Use Leftover Dough or Batter

When you are cooking or baking, you will often have leftover dough or batter from your recipe. Rather than throwing it away, there are many creative uses for leftover dough or batter. This article addresses creative ways to use leftover pancake batter, pie crust, pizza dough, cookie dough and cake batter.

Steps

Using Leftover Pancake Batter to Make Muffins

1. Use batter within 24 hours. Refrigerate any extra batter or dough, covered with plastic, for up to a day.
   • You won't want to use batter that is older than 24 hours. Most batter contains milk and eggs, which can spoil quickly if not used.
   • Batter will also lose its leavening if its left too long. Baking powder and baking soda will lose their efficacy once they are wet.
   • Check to see if it is spoiled or has a smell before using it.
   • Warm up the batter before using. You can get it to slightly cooler than room temperature.
2. Make muffins with leftover pancake batter. You will need the following ingredients and supplies:
   • Leftover pancake batter.
   • Blueberries or chocolate chips.
   • A mini-muffin tin.
   • Cooking spray.
3. Mix your batter. You can do this with a whisk or spoon.
   • You want to make sure your batter is well mixed before re-using it.
   • Make sure it is not lumpy or too thin.
   • Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure no lumps of flour are sticking to it.
4. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. This is the temperature you will need to use to bake your muffins.
   • A 425 degree oven will result in a muffin with crispier edges.
   • For a softer muffin, you can bake them at 400 degrees.
   • The lower the temperature, the longer the muffins will need to bake.
5. Grease your muffin tin with cooking spray. This will prevent your muffins from sticking while they bake.
   • Spray the tin generously.
   • Don't spray it too much. If you do the spray will pool at the bottom of each muffin.
   • You can also use a non-stick muffin tin.
6. Fill the muffin cups. You need to fill them 2/3 of the way.
   • If you over-fill a muffin cup, the batter will overflow during baking. The edges of the muffin will easily burn.
   • Under-filling a tin will result in a smaller, dry muffin.
   • As you fill the muffin tins, stir the batter to keep it well mixed.
7. Add blueberries or chocolate chips. You can add as many or as few as you like.
   • Add at least 3 blueberries or chocolate chips to the center of each muffin.
   • There is no need to press them down into the muffin. They will bake into the muffin as it rises.
   • You can also experiment with other fillings like dried cranberries or other fruit.
8. Put the muffins into the oven. You will now bake them until golden.
   • These will bake 8-9 minutes in a 425 degree oven.
   • If you prefer a softer muffin, you can bake them for about 11 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
   • When done, allow to cool slightly before serving.
   • Serve the muffins hot with maple syrup.

Making Cinnamon Rolls from Leftover Pie Crust

1. Make cinnamon rolls from leftover pie crust. You will need the following ingredients:
   • 1/4 cup of leftover pie crust
   • 1 tablespoon of soft butter
   • 1 tablespoon sugar
   • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
   • Flour for dusting
   • An oven safe dish
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. This is the temperature you will use to bake your small cinnamon rolls.
   • This is commonly the temperature used for pie.
   • You can bake your cinnamon rolls and your pie at the same time.
   • A hotter oven will result in a dry or burnt pie crust.
3. Sprinkle a pastry cloth or wax paper with flour. This will prevent your pie crust from sticking when you roll it out.
   • Roll out your pie crust into a rectangle.
   • Your rectangle should be around 6 x 12 inches in dimension at a thickness of 1/8 inch.
   • Any thicker or thinner, the pie crust won't bake right for the cinnamon rolls.
4. Brush the butter onto the dough rectangle. You can do this with a butter knife.
   • Make sure the butter is spread evenly on the surface of the dough.
   • Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top of the butter.
   • The topping should be evenly spread on top of the butter.
5. Roll the dough rectangle with the filling into a log. This will make the swirl pattern of cinnamon inside the roll.
   • Cut the log into slices about 1 inch thick.
   • If you cut the rolls thicker they will take longer to bake.
   • Place them in a greased oven safe dish.
6. Bake the rolls at 350 degrees. You can bake them along with your pie if you want.
   • Keep the rolls in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
   • Check the rolls just before the 20 minute mark to see if they are browning.
   • After 20 minutes, check the rolls frequently to see if they aren't done. They can burn quickly.

Making Mini Quiches with Leftover Pie Crust

1. Make mini quiches or tarts with leftover pie crust. This is a great way to make a quick savory snack and use up pie dough at the same time.
   • You can experiment with fillings, but generally quiches are made from a mixture of egg and milk with vegetables, seafood, cheese, bacon or ham, and herbs mixed in.
   • You can use whatever vegetables, spices, and cheese you have on hand mixed with egg and milk as a filling.
   • An easy recipe for mini quiches is a quick zucchini and egg quiche.
2. Gather materials to make quick zucchini and egg mini quiches. You will need the following ingredients and supplies:
   • 3 eggs
   • 1 cup buttermilk
   • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
   • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
   • 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
   • 1 zucchini, grated
   • 1 small onion, chopped
   • Leftover pie dough
   • A muffin tin
3. Prepare the quiche crusts using the pie dough. You will make small quiche crusts with this.
   • Divide the pie dough into small balls about 1 inch in diameter.
   • On a floured surface, roll out each ball into a circle about 5 inches in diameter.
   • Gently press each circle into a muffin cup, stretching or patching the dough until it reaches all the way to the top of each muffin cup.
   • Using the tines of a fork, poke small holes into each quiche crust on the bottom and the sides.
4. Bake the crusts in a 350 degree oven. They will need to be partially baked before you add the filling.
   • These will need to bake for about 15 minutes.
   • The crusts might puff up in the first 5 minutes of baking.
   • If this occurs, open the oven and poke any air pockets with a fork to decrease the puffiness of the dough.
5. Make the filling. You can do this while the crusts are baking.
   • In a small bowl, mix the eggs and buttermilk with a whisk.
   • Add the salt, spices and cheese and whisk again.
   • Then add the zucchini and onion, and whisk to evenly combine all the ingredients.
6. Put the filling into the muffin cups. You can use a ladle to spoon it into the crusts.
   • Fill each crust about 3/4 of the way.
   • Any leftover filling can be put into ramekins and baked into crustless quiches.
   • Put the filled crusts in the muffin tin and any ramekins in the oven.
   • Bake at 350 degrees for 20-35 minutes, checking every so often to see if the eggs are setting.

Making Doughnut Holes from Leftover Pizza Dough

1. Gather ingredients and supplies to make doughnuts from pizza dough. You will need the following:
   • Leftover pizza dough
   • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
   • 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
   • Vegetable oil for deep frying
   • A two inch cookie cutter and a one inch cookie cutter
   • A deep pot for frying
2. Roll out the pizza dough. You should do this on a lightly floured surface to prevent the dough from sticking to your table or counter.
   • Roll the dough to a 1/2 inch thickness.
   • Use the 2 inch cookie cutter to cut out rounds. Use the one inch cookie cutter to cut out the centers of each doughnut.
   • After spacing your doughnuts, gather up the dough remnants and roll out the dough again, repeating until it is used up.
3. Pour vegetable oil into your saucepan. This is what you will use to fry your doughnuts.
   • It should be about 2 inches deep.
   • Heat the oil over medium heat on the stove until it reaches 375 degrees. You can check this with a food thermometer.
   • Be careful, as hot oil can spit and burn you.
4. Fry the doughnuts and doughnut holes in the hot oil. Do these one or two at a time to prevent overcrowding in the pan.
   • Fry them until they puff up but are still pale.
   • This will take about 45 seconds per side.
   • Transfer the doughnuts to a paper towel to drain when finished. You can use a slotted spoon to do this.
5. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together. This is what you will use to coat the doughnuts.
   • Generously coat the doughnuts with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
   • You should coat the doughnuts twice for a full coating.
   • Do this while they are still warm, as this will help the sugar to stick to the doughnuts.
   • Alternatively, you can roll the doughnuts in sugar and chopped nuts or coconut.
   • Eat the donuts while they are warm.

Making Dessert Pizza With Leftover Cookie Dough

1. Gather your supplies. You will need the following:
   • Leftover cookie dough.
   • A small pizza pan or cake pan.
   • Toppings such as chocolate sauce, M&Ms, and peanuts.
2. Roll out your cookie dough. You should do this on a floured surface.
   • Make sure your rolling pin has been coated in flour or your dough will stick to it.
   • If your dough is sticky or wet, like chocolate chip cookie dough, you can also press the dough into your greased cake pan or pizza pan.
   • It should be about 1/2 inch thick.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven. This is typically the temperature used for baking cookies.
   • Bake the cookie pizza for 8 to 10 minutes.
   • Check the dough often, because you will want to catch it when it is just turning golden brown.
   • Take it out of the oven.
4. Add toppings to the cookie pizza. You can get creative with what you use, but be sure it is something that can go into the oven.
   • You can use chocolate sauce, caramel, nuts, M&Ms candy etc. to top your dessert pizza.
   • After you have added your toppings, return the pizza to the oven.
   • Bake another 2-3 minutes, then remove from oven.
   • Serve plain, or with ice cream.

Freezing Leftover Cake Batter for Later Use

1. Get your supplies. You will need the following:
   • A muffin or cupcake tin.
   • Cupcake wrappers.
   • Ziplock bags
   • An ice cream scooper
2. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers. You will use this to freeze the batter into individual cupcakes.
   • There is no need to grease the pan or wrappers, as you won't be baking these yet.
   • You can double up the cupcake wrappers if you are working with a thick or heavy batter.
   • Fill the whole cupcake pan. If you end up not using all of the cupcake wrappers, you can always put them back into the package to use later.
3. Portion the batter into each cupcake wrapper. You can use the ice cream scooper to do this.
   • Try not to fill each wrapper more than 2/3 full.
   • Once you have used up all of your batter, place the muffin tin with the filled wrappers into a freezer on an empty shelf or basket.
   • After 24 hours, check to see if the batter is fully frozen.
4. Put the wrappers with the frozen batter inside of them into a ziplock bag. This is how you will store the frozen cupcakes.
   • Squeeze any excess air from the bag. This will help you to save space in your freezer and will help to reduce the risk of freezer burn on your frozen cupcake batter.
   • Put the muffin tin away.
   • Freeze the batter for up to 3 months.
5. Thaw the frozen cupcakes in the refrigerator. You can thaw as many or as few as you want.
   • Place the filled cupcake wrappers in a muffin tin before you thaw them.
   • Once thawed, bake at 350 degrees in the oven.
   • Increase baking time by 2 minutes from your original recipe.

Tips

• Always make sure your leftover dough or batter is still good and unspoiled. When in doubt, throw it away.
• Make sure the batter is well mixed when using leftovers. It can separate in the refrigerator.
• Knead or re-mix any pie dough or pizza dough for an even texture.

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Sources and Citations

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