Freezing Baked Goods and What You Need to Know

The way that I see it is when you are about to mess up your kitchen baking then why would you not want to make extra? Why make one pie, cake or a small batch of cookies when you can double your recipe to store for later in your freezer? Freezing baked goods in this manner is more economical, saves time, trouble, and is so helpful when unexpected guests drop by or the family is hungry for sweets and you’re too tired or busy to bake. Freezing baked goods is a win-win if you ask me. Therefore, I have some great tips that can help keep your delicious baked efforts tasting as fresh as possible.

Freezing Baked Goods Such As Cakes

Before you attempt to freeze cakes that you just made, you always need to cool them thoroughly first. Immediately wrapping or placing in a sealed container to store locks in steam, which will ruin the cake and make it soggy from all its moisture.

Once your cakes are completely cooled is the time to wrap them in moisture-proof wrapping such as an aluminum foil, wax paper or plastic wrap before labeling and placing in a zip-lock freezer bag as an extra defense. Well-wrapped cakes can keep in your freezer safely for three to four months.

Take out your cake from the freezer about one or two hours before you plan to eat it. For the best results, let the cake unthaw in its original wrapping.

If you’re in a hurry, you can also take your cake out of the wrapping and place on a microwave-safe plate and head to your microwave to speed up thawing. Depending on your microwave, it can take about three or four minutes on medium power.

Another method to hurry your frozen cake along is using your oven to reheat it. Place your unwrapped cake on a baking pan that you lined with aluminum foil before taking it to your oven. Only after you stick your cake in is the time to turn the oven on 250-degrees. You are only keeping this cake in about 10-15 minutes to warm it through. Be careful not to get it too hot or you’ll over bake and dry it.

If you plan to make extra rolls of cookie dough that you can take from the freezer to bake fresh when needed at a later date, wrap the dough accordingly as you would for cakes before freezing. For the most part, unbaked wrapped cookie dough can last in the freezer safely for about three months.

Baked cookies also need to be wrapped. The safest way is wrapping them individually in plastic wrap before storing in aluminum foil and sticking into a zip-lock or an airtight freezer storage container. A majority of cookies can be layered with sheets of wax paper to separate as you pile them in your freezer container. Bar cookies can also be layered to separate them in the same airtight containers with a sheet of aluminum foil between.

Avoid the urge to frost your cookies before freezing because that practice never works out well. Though your icing may stay intact, the frosting can melt off the cookie partially or back in to give you a mushier version. Do not frost cookies until you are nearly ready to serve them.

When you want to take your frozen baked cookies from the freezer, keep them in their original wrapping. They’ll unthaw at room temperature fairly quickly. However, if you’re in a rush, you can reheat them in your oven at 300-degrees for about five to 10 minutes.

You can freeze basically any type of pie with the exception of custard and meringue pies. After you bake and completely cool, your freezing procedure changes from how you handle cakes and cookies. Instead of covering first, your cooled pie goes straight into the freezer until it becomes completely frozen. When the pie hits that stage, you remove and wrap in moisture-proof wrapping or transfer directly to a zip-lock freezer storage bag before returning it to your freezer. Frozen pies can keep for about four months.

Unthawing frozen pies can be at room temperature take about five hours. You can also shorten the time for frozen pies with a brief stint in a 300-degree oven. Unwrap the pie and transfer to a baking sheet for about a half hour to warm it through. Fruit pies like apples can take longer and need a higher temperature like 375-degrees for about 40 minutes or so.

The golden rule of completely cooling after baking applies to this category of breads as well. Wrap as you would cake in moisture-proof wrapping before placing in your freezer. Quick breads such as banana breads can keep for about three months.

When you want to unthaw quick breads as well as yeast breads, you have three options. Leave in the original wrapping to allow them to melt at room temperature for about two hours. You could also unwrap and place on a baking sheet and reheat in 275-degree oven for 10 minutes or so until warm. Frozen yeast breads or rolls can take a bit longer time. You may want to tack on an additional five minutes of oven time. The third method is your microwave on medium power for about four or five minutes, depending on the power of your microwave.

I hope that you found this post on freezing baked goods helpful!  The next time that you’re in the mood to bake, you also might find my post on baking ingredient substitutions can come in handy.