Refrigerating Muffin & Cupcake Batter

[prasantrin]

But what are the rules? Can you refrigerate any muffin batter? What's the longest period of time it can be refrigerated for?

If I freeze the batter instead of refrigerating it (I know that can be done, because Pam R. said she does it!), should I defrost it before baking? I was thinking that if I froze it, I would freeze it in baking cups so I could just pop them in the muffin tin and bake.

[miladyinsanity]

I've read that the longest you can store muffin batter in the refridgerator is 3 days--after that, the baking powder dissipates.

[Pam R]

When I freeze it I always pull it out the night before I want to bake it and stash it in the fridge. I've never left it in the fridge for more than a couple of days. I always freeze it in 1 lt. containters, thaw, then fill the muffin tins. Freezing it in the muffin cups would allow it to thaw much quicker, but I would still thaw it. But that way you could bake yourself a couple at a time and always have fresh muffins.

You can purchase muffin mix in pails from suppliers - which is meant to last for far longer in the fridge than a couple of days. But they are most likely adding all sorts of things to it that allows it to last that you or I would never add.

[artisanbaker]

you should be able to refridgerate it for a week no prob

you can bake muffin batters directly from the freezer

[jgarner53]

We always refrigerate our muffin batters at work, but given the quantity of muffins we bake, I don't think a batch (about 20 quarts) lasts more than a couple of days.

[jayhay]

I was just looking through an old Gourmet magazine (Nov 1990) today, & it has a recipe called "Six-Week Bran Muffins."

Haven't tried it out...uses raisin bran flakes, & buttermilk.

[highchef]

There's a wheat germ brand out there that has a recipe for 'always ready bran muffins' that you make the batter up and keep it in the fridge. It keeps for weeks and makes a darn good muffin. I always have to add to it, a bananna here, dried fruit tomorrow, nuts etc. but the kids like them plain. Hudson's Mill ??? it's in the 'special diets' section. I may have some downstairs, I'll check and see and if the recipe is there I'll post it so you can adjust it to your liking. Tomorrow.

[Char]

I've read that the longest you can store muffin batter in the refridgerator is 3 days--after that, the baking powder dissipates.

←

It depends on the temperature of your refrigeration unit. During the summer, our walk-in used to heat up during the day so I couldn't leave batters longer than a day. They would take on that grayish tinge, indicative of expired leavening. During the winter, I have left batter in the refrigerator for up to a week (because I forgot about it) and was able to use it. There is a slight loss in a volume even if you freeze the batter right away but for the sake of convenience, it's worth it.

I should note that I've prepared cake batter the day before and had to refrigerate it overnight because I had no time to bake it. If you have to resort this method for muffins as well, you're better off placing the batter in the baking tin. If you manipulate the pre-prepared batter too much, you will notice a significant loss in volume.

[mignardise]

can I mix butter cake batters and chocolate(oil) cake batters and hold them in the refrigerator overnight for bake-off the next day?

how will they bake?

[JeanneCake]

I've held batter for 6 hours chilled in the pan with no ill effects; when I held it overnight there was a slight loss of volume and it took longer to bake (to be expected).

I think you are going to have to try it with a batch.

Edited November 9, 2007 by JeanneCake (log)

[PastryGuru]

can I mix butter cake batters and chocolate(oil) cake batters and hold them in the refrigerator overnight for bake-off the next day?

how will they bake?

←

Muffin batters (or any batter containing a chemical leavening) will keep up to three days in the fridge. I've also kept these batters in the freezer for up to a month with no problem. The best way to thaw these batters is slowly and under refrigeration. If you leave the batter on the counter, particularly during warmer months, you will notice the container bulging as the thawed batter starts to leaven even if the center is still frozen.

Cake batters are very delicate and I have found that it's best to deposit the batter into the baking pan and refrigerate it until I'm ready to bake. You will notice a small loss of volume--but it's nothing to be terribly concerned about. They will take longer to bake because the batter has to warm up first.

[prasantrin]

you should be able to refridgerate it for a week no prob

you can bake muffin batters directly from the freezer

←

If I bake directly from frozen, for how long would I bake it, and at what temperature?

I finally got around to freezing some muffin batter last night, and I still have 3 very brown bananas I want to make into muffin batter. I'm going to have a lot of frozen banana muffin batter!

[sugarseattle]

It depends on the temperature of your refrigeration unit. During the summer, our walk-in used to heat up during the day so I couldn't leave batters longer than a day. They would take on that grayish tinge, indicative of expired leavening. During the winter, I have left batter in the refrigerator for up to a week (because I forgot about it) and was able to use it. There is a slight loss in a volume even if you freeze the batter right away but for the sake of convenience, it's worth it.

I actually think the grayish tinge is from oxidation of the flour, as I've seen this in pie and tart dough left in the fridge too long, both having no leaveners. Often this grayish dough is very elastic and gummy, and doesn't perform as well as fresher pastry dough, probably due to the gluten something or other.

Nonetheless, I've kept both cake and quickbread/muffin batters in the fridge for at least a week, and frozen them with no troubles.

[prasantrin]

I froze my banana muffin batter for about a week in muffin tins lined with cupcake liners.

I took it out and left in the fridge for a couple of days (in the muffin tin).

I baked it this morning, and the liners stuck to the tins! It took a bit of prying to get them out, not without some minor damage to the muffins.

Then, the muffins stuck to the liners! Can't get them out without major damage to the muffins. It doesn't bother me so much, since then I can put some butter on the crumbs and mix it all in, resulting in a very high ratio of butter to muffins, but I can't give any away now!

What did I do wrong?