Made more batter than the crust can handle? Happens to the best of us! Unless you’re up for a second cheesecake, here’s how to store it.
What could be more delicious than a bowl of dense, creamy cheesecake batter waiting to be spread on the crust? It’s one of those sights in the kitchen that tells you something good is about to happen.
But what do you do when you’ve made a little too much of it? Well, you store it and save it for later. And, in this post, we are about to tell you how.
You can save leftover cheesecake batter by refrigerating or freezing it. Properly storage, cheesecake batter will last for 2-3 days in the fridge and 2-3 months in the freezer.
In other words, keep the batter in the fridge if you plan to use it in the next two or three days. The freezer is the only option if you won’t use it anytime soon—and don’t want to throw it away. (If you don’t want to make another cake later, you can thaw it and use it for other recipes instead.)
Storing cheesecake batter is relatively straightforward, as long as you follow a few ground rules that help you keep it nice and fresh. So, take a gander below for tips on storing and using the batter for later.
Can You Save Leftover Cheesecake Batter?
Yes, you can (and you should!) save your leftover cheesecake batter. Whenever you’ve made a little more of it than your crust can handle, you have three options:
- First, keep the leftover batter in the fridge;
- Second, keep the leftover batter in the freezer;
- Third, use the leftover better as part of something else.
With enough options available, the good news is that there really isn’t a need to dispose of the unused cheesecake batter, a.k.a. the creamy goodness, in the bin. In the worst-case scenario, you could always make a bit more batter and turn your leftovers into a mini cheesecake to give to the neighbors!
How Long Will Cheesecake Batter Last in the Fridge?
When you store cheesecake batter in the fridge, you can expect it to last 2 to 3 days tops. That’s plenty of time if you’re planning on baking several different cheesecakes to sell or give away. But that certainly isn’t ideal if you’re only baking for your household.
Remember: cheesecake batter consists of ingredients that don’t do well if you leave them too long. Those ingredients include dairy and poultry products such as milk, sour cream, cheese, and eggs.
With that said, yes, keeping your cheesecake batter in the fridge will indeed make it last a little longer. However, you should figure out what you’re going to do with it pretty soon, lest the batter goes bad and you can’t use it at all.
Does Cheesecake Batter Need to Be Covered In The Fridge?
Yes, it does. Not only should you cover your cheesecake batter in the fridge, but you should seal it in an airtight container.
There are 2 reasons for this. Firstly, covering the cheesecake batter ensures that nothing will accidentally fall into the batter. After all, if that happens, any unwanted ingredients will sink into the batter before you notice it there.
Sometimes, the little bump on the fridge door is enough to send other ingredients falling through the shelves and into open containers. So, keep it sealed to avoid any surprises!
Secondly, you should seal your cheesecake batter in an airtight container. Doing so will prevent any air from coming in or out of the container, lest the air dries your batter out and changes its consistency overnight.
You can prevent all of that from happening by pouring your batter, no matter how little you have left, into a standard airtight container for your refrigerator. In case you don’t happen to have one that’s big enough, pour into a bowl and triple-wrap the bowl with plastic wrap.
Can You Freeze Cheesecake Batter?
Yes, you can also put your leftover cheesecake batter in the freezer.
Just like when you store it in the fridge, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got your batter covered and sealed in an airtight container. The frigid air inside the freezer compartment can do quite a bit of damage if you expose the batter to it.
For example, the air will dry out the moisture from the batter and change its texture. When that happens, you might not consider the batter useful later on.
How Long Will Frozen Cheesecake Batter Last?
When you freeze your cheesecake batter, you can expect it to keep its best quality for 2-3 months. Remember, batter in the fridge only lasts for about 2-3 days. So, clearly, freezing it is the best option if you don’t plan on using the batter anytime soon.
Now, let’s suppose you’re making a massive batch of cheesecake batter to defrost whenever you feel like doing a little bit of baking.
Well, do your future self a favor and portion that batter out to smaller batches. That way, you can thaw out just enough batter to bake your next cheesecake instead of having to defrost the whole thing.
Firstly, that will make the thawing process so much more convenient for you. But more importantly, it helps you avoid thawing and refreezing the batter you don’t use, which will cause it to go bad.
So, sure, go ahead and freeze that batter. But do so in batches big enough to bake just one cheesecake, and one day you’ll be thankful you chose to do that.
How Do You Thaw Frozen Cheesecake Batter?
As you’ve seen above, freezing cheesecake batter is all fine and dandy. However, you must be mindful of how you thaw that batter, so you don’t ruin it after a long freeze.
There is only one way to thaw frozen cheesecake batter safely. First, you must take the frozen batter and transfer it to your refrigerator, which will thaw out slowly.
Sure, it’ll take a long time, anywhere from 8 to 24 hours. You’ll likely have to do that the night before you plan to bake your next cheesecake. But doing it nice and slow will get that batter nice and ready for you to bake into your next creation.
What Can You Do With Excess Cheesecake Batter?
Here’s a little bit of food for thought. What do you do if you have more cheesecake batter than you need, but not enough to bake into another cheesecake?
Well, you could always make even more batter to bake another cheesecake, for starters.
But if your family’s had their fill of cheesecakes to last them a while, here’s what you can do with the batter you’ve been keeping in your fridge or freezer before it goes bad:
Bake mini cheesecakes: Not enough batter to make a full-sized cheesecake? Then use what you’ve got to make a few mini ones instead!
Make cheesecake balls: Pretty straightforward. They’re cake balls, but you make them using cheesecake batter. Put them on a stick to dip in chocolate!
Add them to brownies: Add a nice little twist to your brownies by mixing in your leftover cheesecake batter. The batter will add much more creaminess to the brownies’ taste.
Add them to chocolate chip muffin recipes: Just like the brownie idea above, you can do the same with chocolate chip muffins, too.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there’s no reason to waste a cheesecake batter. You can put it in the fridge or freezer to make another cheesecake later.
But suppose you don’t feel like having another cheesecake. In that case, you could add the batter to other recipes and let the batter contribute that familiar cheesecake creaminess.
