How To Freeze Muffin Batter For Fresh Muffins In Minutes

What if I told you that you could bake muffins in a matter of minutes and without filling your sink full of dirty dishes. Better yet, let me show you!

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Unexpected guests? A hangry toddler? Short on snacks for lunches? Whatever it may be, this muffin hack will have you diffusing the situation and enjoying fresh-out-of-the-oven muffins in a matter of minutes.

No mixing. No dishes (ok, the muffin tin will need to be washed but that’s all!). No opening your pantry to grab the ingredients and having your one year old pull out all the things (please tell me I am not the only one?). 

Just. Fresh. Muffins. 

I enjoy baking. However, now that I am mama to a bright 3 year old and a fierce 1 year old, baking is not as high on my priority list. I needed to come up with a solution that allowed me to bake efficiently. AKA: bake all the things as quickly as possible. 

You see, that bright 3 year old that I mentioned, well he and I bake together. It’s a chance for us to spend quality time together while getting stuff done (mom win!). His favourite part: the measuring, the mixing and the taste testing. I think time actually ticks backwards for him as he not-so-patiently waits for the muffins to bake and cool. 

We always have a great time and make a big ol’ giant mess. But here’s the issue, he has an attention span of… well… a 3 year old and we need to get those muffins made FAST! 

Enter the muffins in minutes hack!

MUFFINS IN MINUTES TUTORIAL

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Your favourite muffin recipe (I’ve included our below)
• Enough ingredients to double (or triple) the recipe
• Baking tools (Kitchen Aid mixer, measuring cups & spoons, spatula, muffin scoop, etc)
• Muffin Tins (enough for the entire recipe)
• Ziploc Freezer Bags
• Permanent Marker

STEPS TO MAKE MUFFINS IN MINUTES

Step 1. Follow your recipe up until the point of baking. Don’t forget to double (or triple) the recipe! Whatever suits your families needs. Here’s one of our favourites. 

Step 2. Once you have the muffin batter ready to go, you are going to decide how many fresh muffins you want right now? If you want a dozen fresh muffins, then fill up a muffin tray and pop it into the oven for the required time. Maybe you only want half a dozen, then fill up half a muffin tray. Remember, whatever suits your families needs.

Step 3. While your muffins are baking:

• Grease the remaining muffins tins. Note: do not use muffin liners for this step. In my experience liners do not work for this freezer hack.
• Fill the muffins tins with the remaining batter.
• Place the muffins tins in your freezer for 24 hours. Yes, that’s right, we are freezing the muffin batter in the muffin tin.

Step 4. Label the freezer bags. Include the muffin type, the date and instructions for baking. Tip: You can usually fit a approximately one dozen muffins in one large ziplock freezer bags. Do not stack muffins on top of one another. Keep them flat, freezing in single layers only. 

Step 5. After freezing, remove one muffin tin from your freezer and transfer the frozen muffin batter from the tins into the bags. Tip: To free the frozen muffin batter from the muffin tin, use a spatula or knife to loosen around the edge and pop the muffin out. Also, work quickly. In my experience, the muffin batter thaws quickly (this is why we only take out one tin at a time). It’s best if the muffin batter is like a frozen hockey puck (Yes, I’m Canadian. How’d you know?) while we transfer the batter from tin to freezer bag. 

Step 6. Seal the bag air tight. Tip: Place a plastic straw on one side of the bag. Seal the bag all the way until you hit the straw. Use the straw to suck out all the air in the bag. It’s as if you have one of those fancy vacuum food sealers, but free! You’re welcome 😉

Step 7. Immediately, place freezer bag back in freezer.

Step 8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for the remaining muffin tins that are still hanging out in your freezer. 

Oh man, I hope you didn’t get distracted by this tutorial and forget about the muffins you put in the oven. Quick, if you did, go now!

Step 9. When you are ready to bake the frozen hockey pucks muffins, here’s what you are going to do:

• Grease a muffin tin
• Remove your frozen muffin batter from the freezer and place directly (while still frozen) in to your greased muffin tin. Trust me, do not leave the bag of frozen muffin batter on your counter or you will have… well… a bag full of muffin batter. 
• Once the muffins are thawed, follow the baking instructions that you so conveniently wrote on the ziplock bag and enjoy.

And just like that you have right-out-of-the-oven muffins, in minutes. What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 

This hack is a lifesaver during our busy season. Boy, let me tell ya – it helps keeps those lunch pails full during seeding and harvest. Oh, if you didn’t know, one of the many hats I wear is farmwife. If you’re new to Robyn Johanna, welcome and thanks for stopping by! You can read more about me here. 

If you want to save this tutorial for later, be sure to pin it!