{Tips & Tricks} Removing Muffins from Pan + Caramel Apple Muffins Recipe - How To: Simplify (2024)

Have you ever found yourself angrily staring at a muffin pan, close to tears wondering how in the world you were ever going to get your beautiful muffins out of the muffin cups? Don’t worry…I’ve been there too.

Sometimes there’s nothing worse than removing a muffin tin from the oven that is filled with gorgeous muffins only to realize that they are completely cemented into the tin. Next thing you know, your muffins go from cookbook photo-worthy to mangled and crumbled in a matter of minutes.

After enduring this pain and suffering a few times, I quickly adapted a few helpful ways that have allowed me to remove muffins from the tin with tear-free ease.

• Use a high-quality muffin tin. It’s best to bake muffins using a non-stick pan.
• Go crazy with the grease. If you’re not using muffin paper cups, then make sure you grease every nook and cranny before you pour the batter into the tin cups. Also, be sure to grease the surface of the tin just in case the batter rises higher than the depth of the cup and reaches onto the surface.
• Allow the muffins to cool in the pan. Usually five minutes is long enough to allow the muffins to cool slightly and regain their composure before you pop them out of the tin. Longer than 5 minutes could result in soggy muffins so be sure to watch the clock.
• Use a wet towel. Placing a wet towel under the hot pan tends to help ease the muffins out of the tin.
• Have trust in a pairing knife. Whenever I find myself in a horrible stuck-to-the-pan-I-don’t-think-these-babies-are-ever-coming-out moment, I turn to my handy dandy pairing knife. I carefully slip this knife between the muffin and the tin and carefully separate the two. It works like a charm.

Now…onto the fun part…the perfect muffin recipe for fall: Caramel Apple Muffins!

One of my all-time favorite muffin recipes to bake is the Doughnut Muffin recipe. If you haven’t made these yet, then you must. They are sinfully delicious and I bet you won’t be able to eat just one. Trust me. They’re that good.

My friend over at Sugarcrafter agreed with me that these Doughnut Muffins were one of the best muffin recipes out there…until she made this Caramel Apple Muffins recipe. As soon as she posted this recipe on her site and said that they rivaled the Doughnut Muffin recipe, I knew I had to give it a try. These muffins made the house smell absolutely amazing and after one bite I was hooked. These doughnuts are amazing. The mixture of caramel, cinnamon and apple is a winner in my book…and these are the perfect muffins for fall.

Caramel Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk (at least 1%)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped peeled tart apple
• 12 caramels, chopped

For the topping

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk the egg, milk, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in apples and caramels.
5. Combine all of the topping ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a fork.
6. Fill the muffin pan cups 3/4 full and sprinkle the topping over the batter.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
8. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
9. Cool slightly and serve warm.

* Recipe adapted from Sugarcrafter. She has an amazing site filled with countless recipes that are both easy to prepare and delicious! Be sure to stop by her blog and check out her impressive work!