Do you find yourself racing to eat a batch of brownies while they're still fresh? Do you wish that you could keep them fresh longer? This guide will tell you everything you need to know about how to store brownies so they'll stay fresh, fudgy, and delicious!
As much as I'd love to eat an entire pan of brownies, the truth is that leftover brownies are inevitable. And while a slightly dried out, two-day-old brownie is better than no brownie at all, wouldn't it be great if brownies would taste just as fresh several days later as they did the day they were baked?
The secret to keeping brownies fresh is to store them properly. Learn how to store brownies so that they'll stay fresh for days (or even weeks!), and you'll never have to be disappointed that your homemade brownies dried out before you could enjoy them again!
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The Best Way to Store Brownies
The best way to store brownies depends on how long you need to store them.
If you need to store your brownies for just a couple of days, storing at room temperature is likely your best bet. (Unless of course your brownies include toppings or mix-ins that require refrigeration. Check out my suggestions for this below.)
If you want to store your brownies for up to a week (or if you like your brownies a bit fudgier), then storing them in the refrigerator is the way to go.
If you will be storing brownies for longer than a week, you'll want to freeze them to retain their freshness.
Regardless of how you plan to store your brownies, be sure that they are completely cooled before packaging and storing them.
Keep reading to learn how to store brownies at room temperature, in the fridge, and in the freezer.
Equipment Needed
Here's what you'll need for storing brownies:
- Plastic wrap, for creating an air-tight seal around your brownies.
- Aluminum foil, for creating a second layer of protection from air.
- An air-tight container (either a plastic storage bag or lidded container) for sealing brownies in the fridge or freezer.
Storing Brownies at Room Temperature
Brownies will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days if uncut or 2 to 3 days if cut. For optimal freshness, be sure to seal the brownies as soon as they're completely cool.
The easiest way - and therefore my favorite way - to store brownies at room temperature is to simply leave them in the pan they were baked in and cover the top of the pan with a layer of tight-fitting plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. This keeps the air out of the brownie pan while keeping the brownies easily accessible (just the sure to carefully re-seal the pan each time you open it to steal a brownie).
If you need to use the pan for another baking project or simply don't want to store the brownies in the pan, you could either wrap the brownies tightly in a layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of foil or store the brownies in a plastic food storage bag or container that's roughly the same size as the baking pan.
Storing Brownies in the Refrigerator
Brownies will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. Unlike cookies or cakes that tend to dry out more quickly in the fridge than at room temperature, the fridge helps brownies to stay moist longer. I actually found that brownies stored in the fridge were a little bit fudgier than those stored at room temperature.
To store brownies in the refrigerator, I recommend double-sealing them to keep both air and any food odors in the fridge out of your brownies. First wrap the completely cooled brownies tightly with plastic wrap before wrapping them with a layer of aluminum foil or sealing the wrapped brownies into a plastic food storage bag or container.
You can either eat the brownies chilled directly from the fridge or let them sit at room temperature (while still wrapped to keep the air out) before eating - the choice is yours.
Storing Brownies in the Freezer
Brownies will keep in the freezer for up to a month. If you're baking the brownies ahead of time to serve at a later date or if you have leftover brownies that you want to save for another time, freezing is the best option.
To freeze brownies, I recommend double-sealing them just like you would if storing them in the fridge to avoid air and food odors from other foods in the freezer affecting your brownies and also to avoid freezer burn. First wrap the completely cooled brownies tightly with plastic wrap before wrapping them with a layer of aluminum foil or sealing the wrapped brownies into a freezer-safe plastic food storage bag or container.
Brownies that have been frozen should be left to thaw either in the fridge or at room temperature before eating.
Storing Brownies with Toppings & Mix-Ins
Common mix-ins like chocolate chips or nuts do not affect how you store your brownies and you can choose your preferred method based on how long you'll be storing them.
However, if your brownies include toppings like chocolate frosting or ganache or mix-ins like cheesecake, you'll want to be more thoughtful about how they're stored.
Chocolate frosting - like chocolate buttercream - is generally safe to store at room temperature for a couple of days but should be refrigerated if storing for more than a few days.
Chocolate ganache does require refrigeration, so ganache-topped brownies should be carefully sealed and stored in the fridge.
If freezing, it's best to store the brownies without toppings like frosting or ganache. However, if the brownies have already been decorated and you're freezing leftovers, it's fine to freeze well-sealed brownies with their frostings.
Dairy-rich mix-ins like cheesecake would certainly require that the brownies be refrigerated, but other mix-ins like peanut butter should be fine at room temperature.
Tips & Tricks
Avoid Cutting Brownies Before Storing - If possible, avoid cutting the brownies before storing them, since uncut brownies will stay fresh longer than brownies that have been cut and their edges exposed to air.
Storing Already Cut Brownies - If the brownies are already cut (say you served a plate of brownie squares and need to store the leftovers), it's best to wrap each sliced brownie individually before placing into an airtight bag or container. The next best option would be to arrange the sliced brownies together in a block, trying to put as many of the sliced edges together to minimize their exposure to air. Then wrap up the block and store using your preferred method above.
Reuse Plastic Storage Bags - Plastic storage bags (and possibly even the foil) that are used to store brownies in the fridge or freezer can be reused many times. Since the brownies are sealed in plastic wrap before they're placed into the bags, keeping the bags clean, I keep a stash of these clean bags in my freezer and reuse them over and over for storing foods like this. It's one way that I try to minimize my use of single-use plastic.
Consider Baking a Small Batch - If you don't want to freeze your brownies but don't want to eat a full batch in under a week, consider baking a smaller batch. A standard loaf pan is roughly 9 inches x 5 inches and is roughly half the size of an 8x8 pan, so you could reduce a recipe designed for an 8x8 pan by half and bake it in a loaf pan instead. You'll end up with 8 brownies instead of 16. Keep an eye on the brownies as they bake, since you might need to adjust the baking time slightly.
FAQs
How long brownies last depends on how they're sealed, where they're stored, and whether or not they were cut before storing. Uncut brownies that are carefully sealed with plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or another airtight container will stay fresh for up to 4 days at room temperature, up to a week in the fridge, and up to a month in the freezer. If the brownies were cut before storing, they won't stay fresh quite as long because the extra surface area (the cut edges) is exposed to air.
The best way to keep brownies fresh is to keep air away from them. If possible, avoid cutting them until just before you're ready to eat them and only cut the brownies that you're planning to eat, since cutting the brownies exposes more of their surface area to air. Be sure to seal brownies in an airtight container (using plastic wrap, aluminum foil, food storage bags/containers, or some combination of these) to keep as much air as possible away from the brownies.
Yes, absolutely! Brownies freeze well, and freezing them will keep them fresh for weeks longer than storing them at room temperature or in the fridge. Be sure to double-seal the brownies (using a combination of plastic wrap or aluminum foil and a food storage bag or container) before freezing. Thaw the frozen brownies at room temperature or in the fridge before enjoying.
More Baking Tips
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