There are two types of people in this world: people who own a muffin tin for making muffins, and people who have discovered that a muffin tin is basically a tiny-meal-making machine.
Because once you’ve used those little holes for eggs, potato, pasta, pies, leftovers and even dinner, there is no going back.
A muffin tray can turn one big recipe into individual portions, give you more crispy edges, make food easier to freeze and somehow convince children that dinner is more exciting because it’s now small and round.
And here’s the fun bit: not every recipe on this list was originally designed for a muffin tin.
For some, we’re using the original recipe exactly as intended. For others, we’re taking a recipe we already love and showing you how to turn it into individual muffin-tin portions instead.
So use the linked recipe for the ingredients and original cooking guidance, then follow our muffin tin tip underneath to give it the tiny-food treatment.
Breakfast? Done.
Lunchboxes? Absolutely.
Dinner? Somehow yes.
Dessert? Obviously. We have standards.
Here are 31 easy muffin tin recipes and recipe hacks worth giving those twelve little holes something better to do.
Easy Muffin Tin Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks
- Breakfast and Brunch Muffin Tin Recipes
- Lunchbox and Snack Ideas
- Muffin Tin Dinner Ideas
- Sweet Muffin Tin Treats
- Why Muffin Tin Recipes Are So Handy
- A Quick Note When Converting Recipes to a Muffin Tin
- What Size Muffin Tin Should You Use?
- Your Muffin Tin Has Been Promoted
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mUFFIN TRAYS TO CHECK OUT:
Breakfast and Brunch Muffin Tin Recipes
1. Baked Ham, Cheese and Egg Toast Cups
This is what happens when your standard eggs-on-toast breakfast decides to get dressed up.
Bread forms the little cup, then in goes ham, cheese and egg before the whole thing heads into the oven. They’re great for weekend brekkie, brunch or mornings when cereal has lost its charm.
Make it in the muffin tin: Press a slice of bread into each greased muffin hole to form a cup, add the ham, cheese and egg, then bake everything together until the bread is crisp and the egg is cooked to your liking.
👉🏻Get the Baked Ham, Cheese and Egg Toast Cups recipe
2. Scrambled Egg Muffins
Egg muffins are meal prep’s gift to mornings.
Make a batch, add whatever cheese, vegetables or leftover ham needs using up, and you’ve got an easy grab-and-go breakfast without having to operate a frying pan while half asleep.
Make it in the muffin tin: Prepare your egg mixture, divide it between well-greased muffin holes and bake instead of scrambling it in a pan. Each hole becomes its own little omelette, so you can even give everyone different fillings.
👉🏻Get the Scrambled Egg Muffins recipe
3. Banana Oat Bites
These little banana and oat bites are brilliant for breakfast, morning tea or lunchboxes.
They’re also an excellent destination for bananas that have reached that highly specific stage between “very ripe” and “absolutely nobody is eating that”.
Make it in the muffin tin: Rather than shaping the mixture separately, spoon it into greased mini or standard muffin holes and gently press it down. Bake until the bites have set and the edges are lightly golden.
👉🏻Get the Banana Oat Bites recipe
4. Sultana Cinnamon Muffins
Wholemeal flour, oats, sultanas and cinnamon make these a lovely little breakfast or snack muffin.
They freeze well too, so make extras unless you particularly enjoy baking before school on a Tuesday morning.
Make it in the muffin tin: Divide the batter evenly between lined or greased muffin holes and bake as directed. A standard 12-hole tray gives you individual portions ready to cool, freeze and throw into lunchboxes.
👉🏻Get the Sultana Cinnamon Muffins recipe
5. Reduced Sugar Apple and Oat Muffins
These apple and oat muffins use apple purée for sweetness and have that soft, comforting apple-and-cinnamon thing going on.
Perfect for breakfast, lunchboxes or when you want something sweet that isn’t basically cake wearing a muffin costume.
Make it in the muffin tin: Spoon the batter into individual muffin cups rather than baking it as one larger cake-style mixture. Fill each hole roughly evenly so they cook at the same rate, then cool completely before freezing any extras.
👉🏻Get the Apple and Oat Muffins recipe
6. Individual Baked Oatmeal Cups
From Pamela Salzman, these baked oatmeal cups turn porridge into something you can actually pick up.
Add fruit, nuts or whatever toppings your household won’t complain about, then make a batch for easy breakfasts.
Make it in the muffin tin: Spoon the prepared oatmeal mixture into greased muffin holes, add different toppings to individual cups if you like, then bake until each portion is set enough to lift out once cooled.
👉🏻Get the Individual Baked Oatmeal Cups recipe at Pamela Salzman
7. On-the-Go Pancake Muffins
If you love pancakes but don’t love standing at the stove flipping seventeen of them while everybody else eats, Tasty has a solution.
Pancake batter goes straight into the muffin tin with fruit or your favourite extras, and the oven handles the rest.
Make it in the muffin tin: Forget the frying pan and divide pancake batter directly between greased muffin holes. Drop fruit, berries or chocolate chips into individual cups and bake the entire batch at once.
👉🏻Get the On-the-Go Pancake Muffins recipe at Tasty
8. Cheese and Bacon Muffin Tin Hash Browns
Potato, bacon and cheese already had a very solid relationship. RecipeTin Eats then put them in a muffin tin and made things considerably better.
They’re crispy around the edges, cheesy in the middle and can even be made ahead and reheated.
Make it in the muffin tin: Pack the grated potato mixture firmly into each muffin hole so it comes into contact with the sides of the tin. That’s what gives you those glorious crispy potato edges while keeping the centre cheesy and soft.
👉🏻Get the Cheese and Bacon Muffin Tin Hash Browns recipe at RecipeTin Eats
Lunchbox and Snack Ideas
9. Mini Chicken and Capsicum Quiches
These are proper little quiches made with pastry, chicken mince, capsicum, eggs and cheese.
They’re easy to customise depending on what you’ve got in the fridge and are just the right size for lunchboxes.
Make it in the muffin tin: Cut the pastry into rounds big enough to line individual muffin holes, add the chicken and capsicum filling, pour over the egg mixture and bake until the pastry is golden and the centres are set.
👉🏻Get the Mini Chicken and Capsicum Quiches recipe
10. Sneaky Mac ‘n’ Cheese Muffins
Mac and cheese was already doing perfectly well, but putting it in muffin form makes it far more lunchbox-friendly.
Plus anything called “sneaky” in a kids’ recipe generally means vegetables are involved somewhere. Say nothing.
Make it in the muffin tin: Prepare the mac and cheese mixture, spoon it firmly into greased muffin holes and bake until the portions hold together and develop golden edges. Let them cool slightly before lifting them out so they don’t collapse dramatically on you.
👉🏻Get the Sneaky Mac ‘n’ Cheese Muffins recipe
11. Bubble & Squeak Muffins
Leftover vegetables and mashed potato get a second life here instead of spending three days slowly dying in a container at the back of the fridge.
Bake them into little muffins and suddenly leftovers look suspiciously intentional.
Make it in the muffin tin: Mix your mash and vegetables together, pack the mixture into greased muffin holes and bake until the tops and sides are golden. The individual holes give you far more crispy edges than one giant bubble and squeak.
👉🏻Get the Bubble & Squeak Muffins recipe
12. 3-Ingredient Easy Cheesy Muffins
Three ingredients.
That’s it.
Flour, cheese and milk make the base, then you can add ham, vegetables or whatever else you’ve got hanging around. These are one of those recipes worth memorising for emergency snack situations.
Make it in the muffin tin: Divide the cheesy batter between greased or lined muffin holes and add any extras directly into individual portions. Very handy when one child wants ham and another has decided ham is suddenly offensive.
👉🏻Get the 3-Ingredient Easy Cheesy Muffins recipe
13. Ham and Vegetable Muffins
These are excellent for the child who claims vegetables are unacceptable but apparently has no problem eating them once they’re surrounded by ham and cheese.
They’re also freezer-friendly, which makes them handy for school lunch prep.
Make it in the muffin tin: Fold the ham and vegetables through your batter, spoon into muffin cups and bake the batch together. Once cooled, each one is already perfectly portioned for the lunchbox or freezer.
👉🏻Get the Ham and Vegetable Muffins recipe
14. Cheesy Spinach Cauliflower Muffins
Cauliflower, spinach and cheese all bundled into one savoury muffin.
They’re substantial enough for a snack or light lunch and another handy option when the vegetable drawer needs dealing with before grocery day.
Make it in the muffin tin: Spoon or pack the cauliflower mixture into greased muffin holes and press it down lightly so each portion holds together. Bake until firm with golden cheesy edges.
👉🏻Get the Cheesy Spinach Cauliflower Muffins recipe
15. Raspberry Muffins — Gluten Free and Dairy Free
Because muffin-tin life should not be reserved exclusively for people who can eat everything.
These raspberry muffins use almond meal and gluten-free flour and are both gluten- and dairy-free.
Make it in the muffin tin: Divide the batter between lined muffin holes, distributing the raspberries as evenly as you can so one lucky muffin doesn’t end up containing the entire punnet.
👉🏻Get the Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Raspberry Muffins recipe
16. Wholemeal Date Muffins
Dates, wholemeal flour, oats and bran make these a filling little muffin for school lunches or afternoon tea.
They’re especially good with a cuppa once the children have stopped asking you to share yours.
Make it in the muffin tin: Spoon the prepared batter between muffin holes and bake them as individual portions. You’ll get those slightly browned tops and edges, and nobody can cut themselves a suspiciously enormous “small piece”.
👉🏻Get the Wholemeal Date Muffins recipe
Muffin Tin Dinner Ideas
17. Cheesy Potato Puffs
If you’ve got leftover mashed potato, this is one of the better things you can do with it besides standing at the fridge eating it cold with a spoon.
These cheesy potato puffs turn ordinary mash into little golden, fluffy potato cups with cheese baked through them.
Make it in the muffin tin: Prepare the SAHM Cheesy Potato Puff recipe, then divide the mixture between well-greased muffin holes instead of baking it as one larger portion. Sprinkle a little extra cheese over the tops and bake until puffed and golden. Let them sit for a few minutes before lifting them out so they hold their shape.
If you’re starting from scratch rather than using leftovers, use our easy Mashed Potato recipe first.
18. Shepherd’s Pie Cupcakes
Shepherd’s pie, but everybody gets their own.
The savoury filling goes into the muffin tin and gets topped with mashed potato so they genuinely look like tiny savoury cupcakes.
Extremely cute. Also much easier to serve than one enormous collapsing shepherd’s pie.
Make it in the muffin tin: Spoon the cooked meat filling into greased muffin holes, pipe or spoon mashed potato on top and bake until everything is heated through and the potato starts turning golden.
👉🏻Get the Shepherd’s Pie Cupcakes recipe
19. Spaghetti and Meatball Cups
Emily Bites turns spaghetti and meatballs into proper little handheld portions.
It’s a clever option for kids, parties or simply anybody who enjoys pasta but doesn’t enjoy wearing half of it.
Make it in the muffin tin: Once the spaghetti mixture is prepared, twist small portions into greased muffin holes and press them down slightly so the pasta forms a nest. Pop a meatball into each one and bake until the pasta cups hold together.
👉🏻Get the Spaghetti and Meatball Cups recipe at Emily Bites
20. Chicken Pesto Wonton Cups
These crispy wonton cups from Emily Bites are filled with chicken, pesto, tomato and mozzarella.
They’re quick enough for dinner but also look sufficiently fancy that you could serve them when people come over and pretend you planned ahead.
Make it in the muffin tin: Push a wonton wrapper into each muffin hole so the corners stick up around the sides, then spoon the chicken pesto filling inside. The tin holds the wrapper in its little cup shape while those exposed corners become wonderfully crisp.
👉🏻Get the Chicken Pesto Wonton Cups recipe at Emily Bites
21. Crunchy Taco Cups
Taco filling inside crispy wonton cups?
Yes.
These from Kevin & Amanda have seasoned beef, tomato and plenty of cheese baked into little crunchy layers. It’s taco night with considerably less structural failure.
Make it in the muffin tin: Press wonton wrappers into muffin holes, add your seasoned taco filling and cheese, then bake until the wrappers become crisp. The muffin tray basically gives every taco its own structural support system.
👉🏻Get the Crunchy Taco Cups recipe at Kevin & Amanda
22. Easy Enchilada Cups
Gimme Some Oven uses flour tortillas to make individual enchilada cups filled with chicken, black beans, corn, enchilada sauce and cheese.
They’re particularly good for parties because cutlery becomes largely optional.
Make it in the muffin tin: Cut or use tortillas small enough to press into individual muffin holes, then pile the enchilada filling inside. Bake until the filling is hot and the exposed tortilla edges start to crisp.
👉🏻Get the Easy Enchilada Cups recipe at Gimme Some Oven
23. Homemade Baked Falafel
Falafel is normally shaped and fried or baked on a tray, but a mini muffin tin makes perfectly portioned little falafel bites.
May I Have That Recipe pairs theirs with tahini and uses dried chickpeas, herbs and spices for loads of flavour.
Make it in the muffin tin: Prepare the falafel mixture according to the recipe but, instead of shaping individual balls or patties, press portions into a greased mini muffin tin. Bake until firm and browned, then gently loosen them once they’ve had a chance to set.
👉🏻Get the Homemade Baked Falfel recipe at May I Have That Recipe
24. Parmesan Scalloped Potato Stacks
This one is proof the humble muffin tin can occasionally become very fancy indeed.
Food52 stacks thin potato slices with cream, Parmesan, garlic and thyme before baking them into individual portions.
Make it in the muffin tin: Layer thin potato slices directly inside each muffin hole, adding the cream, Parmesan and seasoning between the layers. The sides of the tray stop the stacks from wandering off while the exposed tops become golden.
👉🏻Get the Parmesan Scalloped Potato Stacks recipe at Food52
25. Baked Salmon Cakes
Salmon cakes are normally shaped into patties and cooked individually, which is perfectly fine until you’re standing at the stove doing batch number four.
The muffin tin version lets the oven deal with the lot.
Make it in the muffin tin: Prepare the salmon mixture from the linked recipe, then divide it between greased muffin holes and gently press each portion down. Bake until cooked through and firm enough to hold its shape. Because they’re smaller than a traditional patty, start checking them earlier than you would the original recipe.
👉🏻Get the Baked Salmon Cakes recipe at Taste of Home
Sweet Muffin Tin Treats
26. Apple and Cinnamon Muffins
Some flavour combinations do not need reinventing.
Apple and cinnamon is one of them.
These are moist, simple, freezer-friendly and exactly the sort of muffin that mysteriously disappears while still cooling on the bench.
Make it in the muffin tin: Divide the apple and cinnamon batter between lined or greased muffin holes and bake until the tops are golden and the centres are cooked through. Easy. As muffins should be.
👉🏻Get the Apple and Cinnamon Muffins recipe
27. Coconut Cream and Lemon Muffins
These little things are rich, lemony and made with coconut cream.
Basically sunshine in muffin form, particularly good when served warm.
Make it in the muffin tin: Spoon the coconut and lemon batter evenly into a standard muffin tray and bake as individual cakes. The cups give every one its own golden top instead of having to slice up a larger bake afterwards.
👉🏻Get the Coconut Cream and Lemon Muffins recipe
28. Healthy Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins
Blueberries and sour cream give these muffins a lovely soft texture, while the recipe keeps the added sugar relatively restrained.
They’re good for lunchboxes, afternoon tea or eating directly over the kitchen sink before anyone else notices they’re ready.
Make it in the muffin tin: Fold in the blueberries, spoon the batter into lined muffin holes and try to share the berries around fairly. Bake until the centres are set, then let them cool in the tray briefly before transferring them to a rack.
👉🏻Get the Healthy Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins recipe
29. Mini Cherry Pies
This is where the muffin tin stops pretending it’s only for practical food.
Individual cherry pies give everyone their own little dessert and eliminate arguments over who received the larger slice.
Make it in the muffin tin: Cut pastry rounds large enough to press into each muffin hole, spoon in the cherry filling and finish with another piece or lattice of pastry. Your muffin tray is now twelve tiny pie tins. Look at it advancing its career.
👉🏻Get the Mini Cherry Pies recipe
30. Lemon Lava Cakes
A jumbo muffin pan is the secret weapon behind these lemon lava cakes.
They’re made with white chocolate, lemon juice and lemon zest and have that glorious soft, saucy centre that makes dessert worth washing another baking tray for.
Make it in the muffin tin: Use a jumbo muffin tray and divide the batter evenly between the holes. The deep cups give the outside enough structure to cook while leaving that soft, lava-style centre hiding inside.
👉🏻Get the Lemon Lava Cake recipe
31. Rocky Road Muffins
Rocky road already contains chocolate, marshmallows and white chocolate chips, so turning it into a muffin feels less like baking and more like excellent decision-making.
These Stay At Home Mum muffins give you all those rocky-road bits tucked into individual chocolate cakes, and yes, they are exactly as subtle as they sound.
Make it in the muffin tin: Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases — particularly useful here because melted marshmallow has absolutely no respect for non-stick promises. Divide the chocolate, marshmallow and white-choc-chip batter between the cases, bake, then let them sit in the pan briefly before cooling on a rack.
👉🏻Get the Rocky Road Muffins recipe
Why Muffin Tin Recipes Are So Handy
The obvious win is portion size, but the real beauty of a muffin tray is that it can turn foods that normally need frying, cutting, shaping or serving from one enormous dish into a whole batch of individual portions.
You can make twelve at once, refrigerate what you’ll use over the next few days and freeze the recipes that handle freezing well.
They’re brilliant for lunchboxes, parties, quick breakfasts and dinners where everyone wants to be fed approximately six minutes ago.
And because each portion touches the sides of the pan, savoury recipes such as potato, pasta and leftover mash can develop far more crispy edges than they would in one big baking dish.
That’s important. Crispy edges deserve consideration.
A Quick Note When Converting Recipes to a Muffin Tin
If the original recipe wasn’t designed for a muffin tray, use its ingredients and oven temperature as your starting point, but remember that smaller individual portions will often cook faster than one large dish or full-sized patty.
Grease the tin well, don’t overfill the holes and start checking the food earlier than the original recipe suggests.
Recipes containing egg, pastry, cheese or potato are particularly fond of attaching themselves permanently to bakeware, so don’t be shy with the grease.
For delicate recipes, let them sit in the pan for a few minutes after cooking before attempting extraction. Sometimes dinner just needs a minute to emotionally prepare.
What Size Muffin Tin Should You Use?
A standard 12-hole muffin tin will work for most recipes in this list.
Mini muffin tins are brilliant for party food, falafel bites and smaller lunchbox snacks. Jumbo muffin tins work better for larger portions such as substantial egg cups and desserts like lava cakes.
Metal trays generally give you better browning and crispier edges, while silicone makes softer or more delicate recipes easier to remove.
And if you’ve had the same scratched muffin tin since 2007 and everything now requires excavation with a butter knife, consider this its official retirement notice.
Your Muffin Tin Has Been Promoted
It turns out that tray hiding underneath the cake tins can make significantly more than muffins.
It can turn yesterday’s mash into bubble and squeak, spaghetti into little nests, tortillas into enchilada cups and shepherd’s pie into something that looks suspiciously like a cupcake.
Basically, if you can spoon it, press it, stack it or stuff it into one of those little holes, there’s a decent chance the muffin tin can do something useful with it.
Which one are you trying first?
Aw cheers! We’ll take “top quality content” when the content involves golden syrup dumplings any day Hope you give them…