I'm going against the grain here, but I have frozen a fully assembled, unbaked crisp, and it has turned out great. Nothing was wrong with the topping, once baked.
Thank you for the great feedback everyone! In an effort to save time I am going to freeze the whole things together in the baking dish as many of you have suggested. I am actually using pears and cranberries, which I know are softer than apples, so I hope they react to the process the same way! I will keep you posted!
Unless you're making this more than a week in advance, I wouldn't freeze the topping. You should be able to keep it in an air-tight jar or container. Freezing it will likely compromise the texture after the crisp is baked. I would freeze the fruit mixture separately.
Thank you to both of you! I think that I will plan to freeze the fruit portion and prepare the dry ingredients separately, leaving out the butter, which I will add the day of. I am trying to get ahead of the game for some holiday entertaining and often remove dessert from the final menu due to time, so I thought that having it ready to go a couple weeks in advance will be a sure fire way to serve a yummy homemade dessert on Christmas Eve. Thank you Nancy and Chef June for your advice!!!
June, most of my crumble toppings include butter? Im sure you are speaking from experience, as you always do, Im curious as to why you feel this way about freezing. Thanks!
Sounds like you're doing this to save time. Best to freeze the fruit mixture and the topping separately (1st in pan you intend to bake from, or just freezer box). Remove from freezer, put topping on and bake. The crumble topping, if frozen with the fruit, may absorb more moisture than you like, and be less crisp when baked. Frozen separately & combined just before baking will give you texture as if made from scratch at room temp.
I agree. I keep "crumble" topping in my freezer at all times. Just about any fruit, even a small amount popped into a custard cup can be baked into a quick dessert. My crumble stays perfectly well in the freezer, something I picked up from my mom!
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