How to Make Muffins (Top Tips) - A Well Seasoned Kitchen

My Best Muffin Tips

I love to make muffins. They are super easy to prepare, and tend to freeze well, so you can make a bunch and have some ready for later. Here are some tips for making your muffins come out moist, tender, and nicely shaped (risen) every time:

Don’t over mix your batter. Just mix until the ingredients are blended. If you over mix, the muffins may be tough.
When filling muffin cups, use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop – small size for mini muffins, large size for regular muffins. It’s much faster, plus your muffins will all come out close to the same size. Try not to fill them more than 3/4 full for most recipes.
Most muffin tins have 12 cups, but not all recipes are for 12 – or 24 – muffins. Fill any empty muffin cups halfway with water. This will ensure that your pan doesn’t burn or warp during cooking – and also adds moisture to the oven, making your muffins come out nice and moist.
Don’t let the batter sit in the tins at room temperature for any length of time, especially if the recipe includes baking powder and/or baking soda. If the batter sits for too long before baking, the muffins won’t rise very much – or at all. So, make sure to preheat that oven before mixing your batter!

How to Grease Muffin Pan

Even if using a nonstick muffin tin, grease the pan lightly with butter or oil, to prevent sticking. You can also use paper muffin liners, but I have better luck with greasing the pan:

To grease pan with butter: place around a tablespoon of butter (preferably softened) on a small piece of paper towel. Rub butter onto te bottom and up the sides of each round pocket in the muffin pan.
To grease pan with oil: lightly drizzle oil into each of the round pockets in the muffin tin. Use a paper towel to rub it on the bottom and up the sides of the round pockets.

Why do My Muffins Stick to the Paper?

Muffins often stick to paper liners (which is why I prefer to grease the pan). Sometimes it’s due to the ingredients in the muffins. If you want to use paper liners, then I would spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

How to Remove Muffins from Pan

After muffins have sat in the pan (see below), I remove them using a table knife. Gently run the knife blade around the sides of the muffins to loosen. Then use the knife to gently lift the muffins out of the pan.

Do you let muffins cool in the pan? How long should muffins sit before removing from pan?

After baking, let the muffins sit in the tins for around 5 minutes before removing. They will be less likely to stick. Then put on a wire rack to cool.