Donuts are insanely popular, and for a good reason, they’re an absolutely delicious treat that can be enjoyed by anyone and often feature a whole range of different toppings and flavors, so chances are there’s a donut out there that you will love.
When it comes to buying donuts, however, it’s so hard to just buy one, and often the temptation to buy a pack of 4 or even 12 donuts can become all too much, and before you know it you have a whole load of donuts to eat, and not enough time to eat them all!
So, if you find yourself constantly buying large quantities of donuts but have to throw them away because they’ve gone bad, then chances are you’re looking for a way to store them so you can enjoy them weeks after you’ve bought them.
This is where freezing your donuts can come in handy.
So, if you’re wondering whether you can freeze your donuts, and how to do so, then read on as we give you all the information you need!
What Is A Donut’s Lifespan?
As most donut lovers will know, the worst thing about donuts is that their lifespan isn’t particularly long, this is down to the fact that they contain oil, which means they’re ultimately quite prone to contamination from bacteria, which is especially common if you plan on storing them at room temperature, and eventually the bacteria will cause the donuts to be spoilt.
So by keeping them on your countertop, your donuts will probably last about 2 days. But even then, they still won’t be as nice as the day you bought them!
Many turn to refrigerating their donuts in order to solve this problem, and whilst it does work for a short while, most donuts will still only last around 5 days in the fridge. As the oils found inside the donuts will slowly begin to solidify, making them inedible by the end of the week.
But, if you’re buying your donuts in bulk, it’s going to take a lot longer than 5 days to get through them, so it’s time to look at how to freeze your donuts!
How To Freeze Your Donuts
Freezing your donuts isn’t a particularly hard task, but it does require some attention in order to make sure that you get it right, otherwise your donuts won’t freeze properly and they’ll be ruined!
Step one is to take your donuts and to place them on a metal cookie sheet, ensuring that the sheet has been lined with wax paper first.
You need to make sure that your donuts are in a single layer, placed with the glaze facing upwards and with plenty of space between each other, otherwise, your donuts will stick to either the sheet, or each other, and you’ll have a difficult time separating them successfully!
You then need to place the sheet filled with donuts into the freezer, only for a few hours, in order for them to have time to freeze all the way through. We recommend leaving them for anywhere between 3-5 hours at this stage.
Once they have frozen all the way through, you then need to take them out of the freezer and very quickly transfer them from the cookie sheet into Ziploc bags, ensuring that any air is squeezed out of the bags before they are sealed and placed back into the freezer.
You want to do this fast as allowing the donuts to defrost even slightly could cause problems.
We recommend labelling your sealed bag with the current date on them, as this will remind you of when you froze them, so you know exactly how much time you have left to eat your donuts!
Once frozen, your donuts will be able to last up to 3 months in the freezer, which is plenty of time for you to make your way through that big batch, especially if you’re sharing them with friends or family!
However, storing them for any longer than 3 months will cause your donuts to dry out, which is just as bad as them solidifying on your countertop.
Thawing Your Donuts
Thawing your donuts is a much easier process than freezing them, and the best bit is that you can eat them shortly after you’ve thawed them, so you don’t need to worry about taking them out the day before for them to be ready for your guests!
In order to thaw them properly, start by taking the donuts out of the freezer, and placing them on the countertop. You then just need to let them warm up to room temperature in order to defrost, which will take roughly 1 hour to 1 ½ hour max.
Once they’ve completely defrosted, just pop them into the microwave for a quick 10-15 second blast to warm them up ready for eating!
This isn’t the only way to defrost your donuts however, you could also defrost them by placing them in your refrigerator for a couple of hours, or you could place them in the microwave for around 30 seconds.
However, you should be careful with microwaving frozen donuts, as they will harden back up as quickly as they will thaw, so you must ensure that your microwave is set to the lowest temperature in order to prevent them from drying out too badly.
As a warning, you should also not re-freeze any donuts that have already been defrosted, thawed donuts are already much more prone to bacterial contamination than fresh donuts are, which means they need to be eaten as soon as they have been properly defrosted, or else they’ll spoil quickly.
Tips For Freezing And Defrosting Your Donuts
Whilst freezing and defrosting donuts is a simple process, there are a few different tips that will make the process a whole lot easier!
The first tip is to freeze the donuts the day you get them, as this will ensure they keep as much flavor as possible for when you thaw them out to eat next!
Our second tip is to use resealable freezer bags when you plan on storing them, as you can then choose how many donuts you want to defrost to eat.
If you want to prevent your donuts from sticking to one another in the freezer, you can wrap each donut in either plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or wax paper before you place them in the freezer bags, this will also help to protect them from any possible freezer burn too.
Finally, donuts that have frozen may unfortunately lose some of that delicious glaze, so if you want to ensure that your donuts are still super sweet, add some powdered sugar on top!
Conclusion
So now you know all of the tips and tricks for storing your donuts to keep them fresh, and hopefully you’ve found this guide to freezing and defrosting your donuts helpful.
So, the next time you happen to buy yourself a whole batch of donuts, you make sure that they don’t go to waste.
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