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Can you freeze baked muffins? Can you freeze muffin batter? Great questions.
I love having my freezer stocked full of essentials. And yes, I include a morning muffin in the essentials list. And with so many simple muffin recipes on this site, I can always whip up a batch of muffins using pantry staples.
If you are trying to cook with more of what you already have on hand, check out my Pantry Staples Meal Plan. It’s a 2-week plan that helps you save money and make fewer trips to the store by using what you already have in the kitchen to make delicious meals for your family. More details here.
I love to have a warm muffin with my morning coffee. Since I am not a morning person, I can assure you that there is no morning baking happening at my house.
There are two ways to enjoy a freshly baked muffin in the mornings. One, take a pre-baked muffin out of the freezer, and two, take a frozen muffin batter cup out of the freezer, bake, and enjoy. Clearly, the first one is the fastest method.
Here is how to freeze baked muffins:
- Prepare batter and bake muffins.
- Allow muffins to cool down to room temperature.
- Freeze muffins for about an hour, until solid.
- Transfer muffins into a freezer bag and keep in freezer up to two months.
To heat, simply remove the frozen muffin and warm up in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Here is how to freeze unbaked muffin batter:
- Prepare batter and fill lined muffin tins with batter.
- Place muffin tin flat inside your freezer and freeze, for about 4 hours.
- Remove frozen muffin batter cups from the baking tin into a freezer bag.
- Label freezer bag with baking temperature and time, and keep in freezer up to two months.
When ready to bake, remove the number of muffins you want to enjoy and simply bake, in the preheated oven, for an additional 3-5 minutes of the original time, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
For a muffin lover like myself, learning how to freeze my muffins has been a money-saver. Not only do I save money from buying the occasional muffin here and there, I now have a freezer stocked with different varieties of muffins that make perfect after-school snacks or even work perfectly in the lunch box.
I’ve been freezing muffins for a long time now. As soon as I figured out this trick, I always made sure to keep baked muffins in our freezer for a quick grab and go breakfasts and snacks. The muffins you saw in this post are my Strawberry Muffins.
If you choose to freeze your muffins in a freezer-safe bags, make sure to squeeze out any extra air first. Then place that bag inside another freezer-safe bag to prevent freezer burn (this will vary by freezer type). Once your bag is empty, you can wash, dry, and reuse your bag for more muffins. Label the bag if desired.
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Teri Taylor
Made these muffins tonight
I did a few substitutions – flax eggs, combo of whole wheat pastry flour and white WW flour as well as a stevia raw sugar baking blend and added in lemon zest (also used chopped frozen strawberries) WOW!! They are soooo good. I may have eaten 3 out of the oven when they cooled down! My husband is even having one and he’s so darn picky with baked goods Yum!! Def will make these again! My mom gave me a big bag of frozen strawberries after I just bought a bag and I have tons of flaxseed to use up!!
MOMables - Laura
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Brenda
Just to be sure, I place my fully cooked muffins on a cookie sheet in the freezer uncovered, then when frozen, place them in a freezer bag and return to the freezer? Thanks for clarification.
MOMables - Laura
Yes. That is the method I prefer, cook first. Freeze. Then you have already-done muffins in the future. Some people like to freeze the muffin batter and eat them fresh, warm out of the oven. It depends on what you prefer. I hope this helps.
angelique
hi there,
I want to make difference muffin mixes and freeze it as a mix can it be done and how long would the mix be ok in the freezer please. can any muffin mix be made as a mix frozen and used at later date.
MOMables - Laura
You can freeze both muffin batter and muffin mix (the flour, sugar, salt, and baking agents). Both are good for up to 2 months in the freezer.
Kiley
I have been baking and freezing muffins for months now and usually have no problem with them. But recently, I’ve been noticing a very evident flavor of “freezer” attached to my muffins. Is this due to the bags I’m using? Would you suggest a specific brand or a different type of container? Thanks. :)
MOMables - Laura
Freezer bags are always best. Try double bagging. Also, they should only be in there for 30-90 days depending on the freezer.
Lee
If a muffin recipe calls for a drizzled glaze is it best to leave that off for freezing? I can’t imagine it would be anything other than a mess when thawed and then microwaved…Any suggesting for how to handle this? The icing drizzle kind of makes it with this recipe…
MOMables - Laura
I freeze it with the glaze. thaws out warm mostly melts. Or, you can omit.
Dawne
I have wrapped my raisin oatmeal muffins in saran wrap then put in a freezer bag. How do I thaw them, can’t heat, need room them. Remove all wrap and thaw on the counter? Don’t want them soggy!!! THANKS!
MOMables - Laura
Simply take them out and they thaw out on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. The texture doesn’t change much. Enjoy!
sherrie Lieber Pasarell
Thank you~ It is with confidence that I will be freezing (enhanced-)corn muffins for my kids. “Enhanced” in this case means I’ll add a little applesauce & maybe bit of carrot puree(or orange) & cinammon.
MOMables
Whatever it takes to make our delicious homemade items be devoured and with this tip now they are more convenient! :)
Mallory
Hello! I have been baking muffins from scratch and freezing them for almost a year now, and love it! It’s always worked out well for me, except this last time, I did everything as usual, but now when thawing them there seems to be ALOT of water/condensation appearing after thawing….. WHY?!?!?! any insight or advice??? I usually bake them, put them on a cooling rack to cool completely, then I double wrap in saran wrap and close the saran wrap with a round sticker the size of the bottom of the muffin, then I place several muffins in a freezer bag, and freeze. This has worked well every time for many months now, except this last batch and I don’t know why they are ending up so wet and condensationy? Any help/advice would be appreciated, thank you!
MOMables
Mallory, I don’t know why it didn’t work this time. Perhaps a different recipe? lots of variables can affect how something thaws. sorry!
Mary
HI I am just starting our as a make ahead muffin lover. I’ve been making peanut butter, banana oat drops and living off those lol . I made my first batch of morning glory muffins last week. Hubby aND I loved them and ate a couple every day for the week. …however I stored them in a container on my counter and after eating my 2nd one on Friday. …I found mold! Glad I found your post because I just made a huge batch and froze. My question is. ….does the bag and saran wrap need to be freezer safe? I wrapped them individually in saran wrap and threw in a regular large baggie. Please tell me I didn’t ruin them, and that we won’t be eating plastic ;)
MOMables
Hey Mary! You should be good, but if something goes wrong with this batch, at least you’ll know for next time to get freezer-safe saran wrap! Good luck. :)
Kerry
Do you freeze them on the same day you baked them?
MOMables
You can! Make sure they cool completely in the pan before freezing.
Lisa
I used frozen blueberries to make blueberry streusel muffins. Can I still freeze the extra muffins since I used frozen blueberries ?
MOMables
Yes.
kari
Do you have a suggestion to keep the muffins from sticking together and tearing? I am trying to make a bunch of mini muffins in advance for a graduation party and freeze them, but mini muffins are hard to keep upright. If they flip over and touch anything (each other,the bag) some of the muffin tears off.
Ideas?? Thanks!
MOMables
My best advice would be to use a container instead of a plastic bag and make sure they’re sitting on a completely flat surface in the freezer. Good luck!
Fang Ting
Hi, I made a batch of your kitchen sink muffins and they were so tasty! Thank you for the amazing recipe. I have just one question about reheating them. Do you just put the muffins on a plate and pop them into the microwave? I tried to heat them up in my microwave this morning and they turned rock hard. Should I have wrapped the muffins with anything?
MOMables
Typically, I let them thaw out on the counter or overnight in the fridge. I give them a 10 second warm in the microwave. Any longer than that will cause most baked goods to turn rock hard. Glad you liked them!
Fang Ting
Thank you so much! I’ll try again!
julie
Do you freeze them with the paper cups still on them from baking? Or do they need to be removed before freezing?
MOMables
I freeze them right in the paper cup, inside the tray. once frozen, take them out of the tray and store in a zip bag.
Jill
What kind of muffins are these in the picture? They look delicious. Do you have the recipe to these on your site somewhere? Thanks!
MOMables
Jill, the strawberry muffin recipe can be found here. (will be live 11/11/13 @ 10amcst)
Charlotte
Are these (the ones pictured) your blueberry muffins, but with cranberries or other fruit? Would love this recipe! :) Thanks!!
MOMables
Charlotte, the strawberry muffin recipe can be found here. (will be live 11/11/13 @ 10amcst)
Susan
I’ve been freezing muffins for years, too, but I freeze the batter! I pour batter into muffin liners in muffin pans and freeze them. Once they’re frozen, I transfer to a gallon ziploc bag with bake times and the type of muffin. When I’m ready to bake, I put the frozen muffins back into muffin tins–if I’m together, I put them in the fridge the night before and preset the oven to come on in the morning. If not, I put them in the oven still frozen and add an extra five minutes or so baking time.
This way I get freshly baked muffins but the work was done way before!
MOMables
I do the batter method too Susan! Thanks for the reminder! that is slated for another post :)
Kristi
I freeze a lot of muffins too!! I think my hubby would feel the same as your hubby!!! LOL! I do the same thing as you and freeze them on a baking sheet and then put them in plastic bags. I eat my muffins though as a mid-morning snack either at work or while I’m dashing around town on errand day. I just take my muffin out of the freezer in the morning and pop it in my lunch box. it’s thawed by snack time (around 11am)! Eat up! (With a glass of iced tea and a piece of cheese!)
Michelle
I’m glad I’m not the only muffin lover out there Kristi! They are perfect for quick snacks! :)
TIffany
Thanks for the tip! Would have never thought of freezing muffins!
MOMables
the freezer is your friend Tiffany!
Katie
How do you go about reheating them?
MOMables
Thank you Katie for this question! I’ve edited the post to say that I typically microwave them for 15-20 seconds or put them in the fridge to thaw overnight. A quick 5 seconds in the microwave is all they need.