What do you do with an abundance of apples? One popular choice is to bake them into delicious apple crumble. There are only so many apple crumbles you can eat in one go and that leads to the question…
Can You Freeze Apple Crumble?
Yes, you can freeze apple crumble for up to 3 months. You can freeze it either cooked or uncooked, but the method remains similar. You can even freeze stewed apples and crumble mix individually.
Do Does Apple Crumble freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Apple Crumble? No
Looking for a full list of Thanksgiving foods you can freeze? Here it is!
How To Freeze Apple Crumble
You can freeze apple crumble either baked or unbaked, and either way works just as well.
If you freeze it unbaked, then it might even be a little better because you can have all the benefits of home-cooked and freshly baked apple crumble but without all the hassle of having to make the whole thing.
How to Freeze Cooked Apple Crumble
If you’ve already baked your crumble or have leftovers, then this is the method you’ll want to follow:
- Bake and Cook: Prepare and bake your apple crumble according to your favourite recipe then allow the crumble to cool completely.
- Wrap: Wrap it with freezer-safe wrap to keep it airtight.
- Bag Up: Pop it into a freezer bag and label the bag with the date and contents.
- Freeze: Freeze the apple crumble.
How to Freeze Unbaked Apple Crumble
Freezing unbaked apple crumble comes with the added benefit that you can essentially cook your crumble fresh. This can combat any issues you can have with texture when freezing an already-baked crumble.
- Make But Don’t Bake: Make your apple crumble as you usually would. Make sure the pan you choose to bake the apple crumble is freezer safe and oven safe. Put the apple crumble into the pan – make sure all the ingredients are completely cool first.
- Wrap: Wrap the apple crumble, including the pan you will be cooking it in using freezer-safe cling film.
- Bag Up: Pop the whole thing into a large freezer bag.
- Freeze: Label the bag with the contents and the date and put it all in the freezer.
You certainly can! The easiest way to go about freezing your crumble mix is to tip it into a thick freezer bag before sealing it up, removing as much of the air as possible. Try to freeze your crumble mix in portions – enough to make one crumble – that way you’ll avoid wasting any as you’ll have to thaw it all to use it.
3 Tips for Freezing Apple Crumble
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing apple crumble to have the best results:
Wrap Airtight
You must wrap the apple crumble so that it is airtight. This is why, in both methods, we wrap the apple crumble before bagging it up. This gives it a double layer of protection.
Label with Cooking Instructions
So you know how to reheat your unbaked crumble, it’s a good idea to label it with both the contents and cooking instructions. You can often cook it from frozen by adding 10 minutes to the original cooking instructions.
Works for Other Fruits
The method on this page works for various crumbles, including blackberry, rhubarb and plum. It can be a great way to store fruit in the freezer, which can often go mushy if frozen on its own.
How Long Can You Freeze Apple Crumble?
Apple crumble can be kept frozen for between two and four months, so why not cook up a batch and make sure you have a sweet treat whenever you fancy it?
If you freeze the apple crumble for any longer than this, it can start to change in flavour, and the texture will be affected too.
Once baked, an apple crumble can be left in the fridge for around 5 days. It’s a good idea to keep it covered. It can then be eaten cold or reheated.
How Do You Defrost Apple Crumble?
Thawing out an apple crumble is an easy process. You need to take it out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge to defrost slowly overnight. This works whether the apple crumble is baked or unbaked.
If you have pre-baked the apple crumble before freezing it, you may also cook it from frozen. Just adjust your cooking temperatures and times accordingly.
Can You Refreeze Apple Crumble?
It isn’t recommended to refreeze an apple crumble once it has been defrosted.
As with most food items, there are slight changes in the crumble as it freezes and thaws out and if you do this more than once you may find that the apple crumble is no longer pleasant to eat.
You should also take care when freezing and defrosting as it is during the thawing phase that bacteria can start to grow and whilst it is generally safe to do this once, it is not recommended to do it more than once.
Does Apple Crumble Freeze Well?
As with most foods apple crumble doesn’t come out of the freezer quite as perfect as it would have been when it was fresh. You might find that the crumble is a little softer.
You can either toast it to bring back the crunch or freeze the apple and crumble it separately and put them together once they have been defrosted.
If you have decided to freeze the apple crumble unbaked, then this shouldn’t prove too much of a problem as baking will remove this softness in most cases.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing apple crumble or crumble in general, then these may help:
You can freeze apple and blackberry crumble just as well as you can any crumble. Wrap a baked crumble in the dish it was cooked in before popping it in the freezer.
Yes, you can cook apple crumble from frozen providing that it is already pre-baked and has been frozen cooked. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to thaw it beforehand.
