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An Expert Guide to Muffin Pans

Published on 12/27/2023 · 10 min readBake muffins like a pro! Delve into our expert guide on muffin pans, ensuring evenly baked, perfectly shaped treats every time.
Di Doherty, Kitchen Expert
By Kitchen Expert Di Doherty

Photo by Deka Zigzag

TL;DR: When choosing a muffin pan, consider what material it’s made out of, if it’s nonstick, and if you want standard, mini, or jumbo muffins. Despite the names, muffin pans are also multipurpose; they have other uses besides muffins and cupcakes.

I’ve been baking for as long as I was old enough to operate an oven. I started off by watching my mom but then moved on to making my own baked goods—mainly cookies. Since then, I’ve expanded to include cakes, cupcakes, muffins, pies, rolls, and quick breads like banana bread.

My bakeware collection came to me haphazardly as a combination of inherited items from my parents, gifts, and other items I’ve picked up along the way. As an avid home baker, I’ve accumulated quite a few baking pans. However, I find that there are certain products that I keep coming back to and that I use far more than others.

If you’re looking for muffin pans that are a must-have in your kitchen, then you’ve come to the right place.

What Is a Muffin Pan?

Photo by Alena Matrosova

Muffin pans have a lot of different names, including cupcake pan, muffin tin, and cupcake tin. However, despite what they’re called, all of them are the same: a baking pan with cavities in it meant to make muffins or cupcakes.

Despite the name, they can be used to make things besides muffins and cupcakes. Muffin pans are great for individual size portions of quiche, meatloaf, mini cakes, or pupcakes (a cute name for healthier cupcakes you can make as treats for your dog.) They can also shape other foods into a cup, like sushi cups, mini tortilla bowls, and cookie cups.

What to Consider When Buying a Muffin Pan

As muffin pans are a common piece of bakeware, almost every company makes one. That can make deciding which one would best suit you a bit of a challenge. When picking out your new pan, ask yourself these questions:

What’s the Pan Made Out of?

Photo by Arina P Habich

The material that your muffin pan is made out of makes a big difference in terms of its performance. You want something that has good heat distribution and is sturdy so that your muffin pan will last. Here are the materials you’ll find cupcake pans made out of:

  • Stainless steel: As always, stainless steel is a practical choice. It has decent heat distribution, is durable, and can go in the dishwasher (though it lasts longer if you hand-wash it). Often, stainless steel will have a nonstick coating.
  • Aluminum: Likely the most common material for bakeware, aluminum is difficult to beat in terms of even heating. It reacts quickly to heat and results in evenly cooked and browned bakeware. However, plain aluminum is shiny, so you may end up with baked goods that aren’t very browned.
  • Silicone: Baking pans made of this material are not as common, but silicone muffin pans are made by various companies. Some of them will be a metal sheet with silicone cups in it, and others will be fully silicone. Silicone is nonstick, making it easy to remove the muffins. Unfortunately, as silicone is soft, you need to put a sheet pan under it to help it hold its shape, which can alter how evenly the muffins heat and overbrown the bottom.
  • Anodized aluminum: One of the main issues with aluminum is that it scratches easily. Chemically bonding it with its oxidation creates anodized aluminum, which is scratch resistant and non-reactive to acid. It has excellent heat distribution, still, and the process dulls the color, so it browns baked goods better.
  • Carbon steel: A number of nonstick pans will have a carbon steel core due to its durability and even heating. Carbon steel is prone to rust, so it’s unlikely you’ll find it uncoated. If you do, it’ll need to be seasoned like cast iron.
  • Aluminized steel: A lot of aluminized steel has a carbon steel core, too, though sometimes they’ll use other alloys. An aluminized steel pan has an aluminum layer over steel, making it more durable, but giving it the better heat distribution of aluminum.
  • Cast iron: Cast iron isn’t a common material for cupcake pans, as it’s so heavy. Its heat retention makes it great for even browning and consistent results.
  • Ceramic: This material is very uncommon for muffin pans, though they do tend to be pretty, with designs on the ceramic. I don’t recommend this material, though, as it’s not very heat reactive, so you’re likely to end up with an overcooked exterior and uncooked interior.

Do I Want a Nonstick Pan?

Photo by Minoli

There are a plethora of options in terms of nonstick pans. I won’t go into every kind of coating because that would be a whole separate article. However, here are some general benefits and things to keep in mind about nonstick coatings:

Benefits:

  • Easy to clean.
  • Muffins and cupcakes come out without a hassle.
  • Usually a darker color for evening browning.

Keep in Mind:

  • Nonstick coatings wear out, so you’ll have to replace your pan after a few years.
  • Not all are safe to use with baking or cooking spray.

How Do I Care for Muffin Pans?

Photo by Arina P Habich

The best way to care for your muffin pan will depend on what material it's made out of, but here are general recommendations.

  • Hand-wash: The dishwasher is hard on pans, even if the manufacturer says it’s dishwasher-safe. Washing your pan by hand will ensure that it lasts longer. I also find that pans with crevices don’t tend to get as clean in the dishwasher, anyway.
  • Don’t put it in cold water when it’s hot: This is true for all pans and dishes. Abrupt temperature changes can warp the metal, making it uneven or even ruining it. If it’s ceramic or has a ceramic coating, then that can crack or shatter.
  • Avoid metal utensils: Some pans will be able to handle metal utensils, like cast iron or stainless steel. But aluminum and nonstick pans will be marked by it. For aluminum it's cosmetic, but with nonstick pans, it can score the coating or even scrape pieces of it off.
  • Use liners: While of course you don’t need to do this all the time, using cupcake liners makes it much easier to get the cupcakes or muffins out intact. It also makes cleaning your pan much easier. Foil or paper liners can even be used for non-cupcake purposes, like rice cups or cookie cups. If you want to be green about it, they make reusable silicone liners – and those can even handle greasier tasks like mini meatloaves.

How Many Cups Should It Have?

Photo by Anna Chinaroglu

As a rule, you have three options in terms of the number of recesses in the pan:

  • 6 cup muffin pan: If you're looking for a half muffin pan, then it'll have six cups. This is useful if you want to fit it in a toaster oven, or if you want to half a recipe (though you can use the center six cups of a full-size muffin pan in a pinch). It’s also the common size for jumbo muffin pans.
  • 12 cup muffin pan: This is a standard sized muffin pan, and what will be called for the majority of recipes.
  • 24 cup muffin pan: You’re unlikely to find a standard sized cupcake pan with 24 cups, but it’s the standard size for mini muffin pans.

Types of Muffin Pans

There isn’t a huge variety in terms of types of muffin pans, but that doesn't mean that there aren’t any. Here are the common variations:

Standard

Photo by Arina P Habich

This is what everyone thinks of if you ask them to imagine a muffin pan – the standard muffin and cupcake size.

Benefits:

  • Most recipes use a standard muffin pan.
  • It’s the expected shape and size for cupcakes and muffins.

Be aware:

  • Standard isn’t fully standardized – different muffin pans can hold different amounts. For smaller cups, it’s best to go by how full it looks than by putting a certain amount of batter in.

Mini

Photo by Erica Richardson

Mini cupcakes are another common size, and they can be a lot of fun and adorable. These have much smaller cups for batter, resulting in tiny cupcakes. Benefits:

  • You can make additional portions with the same amount of batter, such as if you’re handing them out to kids.
  • Great for pupcakes for small dogs.

Be aware:

  • Mini muffin pans aren't any more standardized than standard muffin cups, so you may need to go by how full the cup is rather than a specific measurement of batter.
  • Many recipes don’t have an adaptation for mini muffins, meaning you’ll need to gauge the time yourself.

Jumbo

Photo by P Maxwell Photography

When a regular sized muffin just won’t do, there are jumbo sized pans. This is more often used for muffins, but there’s no reason you can’t make extra-large cupcakes.

Benefits:

  • Makes bigger muffins or cupcakes, which requires you to fill fewer cups, so it’s less time consuming.

Be aware:

  • Most recipes don’t have a jumbo adaptation, so you’ll have to alter the bake time yourself.

Features to Look For

Handles

Muffin pans that have handles, or at least extend out a bit past the last cups, will be easier to take out of the oven when wearing oven mitts. While cupcake pans don’t need them, as there is a flat spot in the center between the muffin cups, once they’re baked that space narrows.

Thickness

You want to make sure that the pan isn’t flimsy. You shouldn’t be able to flex it with your hands, and it should have a bit of heft to it – unless it’s aluminum. A pan that weighs nothing is going to be very thin metal and may warp in the heat of the oven, leading to uneven baking and being harder to clean.

Limited crevices

The majority of cupcake pans are made by taking a sheet of metal and then adhering the cups to it from the bottom. That’s why almost all pans will have a rim around the cups. Make sure that there aren’t any crevices that batter can get into, as that’ll make the pan very hard to clean.

How To Pick Out the Best Muffin Pan for You

Finding just the right muffin pan for your needs can be time consuming. In order to narrow down the options, I’m going to describe three different individuals and what muffin pan I’d recommend for their circumstances.

Abe: Uncle Who Loves to Treat his Nieces and Nephews

Abe currently lives alone, but he loves to host his siblings’ kids. They’re all young at this point, but one of their favorite desserts is cupcakes. He also has dogs, and he loves making them their own treats – sometimes with his niblings’ help.

Features to look for:

  • A mini muffin pan that allows for smaller treats.
  • An easy-to-use and clean pan that allows kids to help.

Recommended products: USA Pan 24 cup mini muffin pan, Anolon Advanced 12 cup muffin pan with lid

Lakshmi: Experienced Baker Looking for High-End Bakeware

Lakshmi has been baking for quite a while and is now looking to invest in high-quality bakeware. She’s considering selling cakes and cupcakes as a side hustle, but wants to get proper equipment to make sure that it can work first.

Features to look for:

  • Bakeware that gives consistent results in terms of browning, like ceramic coatings and cast iron.

Recommended products: Caraway nonstick muffin pan, Lodge muffin pan

Tim: Baker Looking to Get into Cake Decorating

Tim is a good baker looking to learn how to decorate cakes and cupcakes. He’s not looking for anything too elaborate, but he wants pans that will work well and give him space to work on his decorating.

Features to look for:

  • More surface area, such as a jumbo muffin pan.

Recommended products: Nordic Ware Naturals jumbo muffin pan, Circulon nonstick muffin pan

We Can Help Find the Best Muffin Pan for You

Do you still have more questions? At Curated, we have a free service where you can chat with an Expert anytime to offer advice, make recommendations, or answer questions. If you need help with anything, any one of our Kitchen Experts will happily help you find the muffin pan that’s perfect for you!

Curated experts can help

Have a question about the article you just read or want personal recommendations? Connect with a Curated expert and get personalized recommendations for whatever you’re looking for!

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