Can You Freeze Choux Pastry?

5 minutes

Perhaps you were excited about mastering choux pastry? Did you make time for a weekend marathon of profiterole or eclair baking only to find that you made a few too many? You don’t have to let all that effort go to waste!

How To Freeze Choux Pastry

Your choux pastry baking project may have taken one of the two possible routes. Perhaps you made just enough of these delicious tiny pastries and have a large amount of pastry dough left.

You may have taken the other route and baked way too many choux pastries altogether.

For both your storage woes, freezing can come to your rescue! Let’s first find out how you can freeze this dough.

How to Freeze Choux Pastry Dough

Here are the steps to freezing choux pastry that hasn’t been cooked. This gives you far more freedom in future with how you use it:

1. Transfer to a Piping Bag: Begin by transferring the dough into a piping bag. Don’t have this on you? You can simply make your own by transferring pastry dough into a freezer bag and cutting just the corner of it off.
2. Line Tray and Pipe: Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Use the pastry bag to pipe out equally-sized mounds on the parchment paper. Tap the tips on each mound down so that your pastry bakes evenly in the oven.
3. Freeze: Put them into your freezer and allow them to freeze fully.
4. Store in a Tupperware Box: Once frozen, layer them into an airtight container. Place a strip of parchment paper over each layer.
5. Seal and Freeze: Close the lid of the container tight, and your pastry dough is ready to be frozen!

How to Freeze Baked Choux Pastry

Yes! You can freeze baked choux pastry. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Line a Tray
   Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place the baked pastries over this. Leave a little space between each.
2. Freeze
   Place the tray in the freezer for about an hour. You should find that the outer covering is frozen.
3. Store
   Take them out of the freezer and store in an airtight container. Place a strip of parchment paper between each layer.
4. Freeze
   Ensure that there is about an inch of space left free in the airtight container. With this, you can give your delicate pastries some space to expand as they freeze.

Here’s a tip for better freezing. Place the airtight container near the freezer walls for 24 hours. The first freezing is crucial, and this 24-hour period will ensure that your pastries are frozen well at the right temperature.

3 Tips for Freezing Choux Pastry

Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing choux pastry to have the best results:

Use Parchment Paper
By using parchment paper, you can prevent the choux pastry from sticking to one another making it far easier to thaw one portion at a time from the freezer. 

Add Icing and Decorations Afterwards
Icing, buttercream and decorations will not freeze well. Instead, freeze the choux buns plain then add your decoration after thawing them out. 

Keep Them Airtight
You do not want soggy profiteroles so do all you can to keep them stored airtight in the freezer. Using leak-proof and good-quality Tupperware is vital. 

How Long Can You Freeze Choux Pastry?

Your baked pastry will taste best when eaten as close to the preparation date as possible. If your choux pastry is an éclair or profiterole with cream filling, the quicker you consume it, the better.

Try to consume them within one month of freezing. This will keep them from turning soggy.

As for your dough, it will remain fresh when frozen for about three months. It is a good idea to label your containers with freezing dates to track frozen time. In any case, your nose can be your best friend.

If your pastry smells bad as you unfreeze it, it is best not to use it.

How Do You Defrost Choux Pastry?

The one thing you’ll want to retain with your choux pastry is that crispy outer shell. And that’s why using this oven-defrosting technique is the best route to take:

Oven Defrosting Choux Pastry

Take your frozen choux pastry and place it in an oven heated to 220 degrees Celsius for about 5 minutes.

As the pastries defrost, drop the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius until the shells are just as you want them.

With this, you should have crisp and airy pastries on your plate.

Thawing Choux Pastry Overnight

Is your big party scheduled for the next day and your oven occupied for other prep? That pastry that you froze for the occasion can simply be thawed overnight in the fridge.

Take the thawed pastries out the next day and leave them in the hot oven for a few minutes to crisp them up.

Defrosting Choux Pastry Dough

If defrosting the dough is on your mind, your saucepan can do the trick. Add the dough into your saucepan kept over low heat. Stir it vigorously. This will beat in some precious air to puff your pastry up as you bake.

If you have already portioned them out into individual pastry sizes, fret not! Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and bake them just as the original recipe instructed.

You can also go ahead and place it directly in the oven at a high temperature of about 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Once defrosted, bring it down to baking temperature.

Can You Refreeze Choux Pastry?

There’s nothing like a crisp, airy pastry to lift your mood up. Moisture and air are the secret ingredients that keep this pastry standing tall and brightly coloured. Why take all the fun out by refreezing?

Yes, you can refreeze your pastry dough. However, this will lead to a duller and flatter batch the next time around. Keep those pastries perky and avoid refreezing. Instead, distribute any leftovers to friends and family to lift their moods up.

Does Choux Pastry Freeze Well?

Yes, your pastry freezes very well to make delicious eclairs and profiteroles when the mood calls. With a little time in the oven, they should be as good as new!

However, note that your tiny pastries are dependent on moisture.

Freezing them for more than a month may lead to some discoloured pastries that you may want to avoid.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing choux pastry or pastry in general, then these may help: