How to Store Donuts to Keep Them Fresh (Updated 2024)

Name: 5 Best Donut Recipes
Ingredients: Cinnamon Sugar Donuts; Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts; Maple Donut Bars; Mochi Donuts with Condensed Milk Glaze; Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Updated Feb 17, 2023Recipe Marker

As the holiday season comes to an end, you’re probably stressing over how you can prolong the storage life of your leftover foods. Sure, although you can just stash some directly in the fridge, certain foods require special storage tricks, such as donuts.

If you want to know how to store donuts to keep them fresh without affecting their taste and quality, we’ve prepared a brief guide that will tell you how.

Read on.

What are Donuts?

Recognized as one of the most popular desserts worldwide, donuts are rings of sweetened fried dough usually prepared with some fillings, doused in a sugary glaze, or topped with some toppings (e.g. sprinkles, marshmallows, nuts, etc.).

Given their popularity, various types of donuts are now available in different regions of the world, including yeast donuts, twist donuts, and Long Johns.

How to Store Donuts

Best served when freshly baked, storing donuts might badly affect their overall taste and quality. However, we have some clever tricks you can turn to in order to keep these sweet treats fresh and yummy.

Curious to learn these methods? Read on to find out.

Method #1: Store the Donuts at Room Temperature

If you bought too many donuts to eat in one sitting, you can still keep the rest at room temperature and safely consume them the next day.

However, it’s important to remember that simply leaving them in their box won’t do the trick.

Donuts shouldn’t be left exposed to direct sunlight. So, make sure to store them in a cool, dry place.

In addition to this, since storing them at room temperature often leaves them dried out, try wrapping them in plastic wrap or foil.

This way, the wrap or foil will preserve the flavor and texture of the donuts, even after two days.

To ensure the perfect environment for your leftover delights, make sure the temperature ranges from 60– to 70- degrees Fahrenheit using a wall thermometer.

Method #2: Store the Donuts in Your Refrigerator

Another option you can turn to when storing your leftover donuts in the fridge. Since keeping your donuts at room temperature only lasts for 1 to 2 days, keeping them in your refrigerator comes as the better bet if you want to extend their storage life a bit more.

However, similar to the first method, simply stashing them in the refrigerator won’t do you any good.

To ensure that they’ll still come out fresh and yummy the next day, wrap each one with aluminum foil to preserve the flavor and texture.

When storing in the refrigerator, try not to use plastic as it can allow moisture to form which could be bad for your glazed donuts.

Once you’ve wrapped each one in aluminum foil, you can store them in the refrigerator for a maximum of five days.

Method #3: Freeze the Donuts

Lastly, you can freeze your donuts for later consumption. Unlike the first two options, this method can allow you to keep your donuts for up to three to five months.

To do so, you’ll only need to cover your leftover donuts with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Then you can put them straight into your freezer for at least four hours.

Once completely frozen, you can take the donuts out and put them into an airtight plastic container, and store them in your freezer for up to five months.

This method is the most suitable for unglazed donuts or those that are made without icing.

Conclusion

Who says you can’t save your favorite fried dough confections for later? Although donuts are best served fresh, it won’t hurt to try to store your leftovers.

Any of these methods will ensure that you can still enjoy each one at its optimal texture and flavor.