I don't really like to cook. Let's face it. I'm a lazy cook and baker. Art grew up in a small mom and pop restaurant that his parents owned. His mother was the chief cook/baker. When we were getting married, many people came to tell me his mother was the best cook/baker on the Big Island.
Friends knew cooking/baking was not my forte. It was rather a joke at the time. My mom did all the cooking and I just never learned from her.
One of my very good childhood/forever friends even gave me this set of Maui cookbooks at our wedding that was famous at the time in the islands. It helped, but for the start of our marriage, Art did a lot more of the cooking.
All this just explains why I don't bake unless I have to.
Art (AND Mom) loves having the King Arthur's Bakery blueberry muffins for breakfast. Last month, I wrote a blog post about how he likes to toast the muffin top.
I always make a couple of recipes worth so I don't have to make it that often. Trouble is, it was worrying me to keep almost two weeks worth of muffins in the fridge.
So I wondered if freezing would impact the taste of blueberry muffins. I discovered on the Taste of Home website that you can certainly freeze blueberry muffins. I first put the cooled muffins on a baking dish uncovered in the freezer. Once it was totally frozen, I put the muffins on a cardboard sheet in a freezer bag and stuck it in the freezer.
Notice that I have perfected keeping the blueberries away from the very top of the muffins so that Art can get that crisp top that he likes so much.
When we took the frozen muffins out, defrosted and toasted it, Art says it tasted absolutely the same and that you wouldn't know they were frozen.
Woo hoo!!! I wonder if I can make three recipes worth next time. 😁
We freeze bread quite often as my wife likes to stock up when it is on sale.
ReplyDeleteYou do pretty darn well for someone who doesn’t like the process.
ReplyDeleteYour muffins look really nice, Kay! (Why does that sound flirty?) Anyway, great news about the freezing not affecting their quality and I think Art is a very lucky man. :^)
ReplyDeleteYou can freeze most any baked goods: cake, cookies, muffins, bread. I don't freeze fully baked pies, but in apple season I sometimes mix the raw peeled-and-sliced apples with the sugar and spices and a little flour, put just the pie filling in a pie pan lined with wax paper, and freeze it. When frozen, I take it out of the pie pan and wrap it in foil. When I want a pie, I make the crust and put the bottom crust in the pie pan, then put the frozen pie filling in it. I put the top crust over it and bake it, and you'd think I just peeled and sliced all those apples. I have to bake longer, of course, because I start out with frozen apple pie filling. I freeze a lot of cooked soups, too, as long as they don't have potatoes in them... potatoes don't freeze well. I love having chili waiting in the freezer for days when I don't want to cook. Yesterday we had pinto beans with ham, and cornbread. I intend to freeze a quart or so of those beans for later. I have frozen corn bread, but we like it so well, we eat it in two days' time.
ReplyDeleteI can relate. My Dad did all the cooking so I really thought that was the man's job. Surprise, my husband wasn't as accommodating as Art. Seems you two have worked out a good balance. Great idea to freeze the muffins and that they stay just as tasty.
ReplyDeleteI am like you, Kay, I don't like to cook much but hubby does, even if he's not exactly an inspired cook! Same old, same old. :-)
ReplyDeleteI haven't baked in ages. JB cannot have dairy, yeast or eggs, so there isn't much point. It's fun your Art cooks and bakes. My first husband did. My second isn't allowed to, he burns everything! :-)
ReplyDeleteHard to always know what's going to do well after freezing
ReplyDeleteLin Floyd says we love muffins too and I hate to cook also!
ReplyDeleteI find it impossible to cook for one. I cooked all the time when my Bob was alive and after my brother in law lost my sister, I cooked the lunch meal for us. He died last February and I no longer cook much. I have a friend who cooks once a week and eats the same meal all week. I couldn't do that. I eat a lot out when I have the money..otherwise it's broccoli.cheese soup or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a cook here either! I can do it but I'm lazy and unmotivated (for one person). My late husband was great with steaks, eggs and potato salad. My dad was the breakfast cook around my house growing up. So I've always seen it as a partnership. John is a much better cook than I am so I let him try out his new recipes on me. :) Glad the muffins froze well! I freeze bread and muffins since I don't go through them fast enough.
ReplyDeleteI love cooking and trying new recipes. This is a great tip.
ReplyDeleteI have a freezer full of old food. I am also a lazy cook and I need to learn to use up what I have.
ReplyDeleteI used to do that! Especially for a few years after my children were out of the house. I had to learn not to cook as much, and to eat the food I already had in there before putting more in!
DeleteIt's been awhile since I've had blueberry muffins.
ReplyDeleteI am the same. I always make double recipes so I don’t have to cook any more than I have to. ! have cooked and baked so much of my life and now I’m just tired of it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing more of your story! And this interesting information
ReplyDeleteWE have banana walnut muffins in our freezer. I may have to make some more, but not until after the holidays. I'll be worn out from cookie and bread baking now.
ReplyDeleteWe freeze all bread products, left over cakes and cookies. etc.
Thanks for this tip
ReplyDeleteYou may need a separate freezer
ReplyDeleteCooking was quite often a stress back then. I'm afraid to find out what goes on for cooking today.
ReplyDeleteI freeze my oatmeal muffins since it takes me two weeks to eat them. I do like to cook.
ReplyDeleteI was on a baking kick recently and filled my freezer. Everyone who visited got a choice of pineapple upside down cake or ridiculous chocolate cake or deluxe lemon cake. No the freezer is empty and the baking kick is over.
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo!!! Indeed! :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
That's wonderful Kay, I am a big freezer fan and those dishes do taste just as good as if they were freshly made, and now I know it applies to muffins. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWell, that is good to know. The Internet now makes things much easier when you are looking for some specific technique. Those muffins do look luscious.
ReplyDeleteI don't freeze a lot, but at Christmas I do make several rum cakes and freeze them for later use. They defrost nicely and still taste wonderful. My friend tells me that basically you can freeze anything... sometimes it can alter the texture, but the food is still good.
ReplyDelete