Friday, February 1, 2013

How to Freeze Unbaked Sticky Buns to Bake Later

Here are some helpful ways to fit a warm yeasted sweet bread (sticky buns or sweet rolls, etc.) into your life - what is better on a bitter winter morning? Start these methods before the morning of.

Method 1.  Allow dough to rise in bowl per recipe.  Once the buns are shaped, put them in their pan and pop them, covered, in the fridge overnight (I use my metal 9x13 with its metal lid, which is not airtight, but an airtight bag is fine too).  Let stand on the counter for 10-15 minutes in the morning. Bake 10 degrees warmer than the recipe originally called for OR add 5-10 minutes to the original baking time using the original baking temperature. 

Method 2. Allow dough to rise, allow shaped buns to rise to the point where you would bake them.  Then, instead, wrap the pan up tight and freeze them.  The day before you want them, put the frozen buns in their pan in the fridge for 12 or so hours.  Then, bake the same way as #1.

Isn't that handy?  I made sticky buns using method #2 on Christmas morning because there were so many festivities piled up that I couldn't bear the thought of fiddling with sticky buns on Christmas eve evening.

Sticky buns in the pan, just before baking.
Now, here is a bread-freezing trick that I tried over Christmas that did not work for me.  I parbaked French bread and froze it, so that I could bake it another day and have hot bread then.  The first time, the parbaking, I baked the loaves just until they were taking on color.  When I baked the bread a second time, it kept its doughy, underdone center no matter how long I baked it and how dark the crust was getting.  Not successful!  So, now you know. 

8 comments:

You Can Call Me Jane said...

This is really good to know. I have never (gasp) made cinnamon buns before and have a recipe I'd like to try but the recipe makes more than I want hanging around the house. I didn't really want to freeze them baked, so this is perfect. Thank you!

Margo said...

Jane, I AM surprised. I tend to make these for special breakfasts or Sunday mornings - I use white whole wheat flour and whole wheat flour, so I consider them practically health food.

Jacinta said...

Mind reader Margo ... I was just thinking last night that I should try doing something like this ... prepping the dough and saving it to bake another day. cheers. :)

Hazel said...

I've thought about trying par-baked loaves- clearly there's more to it!

I am currently baking brioche rolls to make into ice cream sandwiches for breakfast. You are officially my children's favourite person for telling me about Ice Cream For Breakfast Day! We have Pomegranate (a Nigella Lawson recipe- no churning and a fantastic colour!- that was in the freezer anyway) and Spiced Apple (new-to-me recipe with not much sugar in, so not a bad breakfast! Don't tell the children that though...)

Lisa said...

Margo, on another note - I did it; I had ice cream for breakfast today! Thanks for the timely reminder. :D

jenny_o said...

Thank you for sharing your process - this is something I've thought about doing, but because I never actually had directions to follow, never did it :)

Anonymous said...

What about the sticky goo and nuts that go in the bottom of the pan? Would you freeze that or prep the pan with it then add the frozen rolls on top before baking?

Margo said...

Anon, I put the goo and nuts right in the pan as usual and froze it along with the buns. If you look closely at the photo, you can see them there. Hope it works for you!