Delicate, delicious, soft, and aromatic – this is all about croissants. Probably, no such person exists who would not like this French dessert! However, this tasty treat is of the highest quality for only a couple of days after it is baked. So how to make it last longer?
Here is when people start asking themselves whether it is ok to freeze croissants. Their worries can be understood: such a tender bakery made of leaf dough seems to be too fragile to stand the frosting camera conditions.
To make it clear for you, this article will tell everything about freezing croissants and also teach you how to freeze croissants at home.
How Long Do Croissants Last?
We often ask this question when it comes to stocking this dessert at home. And to calculate the approximate duration of storage correctly, it is essential to take into account certain facts:
- what sort of croissant we are going to keep
- where we are going to stock it
You see, commercially produced rolled goodies have somewhat different terms of use compared to their freshly baked counterparts from the nearby bakery.
Since the dessert that can be purchased in a store has various additives and preservatives that keep it from fast spoiling, such croissants usually stay eatable longer.
On the contrary, those that were baked right before being sold have a way shorter period of duration.
How long do croissants stay fresh?
Well, store-bought ones normally remain fresh for seven days if we keep them in cold. As for the freshly baked goodies, those will not last longer than two days no matter how well we try to save them.
| Pantry/counter | Fridge | |
|---|---|---|
| Freshly baked | 1-2 days | 5-7 days |
| Store-bought | 5 months (unopened) 5-7 days (opened) | 5 months (unopened) up to 1 week (opened) |
Respectively, the question appears on how to keep croissants fresh.
Many different opinions exist about the ways it can be achieved, however, the best and well-working method is to place those twisted sweet bakery goods into the frosting camera if you are sure that they won’t be consumed within thirty-six hours after they were bought.
If we are talking about commercially produced baked sweet rolls, then the only thing that can be done is to place them in a tightly sealed tank. As an option, a wrap made of foil can also work since it prevents the moisture from evaporating, too, and slows down the drying of the dessert.
These are the only ways of keeping croissants fresh that never fail.
How to Store Croissants
Of course, since this French dessert is so tender and delicate, consumers often wonder about the best way to store croissants. We all love them flaky, soft, and delicious, but the reality often turns out to be too cruel and we end up with an overdry crumbling something that has very little resemblance with what we know as a croissant.
In fact, storing croissants is not that complicated as you might think.
The dessert is indeed fragile but it requires no specific conditions for keeping. First of all, you need to define how your croissants will be stocked since two different options are available.
Pantry stocking
Surprisingly this method can be used for both commercially produced and freshly baked goodies. Only keep in mind that the longest term croissants can spend like this is two days. After that, they will turn soggy and stale.
The instruction is simple.
Cover each rolled goodie with aluminum foil. Be careful since they can be easily damaged, moreover, you must ensure that air can’t get through the protective cover.
After the flaky yummies are packed, feel free to leave them either in the pantry on even on the counter. If you choose the latter option, place them so that no heat or light could get to the package.
If foiling seems too fussy for you, using a zip packet is also fine.
Refrigeration
Exposing croissants to cold is a good choice in case you definitely know that they will not be consumed in one or two days (by the way, it works well for the extra goodies left after the party).
For refrigeration, start with letting croissants to cool down if they were baked by yourself or brought from a bakery. If they come from the store, proceed to the next step at once.
Wrap them either with the cling film or aluminum foil to protect the tender dough from the air exposure, and place on the middle shelf of the refrigerator. Why there? The cold is more consistent there with very little fluctuation which will keep the goodies well chilled but not too much.
Can They Go Bad?
Like any foodstuff, croissants spoil, unfortunately. It can happen because of various reasons:
- improper storage conditions, for instance, too high heat in where they are kept
- exposure to light which leads to drying them out
- keeping croissants uncovered (never do this! They must always be protected with a film or kept in a packet!)
- expired product
No matter what the initial cause was, bad goodies can be easily spotted. If they smell off or have any signs of mold (for instance, it can look like dark dots), toss those croissants to the trash bin.
Can Croissants Be Frozen?
When we want to preserve foods to their longest, freezing is the very first option that comes to mind. However, with croissants many people get confused: do croissants freeze well?
In fact, yes, they freeze pretty well. This dessert has quite a low level of moisture initially which means that your goodies will not expand significantly after being exposed to frost.
Also, the low amount of water in them means that after unfreezing, you will get nearly the same soft and flavorous yummies as they were before. Why nearly? Well, one distinction does happen quite often: that flaky crust that croissants are known for may turn slightly softer but that’s not a problem.
The good thing about this method of keeping is that frozen croissants last for up to two months. Of course, they can be kept solidified even longer but it will affect their texture and overall quality so we would recommend eating them within that period of time.
How to preserve them, you may wonder?
- Take a freezing tray and place these sweet crescents on it leaving some space between each of them
- Leave that tray in the frosting camera until the content is hard (it may take about two hours)
- Quickly wrap croissants either in foil or in a cling film and return them back to the camera to freeze.
Double-check that they are handled carefully since when chilled, these flaky crescents become even more fragile.
Another issue that consumers often stumble upon is quite specific: can you freeze croissants after baking? That is the question!
In fact, tossing the hot and freshly baked goodies into the cold frosting camera is not the best idea mostly because it will cause the spoilage process which will be faster than usual because the dough is still warm.
That is why we recommend you wait until the baked yummies are cool and only them transfer them to the new “home“.
Can You Freeze Croissant Dough?
If you are crazy about baking, then probably you make these delicate sweet crescents, too. And perhaps, you already faced a necessity to freeze croissant dough either because there was too much of it or you wanted to leave some to enjoy the freshly baked dessert later.
Fortunately, it can be preserved: dough can be frozen as it is or when already being shaped in twisted crescents.
- To preserve unshaped dough, it is better to divide it into portion balls each as big as needed to make one crescent. Harden those portions on a tray and keep frozen either in a frost-resistant tank or in the same packet.
- If the goal is to preserve frozen unbaked croissants, then they have to be hardened first on a tray wrapped in a cling film. Once the goodies are ready, transfer them into another frost-proof tank and keep preserved for up to ninety days.
How to Defrost Croissants
Freezing complete, and now flavorous goodies are ready to come out of the frosting camera. And this is when we have to deal with the most difficult problem: How on Earth to reheat croissants?!
Don’t worry, the answer is simple: remember what they were frozen for.
If you preserved already baked goodies, then for reheating croissants simply remove them to the fridge overnight at first and then warm them up in the oven.
How to reheat frozen unbaked croissants for further baking? Leave them loosely covered with the film for 12 hours or overnight on the counter, then brush with the egg wash and bake!
However, remember that defrosted croissants must be consumed since they must not be preserved repeatedly!
Is It Safe to Preserve Croissants?
Today many concerns exist about preserving foods. Some say that extended exposure to frost leads to the products’ degradation, others insist that such method or stocking also decreases the overall quality and even make foods harmful.
When it comes to this French dessert, the answers may turn out to be even more unclear. Is it safe to preserve croissants long-term if they have a creamy filling, for instance? Will they not turn harmful or degrade while being frozen?
Well, the basic rule is the following: don’t let them stay preserved too long!
This baked goodie must not remain frosted for more than sixty days, thirty even better.
No, they will not turn spoiled, but the texture will degrade significantly, besides, the filling (if they have it) can indeed spoil faster than the external “shell” of the dessert.
We told you about freezing croissant dough and instructed on reheating frozen croissants. Now you are aware of both how to keep and how to preserve these delicious yummies and we hope that such issues as “how to freeze croissants?” will never cause troubles to you.
Be careful when handling them, especially frosted, since this dessert is rather fragile both baked and raw. And of course, pay attention to how croissants look like: if you notice any strange things on their surface or the smell seems off to you, we strongly recommend you discard such suspicious goodies in order to prevent any health issues with the stomach and protect yourself from food poisoning.
Take care and enjoy the best foods only!
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