.

[redsquirrel]

Cookies, yes. Royal icing....I was going to say no, but Google tells me yes.

 

http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2012/05/yes-you-can-freeze-decorated.html

 

You might want to try a batch ahead of time and see how it goes for you. You are going to want to make sure when they thaw they are not touching or sticking.

 

more:

 

http://bekicookscakesblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/tip-for-tuesday-how-to-freeze-decorated.html

 

 

the trick seems to be to keep the condensation away from the cookies when they thaw b/c that will ruin the icing.  I have some very fancy iced christmas cookies I make and I might try this. I've never dared to freeze them already frosted.

[FriedClams]

The cookies will be fine, without icing.

 

Royal icing is TERRIBLY moisture sensitive, so it would NOT work in the freezer (and sweating when it's brought to room temp.

 

I would make the cookies, cool them, then freeze. Then frost later. I would think they'd be fine for about 4 days once you take them from the freezer, but that still makes for a busy week pre-wedding.

[trulycrabby]

Perhaps you should make a batch, freeze them, then send them to me for tasting. I have a verrrrry delicate palette, and will be able to tell you exactly if they taste fresh enough. About a dozen should do. :)

[wapiti]

Hmmm any idea what might happen to icing that's just confectioners sugar and water?  That's all I use on my cutout cookies these days.

 

Eta, honestly I don't know why I ask these things - a full batch is gone in two days around here.  I guess I'm just curious :)

[allyphoe]

Hmmm any idea what might happen to icing that's just confectioners sugar and water? That's all I use on my cutout cookies these days.

 

Eta, honestly I don't know why I ask these things - a full batch is gone in two days around here. I guess I'm just curious :)

That's what my mom uses on her cookies, and they freeze just fine. Condensation is less of an issue if you keep the box sealed until it's reached room temperature, but we always ate them still-frozen.

[Ali in OR]

We have frozen our Christmas cookie cutouts with Royal icing. I use the recipe that calls for merengue powder--not sure if that makes a difference. They come out of the freezer just fine--have never noticed any condensation or texture issues. But we're also not fussy about what they look like because we're only interested in eating them. For a wedding I think you would need to do a test batch and freeze them to see if they meet your quality standards.

[Rachel]

Yes, they freeze great. I bought some cookies from a girl for the birthdays of both my kids but she didn't have time available the day before the party, so I froze them. She had special instructions for defrosting them to avoid condensation issues but I don't remember what they were now. I have also done this with buttercream iced cookies I made myself but I wasn't as worried about how cute they were after they thawed, they were just leftovers. There are tons of cookie blogs, I'm sure you can find instructions online.