A household name and a part of everyone’s childhood, muffins are quite easy to bake compared to some of its non-forgiving counterparts.
Oftentimes, what makes or breaks an amazing muffin is the muffin pan you’re using. And muffin pan size plays an important role here.
If you’re making a “melt in your mouth chocolate brownie’ with fresh nuts and berries, a good muffin pan is your best bet here. But often people ask; What size of a muffin pan do I use? Are muffin pans any different than cupcake pans?
Well, the answer to the first question is what we will discuss today. The answer to the second question is a strong, positive affirmation.
Different Muffin Pan Sizes
Typically muffin pans come in 3 sizes, ranging from making 6 muffins to 24 muffins at once in various materials from non-stick to silicone.
So which one should you choose? Well, to be honest, it entirely depends on what you want to have, what size, and how many. Here is the distribution of the sizes:
STANDARD
The most sold muffin pans are the standard muffin pans. Available almost at every house and can be found to buy at any local shop, these muffin pans can make 12 muffins at once.
Each muffin cups of the pan can hold up to ½ cup of batter and make standard size muffins for you and your loved ones.
MINI
If a standard size muffin is too big for you and you want to have small bite-sized one to squash your urges to leave your diet, mini muffin pans are the right choice for you.
These muffin trays can bake 24 muffins at once, and each muffin cup can hold ⅛ to ¼ cup of batter of muffin. And these cups create mini-sized muffins for you and whomever you want to offer.
JUMBO
If you’re not satisfied with the standard size of muffins, then you should opt for the jumbo-sized muffin tray.
The muffin cups are relatively larger than the standard trays, designed to hold between ½ cup and 1 whole cup of batter, producing significantly larger muffins. Since the baking cups are larger, the jumbo muffin pans can only produce 6 muffins at any one time.
Muffin Pan Material
Just like the way determining the right size for you when considering which muffin pan to buy is important, taking a closer look at the material being used is equally important.
Muffin pans come in different styles, from aluminum with various non-stick coatings to silicone.
Even the coatings have variety, so it’s very important to do a little research before deciding on the type of muffin pan that would be best for you.
ALUMINUM
This is the most common material for your muffin pans. They are lightweight, and conduct heat fairly easily and provides an even conduction for even baking of your muffins.
STAINLESS STEEL
Known for its durability, they may not have the evenest conduction like aluminum, but they last the most.
Just ask your grandmother. The stainless steel increases the durability, making your muffin pan-resistant to rust and scratches.
SILICONE
Made of lightweight and flexible rubber, silicone has a lot of advantages. Starting from the fact that this requires no extra coating, it survives up to 500-degree Fahrenheit in heat. And there’s no need for parchment paper when you’re baking as greasing the silicone is enough.
COATED STEEL
It’s known for its inexpensiveness, so if you’re not sure about baking yet, this could be your budget-friendly option.
However, this does require sturdy coating as the steel itself is not stainless, which can be problematic if the coating is susceptible to easy deterioration. This brings us to the type of coatings.
Which Coating Is Best for My Muffin Pans?
With any baking pans, the coating is necessary (except when the material is silicone) to ensure proper removal of the food from the tin/pan, and the cake is intact.
The non-stick coating on the muffin pan removes the need to resort to extra parchment papers as the ‘non-stick’ literally means the food would not stick with the pans.
Now there are different types of non-tick for each material that helps to ensure this, and they are:
1. Teflon Coating
The scientific name being polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Teflon is known for its smooth and slick surface.
However, even with the advantage of science helping it to be the perfect non-stick coat, the disadvantage of Teflon is that it breaks apart over 500°F, making it risky to use in any high heat requiring baking process. But, for a typical muffin recipe, it will do alright.
2. Ceramic Coating
Ceramic is very eco friendly and non-toxic as well, as the carbon footprint of this material is fairly low compared to its counterparts.
However, the material can turn out to be less durable to overuse and be expensive than other coating options.
3. Super Hydrophobic Coating
Resistant to water, super hydrophobic is the newest type of coating in the market. The fact that it’s resistant to water makes it perfect for ensuring that the muffin doesn’t stick to it while baking.
How Are Muffin Pans Different from Cupcake Pans?
The makings of muffins and cupcakes are often quite similar. However, there are little differences that distinguish one from the other.
Starting with the deserts themselves, cupcakes are topped with frosting while muffins have that sugar glaze on top, making them very fulfilling compared to the fanciness of the cupcakes.
With the process, cupcakes require its batter to be silky smooth, soft and heavily beaten.
While muffins are fine with lumpy batter, they are more forgiving. Thus, when you bake them, the pans for muffins are deeper, and the edges are straighter while the pans for cupcakes are more shallow and have slanted edges.
Conclusion
Hope now you know everything you need to know about muffin pan sizes. Let me know in the comments if you have any more queries.