Yeah I guess I know now why I seldom like bakery cookies if that's true! Though I do occasionally buy from some local bakeries and I know they don't leave them sitting around for a month. In fairness, many good bakeries will be selling Christmas cookies a month before, but they're not month old cookies! LOL I do see some bakeries leaving their cookies sitting in the cases for a few days and even cake donuts are sometimes kept a couple days but usually they're starting with an inferior product anyway, in my book. Many have a "best if used by" date on them too. There's good bakeries and bad and this is proof that "expensive" does not mean "good" to say nothing of "better"! I too can tell cookies are getting stale after a few days to a week depending on the type. Fresh is definitely better. And no way is a month old cookie perfectly fresh in either definition or in taste, at least in my book. I understand how they get away with it. People don't know what they're supposed to taste like so they don't know what they are. But I'd venture a guess that few people would compare (side by side) a freshly baked one and a month old cookie and say they taste the same. Although what many of these "bakeries" call Christmas cookies... (shudder). Then you leave them sitting around another couple weeks? I think I'd rather have slice or break-n-bake! I tend to freeze some cookies and take out in batches unless they'll be consumed in a couple days, which usually they are. Again, frozen is not the same as fresh but certainly better than sit-arounds. Hard cookies will sit out better than soft cookies though, but even the crumbly peanut butter cookies are affected after 4 or 5 days. I would freeze them but they'd be edible if left out. Might just taste more like a bakery cookie than homemade! LOL

Are you using Royal Icing or Butter Cream Icing? Royal Icing freezes better than Butter Cream. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Royal Icing Recipes

I always form my dough first, before freezing. If you do it the other way, I hope you come back and tell us how it works out!

I would have frozen them without frosting and frosted them on Thursday. I think they will be better if you freeze them now than if you do not. Other opinions may differ but I think they might begin to stale by then if not frozen. And yes, the cream cheese frosting will make them soft. But I never met a sugar cookie I didn't like.