How Long Is Cookie Dough Good For In The Fridge (And Why)?

Exact Answer: Up to 5 days

It’s always good to store the cookie dough for baking some delicious cookies. Many people store cookie dough in the fridge for around 4 to 5 days. The exact time for how long the cookie dough can go depends on the ingredients one has used for making the dough. Professional bakers suggest chilling the cookie dough for around 30 minutes before starting the baking process.

Freezing the cookie dough would help in making it more firm and delicious. The chilling of the cookie dough would work well for preventing the spillage of the dough. The dough may not get a proper shape if someone skips chilling it before baking.

How Long Is Cookie Dough Good For In The Fridge?

Everyone can keep the cookie dough for around 4 to 5 days in the fridge to store it. The cookie dough will not get bad easily in the fridge, as a cold temperature is required for the dough. Cookie dough contains many raw ingredients that may not stay fresh after 5 days. If someone is using any type of cookie dough that contains preservatives, then it may not expire early.

The shelf life of cookie dough entirely depends on how it is prepared. For the homemade cookie dough, the shelf life would be around 2 to 5 days as they contain no preservatives. If a person bought the store-bought cookie dough, then the dough may last for a long time.

The cookie dough available in the market is mostly preservatives based and these can stay fresh for months together. Not all the cookie dough available in the store is frozen cookie dough. Cookie dough which re not frozen but store-bought may have a different shelf life.

The moisture from the condensation process inside the cookie dough will cause speedy spoilage of the dough. With time, the cookie dough will not hold the form texture and would start melting. This would result in the melting of the cookie dough. If someone is thawing the cookie dough, then make sure to bake it at the earliest.

Everyone can store the dough by scooping them out in a container. The person should never leave the cookie dough at room temperature as it would start getting bad very quickly.

Why Is Cookie Dough Good For This Long In The Fridge?

After the cookie dough starts to get worse, then there is no chance of using it again. The people who are using raw cookie dough must not keep it for a long time. The raw cookie dough contains many ingredients such as raw eggs and flour. These can cause food poisoning if used after the expiry date.

The cookie dough would turn acidic and start smelling bad if it is already expired. Never leave the cookie dough outside the fridge, as many bacteria would start growing there. The cookie dough contains raw eggs, and this can host many bacteria out in the environment. If someone is using vegan or gluten-free cookie dough, then it’s important to store it in the fridge as well.

The stiffness of the cookie dough is vital, but excessively stiff cookie dough may be a problem. Therefore maintaining the texture of the cookie dough is important to avoid any issues of rolling or scooping the dough. It’s always good to keep the fresh cookie dough in the fridge for around 15 to 30 minutes, then use it for the baking process.

If someone leaves the cookie dough after thawing for a long time, then it would be a problem. The formula is to not let the cookie dough melt entirely.

Conclusion

The cookie dough will have a long shelf life if it contains preservatives. Storing the raw cookie dough is not a great idea as the eggs would get bad in a very short time period. Always check the expiry date of store-bought cookie dough. Some cookie dough may contain very rich ingredients that will go bad in a short time.

Therefore, make sure to check all the ingredients present inside the cookie dough before predicting the shelf life.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0260877406001427
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0023643818309708