I recently acquired some mini-muffin pans on sale. With my current set
this means I have 4 pans with 12 "holes" each.

I mostly have the pans around for making my mom's Peanut Butter Cup
Cookies:

http://loveandcooking.blogspot.com/2...p-cookies.html

but am aware, in the dim recesses of my mind, that these are indeed
useable for bite sized muffins and cupcakes. As I have recently joined a
church where my culinary talents are appreciated (and almost immediately
been recruited for coffee hour help ;-), I am now very interested in
getting good use out of my pans in the task of Feeding the Multitudes.

An attempt to research the subject on Google indicates that I can pretty
much use any old recipe I feel like for muffins or cupcakes, and just bake
them for a slightly shorter time. What was unclear to me is what the
general proportions would look like: e.g. if the recipe makes 12 standard
sized muffins or cupcakes, how many minis would it likely make?

I'm also thinking that some savories would be nice (we like to mix this
sort of stuff up, actually - regular coffee hour has cookies, breakfast
breads, cheese-and-crackers, and fruit). Cornbread is an obvious one, but
other savories such as mini-quiches (with or without a crust of some kind)
would be grand.

Besides my somewhat general question of Mini-Muffin vs. Regular yield for
the same recipe, I'm very, very interested in ANY very favorite recipes
you use that would be entirely suited for mini-muffin pan use, whether it
be muffins themselves (I have some I like, but I'm always interested in
more), cupcakes, cornbread, and savories.

I will say that my parameters run in the general direction of "reasonable
cost" and very much in the direction of "relatively non-fussy to put
together", "tasty at room temp, more or less" and "doesn't need
last-minute prep" (although reheating before serving is do-able under
most circumstances, and refrigerating before serving is no problem).

If you have something fancier that you REALLY love, let me know, and I can
try it at home when I have people over ;-).

Thanks!

Charlotte




--

The minis are usually one-half the volume of regular cupcake molds, and
even less than some of the larger muffin tins. Simply try measuring
the volume with water to compare between different pans.

As for uses, I use the mini tins for some brownie recipes. GRease the
wells well, and the metal surrounding each brownie makes the outside of
each brownie/muffin a bit more solid than if they were cut from a flat
pan, and hence less crumbs - - for receptions easier to hold while
eating and fewer crumbs on your carpet Same thing for cornbread,
or really, any cakes or muffins you like.
..
I have also cooked in quantity for after-church. Since I only have a
couple of mini pans, and several of the regular size, I just use the
regular size and fill them with half the batter I normally would.
But the wider flat results only work with some of the firmer recipes.
Liberally grease the pans so that, when cooled in the pan, you can turn
them over and taps them out. Digging with a flexible spatula, for me,
tends to break some of them.

One more note --

A gingerbread recipe -- the dense cake usually baked in an 8x8 pan,
works well in the minis.
Also, a sweet carrot cake with reduced liquid in the batter. Serve
both as is, or with a simple buttercreme icing.