There comes a time when you get a hankering for something out of season. Strawberry rhubarb pie in the fall, for example, or fresh blueberry muffins in the dead of winter. The obvious solution: use frozen berries. But should you thaw them first? What's the best way to integrate these handy little gems into your off-season baking?
In most cases, you don't want to thaw your berries before using them in baking recipes. Frozen berries in muffins? Great. Frozen berries in pie? Even better. If you thaw them, the moisture content will likely be off, and you'll end up with a soggy pie and blueberry muffins that are blueish green.
The real issue with defrosting a berry like blueberries, for example, is that they tend to "bleed," which causes those blueish green welts throughout the batter and muffins. I always roll my frozen berries in a little bowl of flour and coat them well before adding them to batters to prevent this even further. So bake away with fresh fruit straight from the farmers' market or your freezer. No one will know the difference.
Related: Keep Berries Fresh Longer With This Washing Method
(Image: Tim UR/Shutterstock)
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This is so helpful, thank you for yet another great tip! I have a motherlode of raspberries in my freezer from a wonderful raspberry farm up north here in Michigan...if you want to see the gorgeousness, check it out here:
http://www.maureenabood.com/2012/07/17/ingredient-raspberries-u-pick/
and what I did with them (it involves chocolate!) here:
http://www.maureenabood.com/2012/07/19/chocolate-covered-raspberries-razzle-dazzle/
I always pick a ton of blueberries in the late summer and then have them in the freezer all winter long for baking. I agree that it's best to use them frozen (although I don't really mind the discoloration in the batter). But sometimes, even if I've stored them in well-sealed containers, they have a lot of ice crystals around them and I definitely don't want to add them with all that extra water. So I give them a quick cold-water rinse to melt it off (which I guess thaws the berries a bit) and pat dry before using.
Yup, it's all about the flour trick.
I always bake frozen berries in pies. Sometimes I've even combined frozen berries with fresh fruit and that works fine too. Sometimes it's even better because the berries don't overcook/break down as much if the fruit needs a little longer to cook (like if you combine apples and blackberries, an awesome pair!).