20+ of the Best Muffin Tin Recipes - Perfect for Parties - Favorites for Kids and Adults. (2024)

FAQs

Should you grease and flour muffin tins? ›

Do I have to grease a nonstick muffin pan? The nonstick coating is a game-changer, especially for those muffin tops, but it's still a good idea to grease any baking pan for extra reassurance. You can opt either for a cooking spray (here's our favorite one for baking) or melted butter, applied with a pastry brush.

Muffins are great, but it's frustrating when they get stuck in the pan. The trick to preventing muffins from sticking to the muffin tins is to grease each muffin cup thoroughly.

One of the surprising uses for a muffin tin is freezing liquids like stock and sauces, stews and soups, and foods you've blended or pureed and want to store. A muffin tin cup commonly holds about 1/2 cup of liquid, which makes it useful for leftovers.

While it may be tempting to fill each muffin cup to the rim, be sure to give the batter enough room to expand while it bakes. Fill each muffin cup no more than two-thirds to three-fourths full, or as directed in the recipe. This will keep the muffins from spilling over the sides as they bake.

Is There a Difference Between a Cupcake Pan and a Muffin Pan? What is this? Muffin pans and cupcake pans are exactly the same. However, in yet another difference between cupcakes and muffins, cupcakes always use liners and muffins are often baked without liners.

You can use either a non-stick spray or olive oil spray, or butter/coconut oil. I prefer a spray because it's easier to get into the nooks and crannies without making a huge mess scooping out a chunk of coconut oil or butter and trying to spread it around.

If you're using liners just to keep cupcakes from sticking to the pan, you could omit them by greasing the cups with shortening or butter, or using a non-stick cooking spray.

The idea behind this tip is that if you sprinkle some uncooked rice in the bottom of the muffin wells, the rice will absorb the grease that comes out of the muffins or cupcakes while they're baking. What you're left with are pretty, grease-free liners.

Allow Your Muffins to Cool

Allowing them to cool slightly in the pan before removing them will help keep them from falling apart. This being said, you only want to leave them in the pan for a short amount of time—about five minutes. Any longer, and you run the risk of your muffins going soggy as they cool off.

Use parchment paper instead of cups, Chapple says, for an upgraded case for your muffins or cupcakes, and you'll never worry about cupcake liners again. First, cut a sheet of parchment into five-to-six-inch squares.

Why do you fill empty muffin tins with water? ›

It will be to do with cooking the cakes evenly. The water replaces the sponge so that the heat is spread evenly over the cakes.

Standard muffin cup is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and holds 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter. Giant or Texas-size muffin cup is about 3 ½ inches in diameter and holds 5/8 cup batter.

Instead of immediately starting to cool, the hot pan will continue to cook the muffins, which might cause them to dry out. → Follow this tip: After removing the muffins from the oven, give them a couple minutes to cool off a little, and then remove them and transfer to a cooling rack.

Lightly dust each cavity with flour and shake out any excess. This is especially helpful with jumbo muffin pans.

Here's how I see it: Greasing a pan is meant to help you remove the cake without its sticking, tearing, or breaking—if you are lucky. Greasing and flouring also forms a thin, even golden brown crust on the bottom and sides of the cake.

If you are baking a cake, always grease and flour the pan before adding the batter if you want the cake to unmold cleanly and easily. This is extra important if you're using a fancy bundt pan or making a tall, multi-layered cake.

No, you don't. The liners will release from the pan without any butter or other non-stick aid like oil. That's what they're designed for.