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See why.The Best Muffin Tins
Are gold-colored pans the new gold standard?
By Published Apr. 1, 2017
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See Everything We Tested
What You Need To Know
Do you know the muffin man? Well, forget him. Around these parts it’s the muffin woman. Or at least that’s what I’ve been calling myself after making 10 batches of muffins, 10 batches of cupcakes, and 10 batches of single-serve frittatas in a single week.
I was testing muffin tins. Our previous favorite had been discontinued, as had the second-place finisher, so it was time for a fresh look. We also wanted to examine a trend: Gold-colored pans have dominated our recent testings of rectangular baking pans, loaf pans, round cake pans, and square cake pans. Gold pans beat out darker and lighter pans in each category by easily releasing baked goods that had just the right amount of browning. With gold muffin tins now on the market, we wondered if the trend would continue.
To find out, we chose ten 12-cup muffin tins priced from $10.30 to $32.99. Three were gold or bronze, three were light or medium silver, and four were dark. In the past we’ve focused on nonstick muffin tins because easy release is key with tender muffins. But this time we included one without a nonstick coating; instead it had a very shallow snakeskin pattern etched into it, ostensibly to help with release.
We evaluated each muffin tin on its durability, release, handling, and the browning of the baked goods it produced. There were no issues with wear and tear, and only one model had a problem with release. Care to guess which? Yep, the one without a nonstick coating. Its textured pattern left us prying out muffins with a knife. We’ll stick with nonstick.
We noticed an interesting trend regarding the color of the muffin tins: In general, lighter models produced lighter-colored baked goods and darker ones made darker-colored baked goods. And the gold (or bronze) muffin tins produced browning that was right in the middle.
To understand why, we looked at the way heat works. In an oven, heat radiates out in waves. When the waves hit a pan, its atoms and molecules move faster, which heats everything up. But different materials absorb heat waves at different rates. In general, darker objects absorb more heat waves than lighter objects because lighter things reflect some of the waves. You’ve probably experienced this if you’ve worn dark clothes on a hot, sunny day—black absorbs heat waves, so you feel hotter. Conversely, if you’re wearing white, you’re likely to feel cooler because the lighter fabric reflects some of the waves and thus absorbs less heat.
So the muffins from darker muffin tins were darker and had thicker crusts because they’d been subjected to more heat. And muffins from lighter muffin tins were paler and softer because they had been subjected to less he...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 3 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 3 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 3 stars out of 3.
This muffin tin perfectly released its baked goods and was a dream to hold and turn. It has an oversize rim (with a lip that curls underneath) running all the way around it, so there was always a broad, secure place to grasp. Its gold finish created the most appealing baked goods, too: evenly, lightly browned and elegantly shaped.
Recommended
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This muffin tin always released its baked goods flawlessly. Its extended rim had a nice rolled edge for security but wasn’t as broad as our winner’s, so it was slightly fussier to maneuver. But its gold finish produced nice, mostly even browning, though the muffins in the exterior cups tended to darken faster than those in the interior ones.
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 3 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2.5 stars out of 3.
The ridge around this muffin tin’s rim made it harder to hold; it dug into our hands if we didn’t hold it just right. This model did have two small silicone handles that worked fairly well, though we had to be a bit more precise about where we gripped. Its baked goods released perfectly and were consistently browned.
Recommended with reservations
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 2 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2.5 stars out of 3.
The darker finish on this muffin tin made for slightly conical muffins, but its baked goods were generally acceptable, if slightly inconsistent in color. It had two indented handles, which worked well, but it didn’t have anywhere on the sides or corners for us to grab to rotate it, so we had to reach all the way into the oven every time.
Not Recommended
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2 stars out of 3.
This medium-gray muffin tin released its contents well but baked them slightly unevenly from muffin to muffin, as well as from batch to batch; its cupcakes trended pale, while its muffins trended dark. Its narrow rim didn’t give us enough room to rotate it easily and was just too small; our mitts nudged into the muffins.
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2 stars out of 3.
Baked goods made in this muffin tin released well but were a touch overbrowned. Its darker finish made the sides set faster, creating slightly conical muffins and bubble-headed cupcakes. And while it had two smallish yet sufficient silicone handles, its rim sloped downward and had a ridge, making it less comfortable and secure to maneuver.
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2 stars out of 3.
This muffin tin released its baked goods well, but they were a bit too dark; its darker finish is likely to blame. It also had very small handles, and our oven mitts squished into the muffins if we weren’t careful. Its side rims were narrow, so we had to reach into the oven to rotate it.
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2 stars out of 3.
This dark little muffin tin cooked its contents quite quickly; both its cupcakes and its muffins were too dark for our tasters. It had great release, but it baked so quickly that it threw off our timing. Its handles were too small, so we inadvertently dunked our oven mitts into the batter and had a hard time grabbing the muffin tin to rotate it.
- Release: 3 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 1.5 stars out of 3.
Though cup size varied very little across models, this muffin tin’s cups were the shallowest, measuring 0.05 inch to 0.20 inch shorter than those of the other models. This difference, while tiny, was enough to make its muffins look a bit dumpy, with oversize heads and squat bottoms. Its two silicone grips were too small, so we plunked our mitts into the batter and dented a muffin or two.
- Release: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Browning: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Food Shape: 2 stars out of 3.
This light-colored muffin tin had a nice rim, but it made pale baked goods that looked like they’d been steamed. It was the only model in our lineup without a nonstick coating; instead it was imprinted with a pattern that supposedly helped with release. But we found we had to pry out more than half its baked goods, and though they emerged intact, it was a deal breaker for us.
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.
Hannah Crowley
Hannah is an executive editor for ATK Reviews and cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube.
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