Batter in Bags

• Prepare the batter as usual, then scoop it into resealable freezer bags. Roll back the edges of the bags when scooping in the batter to keep the bag clean. Remove as much air as possible before sealing the bags, then place them in the freezer. When you are ready to make cupcakes, place one or more of the bags in the refrigerator to thaw. Once they're fully thawed, snip the tip of one corner of the bag and pipe the batter into a lined cupcake tin. Bake the cupcakes as usual, but allow them to cook for about two more minutes to account for the cold batter. Alternatively, you can let the batter come to room temperature before baking.

Freezing in Cupcake Tins

• Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners and fill each one about 3/4 of the way. Tightly wrap the tins with plastic wrap and place them in the freezer. When you are ready to bake the cupcakes, preheat the oven and place the tins straight into the oven from the freezer. This method can save you time thawing, but you need to allow the cupcakes to bake for an additional five to 10 minutes, since they are going in frozen.

Freezing in Cupcake Liners

• If you have only one or two cupcake tins and you want to prepare a lot ahead of time, you can freeze batter in the cupcake tins, then remove the liners filled with frozen batter and store them in an airtight container. You can then repeat, freezing another batch of the cupcake batter in the lined trays and adding the filled liners to the container, until you have prepared the desired amount. When you are ready to bake them, remove the filled liners from the freezer and place them on a cookie sheet to thaw at room temperature, than place them back in the cupcake tins to bake. As one batch is baking in the oven, you can bring out another batch to thaw at room temperature, and so forth, until you have baked all of the batter.

Tips and Tricks

• Freezing the batter works best for cupcakes that do not have any additional add-ins, such as chocolate chips or fruit chunks. If you wish to add extras to the cupcakes, add them to the individual cups in the cupcake tin right before it goes in the oven. Use the smallest chocolate chips or pieces of food items to prevent them from sinking to the bottom. Cupcakes made with traditional, egg-and-butter-based batters work well with freezing. You might not, however, get the best results with cupcake batters that include vinegar, use baking soda as the leavening agent, or use other nontraditional ingredients. These frozen-and-thawed batters may not rise well, resulting in much denser -- although still tasty -- cupcakes. While frozen batter lasts at least three months in the freezer, it loses quality and texture the longer you keep it frozen.