Frozen Muffin Batter Is A Time-Saver For Busy Mornings That Will Help You Keep Your Cool

There's nothing like fresh muffins in the morning. That is, until you see all of the dirty, muffin batter-coated dishes left in the sink. It's just this chore, and the time it takes to whisk your batter together, that can throw you off your game on a busy morning. But, to keep your cool and save some time, you can freeze your muffin batter in parchment paper liners ahead of time. Popped into the oven just as normal, all it takes is about five extra minutes added to what your recipe typically calls for — and next to no dishes left in the sink.

To freeze your muffin batter, simply scoop or spoon it into the paper baking cup-lined holes of your muffin pan. When the muffin pan is full, place the entire thing into your freezer and leave it there overnight so that, when you wake up in the morning, you can easily remove each of the muffin batter cups and put them into freezer bags. The muffins will keep there for three to four weeks, giving you the freedom to bake exactly as many muffins you need, when you need them. 

So, if you wake up one morning craving just one muffin, all you'll need to do is preheat your oven and add five extra minutes to the timer, checking with a toothpick for doneness. You may need to adjust your recipe for your muffins (or muffin) to rise from frozen and prevent them from deflating. 

While this hack does allow you to bypass the need to wash dirty dishes on a busy morning, it does require a bit of reverse muffin batter engineering to ensure your muffins rise and bake evenly from frozen. For this, you're going to need to focus on a few things: leaveners, sugars, and fats. Your leaveners are baking soda and powder, which help your batter rise in the oven, but they need a bit of a boost when working with frozen dough. You can keep your baking soda measurement as normal, as it primarily aids in browning, and increase your baking powder measurement to a tablespoon. This will also work to aerate your batter, which is helpful if your recipe includes any mix-ins like berries or chocolate chips.

When preparing muffin batter to bake from frozen, you also shouldn't skimp on the sugar. Sugar helps the batter retain moisture, which is important for something that could be sitting in a dry freezer for weeks. Be sure to add as much as your recipe calls for, and don't be afraid to add a little bit extra to your recipe to ensure it bakes up nice and moist after freezing. If you're someone who opts for butter in your muffin recipes, you'll also want to swap that for an oil. Vegetable oil, olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil will all further work to increase the moisture in your recipe and avoid any dry results.