These tins make adorable, bite-size treats. With so many options on the market, which one is best?
Published Nov. 17, 2021. Appears in America's Test Kitchen TV Season 23: Ultimate Yule Log
Everyone loves miniature muffins and cupcakes—they’re so cute! Our favorite mini-muffin tin, the Williams Sonoma Goldtouch Pro Nonstick Mini Muffin Pan, 24-Well, produced attractive baked goods that were evenly golden brown and released easily. There was also plenty of room around the rim, which meant that we could hold it securely, even while we were wearing thick oven mitts. Our Best Buy, the Wilton Perfect Results Premium Non-Stick Mini Muffin and Cupcake Pan, 24-Cup, was as easy to handle as our winner and also produced nicely shaped mini muffins and financiers. We docked it slightly because the foods we baked in it weren’t browned quite as evenly as foods we baked in our winner.
Mini-muffin tins are great when baking for children’s parties and any occasion where you want an assortment of small treats such as mini doughnut holes, mini muffins, and peanut butter cups. While the overall profiles of regular and mini-muffin tins are the same, the number of cups they contain differs (full-size muffin tins have 12 cups, and mini-muffin tins have 24). You can convert full-size muffin and cupcake recipes for mini tins, but it's not an exact science, so we developed a few guidelines (see below).
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Carolyn is a senior editor for ATK Reviews. She's a French-trained professional baker.