Muffin Pan vs Cupcake Pan: What Is The Difference? (Detailed Comparison) [2022]

Cupcake and muffin are delicious foods seen as the favorite desserts of a lot of people. Also, they are the perfect choice for light meal planning. However, some people always confuse a cupcake and muffin pan. Some people even think they are the same. Are you among them? 

In fact, there are some actual differences between them that must be clarified. Pinpointing the differences between muffin pan vs cupcake pan is extremely vital. It will help you cook your favorite recipes in the right way. That’s why we write this article. Scroll down to find out the truth.

IS THE MUFFIN PAN SAME AS THE CUPCAKE PAN?

Metal or silicone pans can be used to bake muffins, cupcakes, or even savory dishes like bite-sized egg soufflé. Make a note of the pan sizes, however. The majority of cupcake recipes (and baking times) are written for a standard-sized pan that holds about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter.

There are also mini muffin tins that hold about 1/4 cup of batter in each cup and jumbo muffin tins that hold about 3/4 cup. Mini muffin tins require much less cooking time than larger cupcake tins. Before selecting a pan, double-check the recipe.

MUFFIN VS. CUPCAKE

1. Muffins are made with oat flour, wheat flour, and nut flour, whereas cupcakes are made with all-purpose flour.
2. Cupcakes have a higher sugar content than muffins.
3. Cupcakes do not contain dried fruits, chocolate chips, or nuts as mix-ins, whereas muffins do.
4. Cupcakes are mostly made with butter, but muffins must be made with vegetable oil or another liquid fat instead of butter.
5. Muffins are commonly thought to be healthier than cupcakes.

The mixing process for muffins and cupcakes is completely different. If you want to make cupcakes, cream your butter and sugar together until you have a fluffy and smooth batter.

If you want to make muffin batter, you will need to beat it for a short period of time because the batter must remain lumpy. Cupcake batter requires more time to beat in order to be smooth.

When it comes to frosting, cupcakes can be topped with creamy and delicious frosting, but muffins usually have a thin glaze or are topped with sugar because they have adequate fillings inside. To put it simply, a muffin is a small, quick bread, whereas a cupcake is a small-sized cake.

MUFFINS VS CUPCAKE: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Let’s find out how different muffins and cupcakes are. About the flour, cupcakes use an all-purpose one. Meanwhile, we use oat, nut, or whole wheat flour to bake muffins.

About the quantity of sugar, cupcakes need much more sugar than muffins. That’s why people often say that muffins are a little bit healthier than cupcakes.

Moreover, cupcakes use butter while standard muffins need liquid fat or vegetable oil instead of butter. 

Last but not least, nuts, dried fruits, or chocolate chips are utilized as delicious mix-ins to make muffins, but cupcakes do not need. At the same time, the process to make muffins baked is totally different from cupcakes.  

Then, how different muffin pan and cupcake pan are? Let’s find out from the comparison below.

MUFFIN PAN VS CUPCAKE PAN: THE DIFFERENCES

SHAPE AND SIZE

Typically, the baker often uses any standard baking pan to make muffins or cupcakes.  When it comes to cupcake pans, we can choose freely and easily. However, some specialized pans are designed to be used as the best muffin pan. 

To be more specific, a standard muffin pan is whose cups have their broader spacing. Most notably, it must have a nonstick coating. You should take note of this point while picking up a muffin pan.

Besides, while the cupcake pan has a standard shape, the muffin pan sometimes seems to be deeper. Also, this nonstick muffin pan may have straighter sides. 

Moreover, you had better pay attention to the size of the suitable baking cups.  There are several types of cups, which are used to bake a cupcake. For example, they are silicone cups or jubilee sweet arts cups. These cups are prevalent in the current market that you can find anywhere to buy. 

For muffins, you can buy the ware natural aluminum commercial muffin, aluminized steel nonstick muffin pan or silicone muffin pan. On the other hand, nonstick bakeware 12 cup muffin tin is also good. 

It’s up to you to choose the suitable one for your muffins.

THE CUP LINER

What is more, the actual difference between cupcake and muffin pan also lies in the cup liners. 

To be more specific, during baking a cupcake, we are not allowed to overfill the liner of the cupcake. The reason is that this liner’s space has to be broad enough to form a cupcake with a nice round-shaped cut.

Meanwhile, baking the muffin is different. You will be advised to overfill the muffin cups in case you want to see the crisp edge of the muffin. 

WAY TO USE THE PAN

It is acceptable that we use a pan to bake a cupcake. However, remember that we must use paper and line the surface of the pan. 

Meanwhile, it is not necessary to do this with a nonstick pro muffin pan. Although we can use the same bakeware for muffin and cupcake, you had better use the standard pan for each type to get the best dessert. 

For example, you will get surprised by the perfect crisp top of the muffin on the nonstick muffin pan. Also, you will not find it challenging to remove the cake from this nonstick pan.

AMOUNT OF BATTER USED

The process of preparing and mixing the batter to bake the cupcake or the muffin is quite different. 

According to each type of cake, we will estimate the right amount of batter. Then, we beat this batter mixture. The muffin batter is beaten slower than the cupcake batter. 

 

CONCLUSION

Now, can you see the differences between the muffin pan vs cupcake pan after reading this article? Well, these still have some different points despite their similarity. 

Knowing this problem thoroughly allows you to bake these delicious foods better. Also, you can be knowledgeable enough to choose the best kitchen tools to bake. 

If you have any new ideas, comment below to let us know. Thanks for reading!

Frequently Asked Questions