How To Store Leftover Melted Chocolate

Whether you’re using it as a delightfully creamy dip, or as a thick layer of sauce to make your favorite desserts even more creamy and delicious, melted chocolate is one of those ingredients that is incredibly easy to prepare that still adds a tremendous amount of flavor and taste to anything you mix it with. 

However, because you can never get enough of a thick and warm layer of melted chocolate, it can be very easy to have a little bit leftover after you are done using it, especially when you prepare some extra chocolate so you and your guests can have their fair share. 

Rather than letting it go to waste, it can be much easier to store it to use for another recipe down the line, after all, even a small amount of leftover melted chocolate can make a recipe taste that much more delicious when it’s time to tuck in. 

Storing Leftover Melted Chocolate

To ensure your melted milk, dark or white chocolate stays as fresh as possible and doesn’t stick to any of your bowls, the best way to store it is by pouring it into an airtight container which should then be placed in the fridge.

You can also use a sheet of parchment to cover the leftover chocolate, however, an airtight container often works the best since it will limit the air exposure much more so that the chocolate remains fresh.

If you do want the melted chocolate to last a few months longer, you can also pour it into a resealable freezer bag to store in the freezer instead.

A final option if you don’t intend on storing the chocolate for too long and want to use it in the coming week is to pour it into an airtight container and leave it at room temperature.

Whether you use an airtight container, the fridge, or the refrigerator, you should store the leftover chocolate as soon as you are done using the bulk of it so that it doesn’t become inedible

How To Reuse Melted Chocolate After It Has Been Stored

As soon as you place the leftover melted chocolate in the fridge, it will harden in around 10 minutes, however, when placed in the freezer, this will occur almost immediately. 

Therefore, once you remove the melted chocolate to use it for another recipe, if it has been in the fridge you will need to heat it up as you would normally to make it nice and thick again.

The best method of doing this is by heating it up in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time until it is as hot as you would like it. 

If the melted chocolate has been in the freezer, leave it out at room temperature for about 15 minutes so it can unthaw and soften before then heating it up in the microwave using the same method. 

How Long Does Leftover Melted Chocolate Remain Edible?

Melted chocolate is completely safe to eat if it has been left out for a few days since the milk powder contains no water, meaning unlike a lot of other foods, melted chocolate will not mold and will remain edible for a much longer period of time. 

While leftover melted chocolate stored in the fridge will remain fresh and edible for up to three months, you can extend this by storing it in the freezer instead where it will remain good for up to six months. 

If you choose to pour the leftovers into an airtight container at room temperature, they will stay edible for up to a week, so this is only advised if you know that you are going to use them for a few recipes in the next few days. 

Rather than the shelf life, the bigger issue to keep in mind when using melted chocolate is to make sure it doesn’t remain in an open bowl for too long after use since this can cause the melted chocolate to quickly harden which will make it a lot harder to remove and can end up being too thick to use in future recipes. 

Ways You Can Use Leftover Melted Chocolate

Once you have re-heated it, you will be able to use leftover melted chocolate for any recipe that you normally would, however considering that you probably won’t have as much melted chocolate as you did originally, there are still some smaller treats that make full use of the rich and creamy flavor of some melted chocolate. 

Here are a few of these smaller recipes that you can make using just a little bit of leftover melted chocolate: 

Chocolate Pie

Simply pour the leftover melted chocolate into a graham cracker crust and let it chill in the fridge for an hour before then topping it up with a dash of whipped cream, and a few chopped nuts to add a little more crunchiness.

Bite-Size Candies

All you need to do to make a few small but delicious chocolate candies is pour the leftover chocolate into some candy molds and leave them to harden either in the fridge or at room temperature. Aside from candies, other small treats you can make include brownies and truffles.

Chocolate Fruit

You can never go wrong with chocolate-covered dried fruit, even if it’s just a little bit layered over a few juicy strawberries or bananas to add some creamy texture. If you’ve never tried a fruit and melted white chocolate mix, you definitely need to.

You also can’t go wrong taking some bananas from the freezer and making some frozen chocolate-covered bananas.

Cake Icing

If you’re in the middle of preparing a few small cakes but realize you’re completely out of frosting, a little bit of leftover chocolate mixed with some powdered sugar is an excellent frosting alternative that can be used on many desserts and baked goods.

Pretzels

You only need to add a light layer of melted chocolate over some pretzels to give them that caramel-like texture, however, you can also choose to let the chocolate harden to make them even crunchier.

Marshmallows

A single cup of melted chocolate is more than enough to make a fluffy bowl of marshmallows taste even more soft and creamy, making for a delightful appetizer.

Summary

Rather than letting a good bowl of delightful leftover melted chocolate go to waste, pour it into an airtight container and store it in either the fridge or freezer to keep it fresh and ready to use later down the line.