Can You Freeze Cupcakes: Frosted or Unfrosted?

Is your cupcake recipe too good to waste? It’s always a risk to make extra, but there are ways to save the extras for later. Here are some life hacks on how you can freeze cupcakes and have them handy any day of the week!

Freezing cupcakes has a lot of benefits. It saves you from eating as many calories, since you can just take out the unfrosted ones and only eat one or two at a time.

You also don’t have to worry about your cake getting soggy or dry in the refrigerator because it’s been sitting out for too long. Follow these simple steps to freeze cupcakes successfully!

Can you Freeze Unfrosted Cupcakes?

Yes, you can. However, cupcakes should be cooled before storing them, but it’s important to do so in a smart way. If you try and freeze cupcakes while they’re still hot, the steam that is released will turn into condensation on your freezer door which can cause paper liners to peel off of cooling cupcakes.

The best thing for making sure these treats stay frozen without getting soggy? Leave them out on wire racks until they are cool enough to touch or handle.

Wire racks allow air circulation around all sides of each individual treat helping prevent gooey bottoms from forming as well! Wire racks work way better to prevent sogginess on the bottom while they are cooling, which can happen when left in a plate or chopping board as opposed to a wire rack. Leave them for about an hour until they’re fully cooled and ready for freezing!

How to Freeze Unfrosted Cupcakes

Store your cupcakes in a container and then freeze them. Make sure you get the right kind of container so that they can’t squish together, but have plenty of room to avoid getting sticky from touching their tops or lid!

You can also use zip loc plastic freezer bags. Once the cupcakes are in an airtight bag, you can create layers and stack them with parchment paper to keep them from sticking together.

You can also wrap them in plastic wrap but this is not my favorite way of doing it. I’ve found that the cupcakes end up stickier when wrapped in plastic and it doesn’t provide as much protection compared to a sturdy plastic container.

Can you Freeze Cupcakes with Icing?

Yes, you can freeze frosted cupcakes as well. The technique is not much different than freezing cupcakes without icing.

There are a few things you need to do before freezing your cupcakes. If they don’t cool off first, condensation could build up and make them soggy!

In order to not get them soggy, place them on wire racks instead of a plate. It’s important that the air can circulate freely around these sweet treats to cool the bottoms off too.

Frost those cupcakes. If you want to keep your frosted creations from melting, make sure they’re properly iced first!

A piping bag and a steady hand are helpful for ensuring that the icing is applied evenly to each one – use enough sweet topping so there’s some leftover when it comes time freeze them too; after all, once frozen these babies can’t be touched up again with any more sweetness. Buttercream? Cream cheese? Chocolate?! You decide which will suit your tastes best before getting decorating.

How to Freeze Frosted Cupcakes

Freezing a frosted cupcake is simple and easy. Make sure you have enough room in the plastic container. You want a taller container for iced cupcakes to not ruin the frosting.

You can freeze the decorated cakes in an open container to prevent them from getting squished, then keep them still in the same container and place the lid on the container after a few hours and place them back into the freezer.

You can always place them in a container with the lid on right away and freeze them that way. Make sure the lid is tightly on the container so no air goes in.

Another way to store the cupcakes is using aluminum foil. Instead of a plastic container, you can also freeze them in the foil to save space.

Freeze your frosted cupcakes without covering them for about 3-4 hours so that they become solid enough to be covered up with foil! Cover each individually wrapped cake carefully – not to touch any frosting-, then place on a cookie sheet or into a plastic Ziploc bag.

You can freeze the cupcakes uncovered for about 3-6 hours, depending on what frosting you have there. Buttercream frosting will freeze in about 6 hours and then you can place them in plastic wrap but I recommend just leaving the cupcakes in a sturdy plastic container.

How Long Can you Freeze Cupcakes?

They can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can write the date and month on the freezer bag with a permanent marker so you wouldn’t forget when you put them in the freezer. If you made a bunch of different cupcakes with different ingredients then you might want to write down their flavors too.

Can you Freeze Cupcake Batter?

Yes, you can also freeze cupcake batter which makes it a great time saver. When you are in a pinch and need cupcakes for your party, but don’t have the time to bake them from scratch like I did this weekend.

I have three quick ways to store and freeze your cupcake batter. The first way is by using freezer-safe Ziploc bags, the second option is muffin tins, and thirdly there’s a nifty product called an ice tray that you can use for freezing individual portions of frosting!

Freezing batter is a great way to save time in the kitchen. I find that using freezer-safe Ziploc bags is my favorite because they are so easy and space-saving. When you’re ready, just cut off one of the corners on your bag and pour all of it into cupcake tin liners!

Freezer safe Ziploc bag:

You can store your cupcake batter in a freezer-safe gallon zip lop plastic storage bag and freeze flat – this will keep them from sticking together when frozen or thawed later on as well as allow handling without worry about frostbitten fingers. Once you want to bake your cupcakes, cut the edge with more air out first then pour and fill up each cupcake liner.

Individual cupcake liners:

Use a cupcake pan and place the cupcake liner into the pan. Pour the batter into cupcake liners and place the bag in the freezer. When the batter is frozen solid, take them out. Once the batter is frozen, put the filled cupcake liners into a plastic freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Once, you are ready to bake your cupcakes, thaw the batter a little and cook for about 5 additional minutes.

Disposable muffin pans:

Consider freezing your cake batter ahead of time with disposable muffin pans that can be found at any dollar store! All you do is place some liners inside, fill each one up about halfway full or less if desired-depending on how many cups it will make when baked-, cover the pan tightly with tin foil or plastic wrap, and then freeze until ready.

Just remember to increase baking by 5-7 minutes because they will still cook through while frozen anyway!

Can you Freeze Cupcakes in Paper Cases?

Yes, you can leave the paper liners on when you freeze your cupcakes.

How to Defrost Cupcakes

Take the cupcakes out of a freezer and instead of defrosting them in the refrigerator, defrost them at room temperature. You can leave them on the countertop for 3 hours. You can leave them in your container or wrapped when defrosting them.

However, remove cupcakes from the container or bag after about an hour and slightly open it to release some air in. If you used foil, remove just enough so that they’re not suffocating but are still wrapped up tight for insulation purposes.

Otherwise, the paper liners can peel off if there’s too much moisture around them. Leave the cupcakes to defrost until they reach room temperature.

If you don’t have enough time, you can take the cupcakes out at night and defrost them on the countertop overnight. After an hour, it’s best to defrost them on a cooling rack so the bottoms stay dry.

No one likes a soggy cupcake! Make sure to leave your frozen treats in the freezer until they are ready for use, and never defrost them in an oven, microwave or stovetop. They are best to thaw at room temperature. If you’re not going to eat all of your yummy sweet goodies at once, it’s probably best just to keep them boxed up until needed.

Tips to Remember When Baking Cupcakes

It’s easy to bake perfect cupcakes. Making the batter doesn’t take long and the cooking time is usually 15-20 minutes depending on the recipe and the temperature of the oven.

What you’ll need:

Ingredients including sugar, flour, eggs, milk and butter.

A cupcake tray/tin (or two tins if baking a double batch).

Spoon(s)/ladle(s) for all equipment above plus bowls if needed.

Measuring cups and spoons.

Oven gloves/oven mitts (to protect against heat).

Miscellaneous items such as cake testers (toothpicks), spatula or knife and cupcake liners (if necessary).

Firstly, gather all the ingredients.

Secondly, preheat the oven and line your cupcake tray/tins with cupcake papers.

Thirdly, weigh out the dry ingredients (flour, sugar and baking powder).

Fourthly, add in any wet ingredients (butter and eggs) as well as milk.

Fifthly, mix it all together until you get a smooth batter or dough-like mixture.

Sixthly, fill up each cupcake liner approximately 2/3 of the way full with batter or dough-like mixture. Check out our detailed article on How Much Batter for Cupcakes.

Seventhly, place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes depending on the recipe and how dense you want your cupcakes to be when they’ve finished cooking.

Most cupcakes are baked at temperature 350 F or 400 F. Make sure you check your cupcakes once or twice when they are baking to not overbake them. It’s hard to fix overbaked cupcakes but it’s possible. Read our article here on How to Fix Dry Cupcakes.

Eighthly, after taking the cupcakes out of the oven, leave them to cool for a little bit before transferring them onto a wire rack. Then you can get creative with decorating!

Ninthly, enjoy your perfect cupcakes!