Does this work...can you make the cookies and bake them and then freeze them for a few days? Hugely busy week doming up and it would help to have some of that done in advance.
Thanks for helping!

Yes. I haven't seen any difference. When I was learning to decorate cookies, which I still suck, I baked a ton and froze them. When I wanted to decorate, I just pulled some out. The taste was the same as when I first baked them.

Thanks! Good idea to freeze a bunch and then decorate when you want them!

this is just what i was looking for. but i have another question that stems from this-so can you decorate a cookie with RI and freeze? i'm going into a craft/bake sale and would prefer to not be up all night(s) before. will a decorated cookie freeze well?

I always bake my cookies ahead of time and freeze them. Sometimes I make the dough and freeze a batch and then bake them. Freezing iced cookies doesn't work that well. When they defrost the icing gets a little funky. You can probably freeze cookies with a base coat of royal icing and then decorate on top of the base color once they are defrosted. But on another note, I often decorate my cookies a week in advance and wrap them individually in clear bags. They stay very fresh.

yeah i use some really nice bags that have a self seal on it but i was just hoping to do some decorating ahead of time. i think i might try a test batch i still have 3 weeks until the bake sale. thanks

lots of people freeze - both before baked, after baked, and after decorated. Here are links to some threads about it...

freezing cookies
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-633905.html

freezing & using RI
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-632656.html