Today, we will talk about all you need to know about muffins. How long do muffins last before they go bad?
You’ve baked some muffins for your kid’s birthday and still have some left. How fast will they go bad?
Will they go bad? Of course, they will, just like any food or drink. We will learn all you need to know about their shelf life, how to store them, how to detect spoilage, and much more.
Enjoy the read!
What Is A Muffin
A muffin is a baked good, product and mostly come in 2 types: those with yeast and those without. Those with yeast are also called English muffins: they’re a flat round yeast bread that is split and toasted. The American type doesn’t contain yeast and is a quick bread. Muffins that don’t use yeast, use something different as a raising agent: baking powder or baking soda.
There are a lot of varieties and types of muffins out there: chocolate chip muffins, banana muffins, strawberry muffins, Nutella chocolate muffins, and many more!
How Long Can Muffins Last
We will start this paragraph with an easy table for your convenience:
Muffin | Counter | Refrigerator | Freezer |
---|---|---|---|
With dry ingredients | Up to 7 days (1 week) | / | 3 months or more |
Dry ingredients with fruit on top | Up to 3 days | Up to 4 days | 3 months or more |
With fresh ingredients like fruit | Up to 4 days | Up to 5 days | 3 months or more |
Savory muffins | / | Up to 7 days (1 week) | 3 months or more |
Homemade muffins | / | Up to 3 days | 3 months or more |
As you can see, we will keep things simple and talk about 4 types of general muffins:
- Muffins with dry ingredients
- Muffins with fruits like bananas, strawberries, blueberries…
- Muffins with fresh ingredients
- Savory muffins with sour cream or frostings
It depends on the ingredients you use on your muffins. There are so many varieties of muffins out there.
How Long Do Muffins Last At Room Temperature
Muffins with dry ingredients last for up to 1 week (7 days) when stored on the counter at room temperature, depending on the ingredients you’ve used. If you finish with fruits, it lasts up to 2 days. When you use more delicate or perishable ingredients like fruit for baking, they will last up to 4 days.
Always try to consume the muffin within 2 days, for quality reasons.
How Long Do Muffins Last In The Fridge
Muffins stored in the fridge will last up to 1 week (7 days) but be cautious with this. Always think about the ingredients the muffins have. Adding fresh ingredients always means a shorter shelf life. Fresh ingredients like fruit or ingredients like cream, need to be refrigerated.
You should always refrigerate savory muffins because they will spoil very fast if you don’t. Savory muffins can contain meat, cheese, and so on.
Try to finish within 2 days if possible.
How Long Do Homemade Muffins Last
Homemade muffins will last for up to 3 days when stored in the fridge. Storing muffins and other baked goods (like cupcakes) in the fridge, reduces their moisture and they will dry out fast. Try to finish them within a day or 2 for the best quality. They might be still good for a few extra days but don’t risk it.
Of course, the above periods are indicative and can be applied if your ingredients and muffins were correctly stored.
How To Store Muffins
As we’ve said before, there are a lot of different varieties of muffins out there.
Muffins are a great product and should be stored in an airtight container and make sure they’re sealed tight. Muffins can dry out easily and must be protected from air and other external threats like heat, sunlight, moisture, bacteria, and so on.
Again, storing them in the fridge in an airtight container is a good habit to develop, but be thoughtful about this, it depends on the ingredients used.
General muffins, eventually with dry ingredients, will be better when stored on the counter in an airtight container. When your muffins contain fresher and more delicate ingredients like fruits, cream, cheese, and other dairy-based ingredients, store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
If you bake the muffins yourself, always let them sit after baking so they can cool down. They need to breathe after baking, because otherwise, the moisture can’t escape, resulting in wet and soggy muffins. Let them rest for up to 15 minutes before placing them into the airtight container in the fridge.
Tip: don’t store your muffins on each other and place some paper towels between them.
Try to finish within 2 days. This makes sense because when we go to the bakery, we want to buy freshly baked goods and go for some quality. You don’t bake or buy muffins at the bakery, just to eat them without the great taste.
If you have too many muffins, try and freeze them.
Can You Freeze Muffins
Yes, of course, just like you can freeze other foods and drinks. The question is, should you?
We on GoodOrGoneBad always say that you need to think before you freeze something, especially with muffins. Freezing is about making choices, you can’t freeze everything in 1 freezer, right?
Freezing also means thawing and thawing always comes with a loss of quality. Thawing can impact the texture and consistency of your muffins. Think about it, muffins with frosting or fresh ingredients will spoil faster, the cream won’t have the same texture and consistency, resulting in a more soggy and wet muffin.
Try to do the following when freezing muffins:
- Single-serve portions: freeze your muffins separately and store them away like this. Wrap some plastic foil or put them in separate plastic bags in an airtight container.
- Label it with the correct date and time of freezing. It also helps to write down the date you made or bought them. This requires some effort but will enhance your decision-making when it comes to discarding them or not.
- Freeze the muffins
- Let it sit in the container in the fridge overnight when you want to thaw them.
After thawing, always check for signs of spoilage.
How Can You Tell If Your Muffins Have Gone Bad
Luckily, you can detect this fairly easily by using some general and practical guidelines.
Just like you eat muffins with your senses, detecting their quality follows the same principle.
The last step is tasting your muffin, but there are some steps before this that can give away a lot.
Some guidelines when checking for spoilage signs:
- Does the muffin have an off-color? If yes, toss it away immediately, don’t start by scraping the frost off it or cutting out the off-colored pieces.
- Are there any black spots on the muffin? This can be a sign of mold. Don’t hesitate to discard.
- Does the muffin have a sharp smell? If you smell something funny or unpleasant, discard it straight away.
- Is the taste somewhat off or unpleasant? Please rinse your mouth with water and discard the muffin.
If you notice something different on the muffin or something that you’re unsure about, don’t be afraid to toss it away. Our creed on GoodOrGoneBad is always to be better safe than sorry. Eating spoiled food is simply not an option. Bake or buy yourself some new muffins instead of eating 2-weeks-old muffins and thus taking unnecessary risks to your health or well-being.
And be honest, baking some fresh muffins is worth the experience when the great smell is all over your place!
Enjoy your muffins!