The 8 Best Muffin Pans for Morning Treats and Dessert Sweets

What to Look for in a Muffin Pan

Number/Size of Cups

Muffin pans come in an assortment of sizes, with most pans having between 6 and 24 cups. To make the best final product, all of the wells in the pan should be filled with batter, so it’s important to choose a pan that will be the right size for the number of muffins (or cupcakes or quiches, etc.) you want to bake. 

Beyond that, muffin cups are sized as follows: Mini (1 inch), Standard (2 inches), or Jumbo (2.5 inches). Though most muffin batters can be used for all the different sizes of cups, the amount of batter to be used and the baking time must be adjusted so it's good to keep the size in mind.

Material

Muffin pans of good quality are generally made of steel, carbon steel, aluminized steel or silicone. The weight of a good muffin pan has been designed to make oven heat flow and transfer well for the size of the pan, and it can vary. Look for heavy gauge metal for durability and to prevent warpage. 

Keep in mind that dark colored metal pans will brown and bake muffins and cakes faster than lighter colored pans. If you are using a darker colored pan, it’s recommended to check the oven earlier or reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees. 

Silicone pans release the baked goods easily because of their nonstick nature and their flexibility which allows you to pop the baked goods right out with a little pressure under the cup. But they do not promote any sort of browning at all. This may be ideal for some cupcakes but less so for a cookie or a muffin where someone might want a bit of caramelized crust on the bottom and sides.

Lining

Most muffin pans being manufactured today have a lining applied to the overall surface of the pan, including inside the cups, that provides a nonstick surface. These linings vary in their composition and can be branded by the manufacturers, but all bakeware sold in the USA must conform to FDA standards.

Heat-Safe Temperature

Muffin pans are generally used in a moderate oven at a temperature of between 325-400 degrees, but most pans are heat-safe to at least 450 degrees, though some nonstick coating is only rated for a lower 425 degrees. Silicone is more heat sensitive and usually should not be heated past 425 degrees or you run the risk of melting it. This information should be provided in the product specifications.

Ease of Cleaning

The majority of muffin pans on the market today are listed as dishwasher-safe, but most folks report they prefer to hand wash them to help preserve the nonstick coating. 

Regardless, avoid using harsh cleaners or abrasive sponges if you handwash. Some pans instructions suggest rinsing the pan before using the dishwasher. If super simple cleanup is important to you, stay clear of the hand-wash-only models.

Price

The vast majority of muffin pans are very moderately priced and quite affordable, so what matters in this category is to be sure you’ve chosen the right details in your pan for the use(s) you want to put it to! There can be outliers in price—for example, if a pan is much less expensive than the others you’re looking at, it’s possibly lacking in weight, sturdiness, or heat dispersal. If it’s more expensive than the norm, it should have special features that are instantly recognizable: a well-known brand name, new technology incorporated into the design or a heavy gauge construction.

FAQs

What is the best way to season a muffin pan?

Unless you have a vintage cast iron muffin pan, your muffin pans do not need to be seasoned. Based on the material your contemporary muffin pan is made of, it may require greasing before use or it may not. To grease a muffin pan, you can use a pastry brush and melted butter. Or, there are alternatives like cooking spray, shortening, and even professional baking grease. 

Keep in mind that most nonstick coated pans recommend that you do not use cooking spray on them, as the propellant can stain the pan and can be difficult to remove when washing. Always check the pan instructions to find out the best way to grease the pan.

When is the best time to take muffins out of the pan?

It’s best to wait an average of 5 minutes before taking your muffins out of the pan. This allows the muffins to cool enough in the pan to have adequate structure when you remove it. If you remove the muffin too early, the crumb of the muffin will be too fragile and you run the risk of breaking or damaging the muffin.

This time can be reduced to 3 minutes for mini muffins and should be increased to 8 minutes for jumbo sized muffins.

What is the best way to clean a muffin pan?

The muffin pans on the market today vary a lot in terms of what they are made out of, so it’s important to read and follow the directions for cleaning your specific pan. Most pans can handle the usual cleaning methods for other pans but be aware that pans with nonstick coating coatings that could be damaged if you use harsh detergents or scrubbing methods.

How We Researched & Tested

To compile this list, our team of editors and contributors spent hours researching the best products on the market in this category, evaluating their key features—like ease of use, material, or price—in addition to reviews from customers and other trusted sources. Our team also incorporated their own personal experiences testing products in their own lives. We then used these insights from our research and testing to assign a star rating from one to five (five being the best; one being the worst) to certain products on the list.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Karen Resta is a writer specializing in food culture and history, cooking, pastries, and restaurants. She's also a former pastry chef and has traveled to Budapest, Kyiv, and Paris during their Fashion Weeks as a photographer and writer, always finding the best authentic pastries along the way. She now spends a lot of her free time baking at home and recommends quality within your given budget. Having the right tools available and knowing how to use them well (it can take practice, like anything else) makes all the difference, and she curated this list with that in mind.

This article was updated by Irvin Lin. He is the author of the cookbook "Marbled, Swirled, and Layered" and an ongoing contributor to The Spruce Eats, Simply Recipes and Serious Eats. He runs his own blog Eat the Love and is a professional recipe developer and food writer. He loves baking muffins and is constantly testing new muffin pans and equipment to find the right one for the job.