Freezing and Storing Tips for Your Holiday Baking Delights
Holiday baking goes better when you have a plan for freezing and storing your holiday baked goods so that you don’t have to do all the baking in one day (unless you want to). Another choice is to spend a day or two baking and then freeze it for later. It all depends on what time you have available, but learning to freeze and store your delicious creations will help a lot.
The first thing you need to be able to freeze and store your holiday baked goods is the right supplies. You’ll need plastic wrap, parchment paper, freezer safe containers, plastic zipping bags, butcher paper and spray oil. These things will help you save your baked goods properly so that they taste freshly baked on the day you enjoy them.
Some of the baked goods that freeze the best are brownies, quick breads, cookies, muffins, snack cakes, yeast breads, regular cakes, cheesecake and pies. All of these need various methods of freezing to ensure that they are still fresh and tasty when it’s time to eat them. One important tip to remember is not to freeze any of your baked good recipes that are low fat or fat free. They are best cooked and served the same day as they get dry or conversely gummy when frozen.
The hardest of the above to freeze are fully made cakes, cheesecakes and pies. These require specialty containers to ensure that they don’t get too much frost and that you also thaw them properly for best results. We’ll start with these.
* Fully made cakes – Pop the cake into the freezer and leave it until fully frozen. This can take up to 6 hours. Remove from freezer and carefully wrap with plastic wrap. I use at least 2 layers. Place frozen cake into a pastry box (available at craft stores or specialty baking stores). Seal box edges with tape. Wrap the entire box tightly with foil. Again, I use 2 layers. Store in a part of the freezer away from any strong smelling contents. You can freeze the cake for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, remove cake from freezer. Take cake out of box and unwrap. Thaw on counter for 3 to 6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
* Cheesecakes – These have very high moisture content, but can be frozen if you are careful. Most cheesecakes are made in a spring form pan. You can freeze directly on the spring form or you can make a round of hard cardboard (or buy one at the craft store). If using cardboard, the best way to do it is to wrap the cardboard with foil. Slide the cheesecake onto the foil-wrapped cardboard; you can spray some spray oil on it first to help remove it later. Then wrap with plastic wrap (bottom and all). Wrap with multiple layers, freeze fully, and then place in a harder container to protect. Unwrap completely to thaw in refrigerator. When almost completely thawed, place on a pretty serving platter for serving. For fruit-covered cheesecake, make the fruit at the time of serving for added freshness.
* Pies – Freezing cream pies doesn’t work very well, so use these instructions for fruit pies and make creamed pies closer to the time of serving. You can freeze pie crusts in their tins and bake from frozen. To freeze a fully baked fruit pie, place it in the freezer uncovered, freeze, and then pop it in a freezer bag. To serve, thaw in fridge overnight or on counter for 3 to 5 hours. Warm up in 300°F. oven for 20 – 30 minutes to serve warm. You can freeze fruit pies and pie crusts for 6 months if properly wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer zip bag.
For unbaked frozen pies, remove unbaked fruit pie from freezer bag, and unthaw overnight in the refrigerator or thaw on the counter for three to five hours. Slit the top crust, brush with cream, and bake at 425°F. for 15 minutes; then reduce heat to 350° F. and bake for 45 more minutes.
Other Tips for Freezing Your Holiday Baked Goods
* Cookie dough – The great thing about cookie dough is that it can be frozen and saved for up to six months. You can make a lot of dough, separate it up into “serving” sizes and freeze in a long bar to chop into the right size for baking. You can also save in balls for cookies like peanut butter cookies that are supposed to start as balls. Thaw, and then process as usual. Always unwrap fully before thawing.
Rolled Cookies
* Raw yeast dough – Shape the dough after the first rise into the shape you will bake it in. A ball for a roll, three balls for a clover roll, a log for a bread loaf, and so forth. Shape the dough, freeze on a pan in the freezer, then pop into freezer bags. You can also wrap the dough in parchment or freezer paper, then pop into a larger freezer bag to keep more in one bag. To prepare, thaw in the prepared baking pan that you want to cook the bread in. It will rise as it thaws. You can start in the fridge the night before or you can do it within 3 to 5 hours the day of. It’s up to you. Bake as usual according to your instructions.
* Fully baked cookies – You can also freeze fully baked cookies. Find a round freezer save container and put a single layer of fully cooled cookies in the bottom, top with parchment paper, adding layers until the container is full, topping again with parchment, and then sealing the container. To thaw, just remove cookies to a serving platter and let thaw for about 2 or 3 hours the day you want to enjoy them.
* Quick breads or muffins – Fully cool the bread or muffins after baking, then wrap tightly in freezer paper, parchment paper, or foil. Then wrap with plastic wrap tightly and put inside a freezer bag. The extra steps will ensure that your bread is moist and delicious after thawing. To thaw, unwrap and thaw on the counter for 2 to 3 hours, or in the fridge overnight. Wrapping in foil is especially good with coffee cake. You can thaw in the foil, then toss in the oven to warm.
Freezing your holiday baked goods and storing them for later is a great idea because you can bake just a little at a time, or have a quick bread baking day, a cookie dough mixing and freezing day and so forth. Most of these items will still taste fresh with proper storage for up to three months, some for six months. If you have extra freezer space, this gives you quite a long time to prepare for your holiday baking.
Favorite Holiday Cookies
Category: Baking Tips
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