Muffins stick to paper muffin cups

[MikeC]

I usually use paper muffin cups when I bake muffins, because I hate to try to clean a muffin pan, even the non-stick ones. But I sometimes find that the muffins stick to the sides of the muffin cups and I lose part of the muffin when it gets "unwrapped."

Anyone have ideas about what causes this? Could it have something to do with the amount of moisture in the muffin?

[CompassRose]

Amount of fat in the muffin. Low-fat and fat-free muffins are terrible for this -- you're lucky to get half the thing when you're done peeling the paper off.

Greasing or spraying the muffin papers, while also messy and a bit of a PITA, is the best solution.

I heard -- might even have been on the Cooking Gifts thread down here a way -- that there are now Silpat muffin tin liners. I've also seen, but never tried, those flexible silicone muffin pans (those squishy silicone pans are over-weird, though!) Dunno if those would be an easier-clean option than a regular muffin pan, and I don't make enough muffins to feel an overwhelming need to try.

[Aubergine]

aha! thanks so much for explaining that one, Rose. DD was busy baking muffins with me last year; they were very low-fat and sticking like crazy to the paper liners. i'm one who also loathes cleaning muffin pans, too many darn crevices and corners. OTOH, i'm suspicious as heck about those squooshy silicone baking pans; maybe it's the bright colors that put me off. i prefer my quick breads in loaf form, makes portion control - and clean-up - much easier.

[MikeC]

Thank you, Rose! I'm doing more low- and non-fat cooking now, and that's what is doing it. I just baked a batch of low-fat muffins. It's a little messy and seems a little "redundant" to spray the muffin cups, but, boy, what a difference! I didn't lose half of the muffins to the paper, and the clean-up of the muffin pan was a breeze.

Many thanks for the explanation and the tip!!