We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.
Our top picks offer durability, versatility, even baking, and easy cleanup. Ice Mold
Food and Wine / Nick Simpson
Despite the uni-tasker name, a muffin pan is one of the best baking tools in your kitchen. The best muffin pans are powerhouses that can make everything from delicate cupcakes to hearty meatballs. These pans pull their weight when it comes to pre-batching individual servings to prep weekday lunches or baking perfectly airy popovers for Sunday brunch.
You won’t want to skimp on this all-purpose tool, so we tested 14 muffin pans from brands including Great Jones, Le Creuset, and Nordic Ware to make selecting the right one for your kitchen a no-brainer. We baked cupcakes, muffins, and frittatas, assessing everything from functionality to durability. Here are the best muffin pans for even, perfectly fluffy results.
Even heat dispersal makes for perfectly risen and browned bakes in this pan.
The nonstick silicone coating must be hand-washed and isn't supposed to be sprayed with oil.
This was undoubtedly the best muffin pan we tested. The inner core is made of steel for good heat retention and transfer and then coated in a layer of corrosion-resistant aluminum. And then that whole thing gets a silicone coating that's both nonstick and extra-grippy for moving the pan in and out of the oven. In our baking tests, cupcakes, muffins, and mini-frittatas were all browned and cooked evenly, and the well size was just right to ensure no spills or dribbles.
The downside with the silicone coating is that it can't go in the dishwasher, though we had no trouble with hand-washing the impressively nonstick surface. You also can't use oil-based cooking spray, which can degrade the material. You won't need to, but it might be a change from your normal baking routine.
Materials: Aluminized steel, silicone | Dimensions: 1.3 x 15.75 x 1.33 inches | Cup Capacity: 100 milliliters | Dishwasher-safe: No
Food & Wine / Nick Simpson
Food & Wine / Nick Simpson
This is a functional and versatile muffin pan across the board, and its look stands out.
It's slightly more expensive than some of our other picks, and the cup design can trap crumbs.
Coming in at a very close second, the Williams Sonoma Goldtouch pan has a similar aluminized steel material and nonstick coating as the USA Pan above, and it performed just as well. We got even bakes in all of our tests, with good browning on top of muffins and cupcakes without overcooking on the bottom. It's durable, and its striking gold color will stand out at any potluck.
The main issue we encountered was with cleaning. The nonstick coating works great, but there's a tiny ridge between each cup and the main body of the pan that can hold onto crumbs and require scrubbing — especially if you overfill a cup and some batter ends up baking into the space. The Goldtouch also costs a bit more than other pans; it's only a few dollars above average for our tests, but it is above average.
Material: Aluminized steel | Dimensions: 15.75 x 11.25 x 1.5 inches | Cup Capacity: 100 milliliters | Dishwasher-safe: Yes (hand-washing recommended)
Food & Wine / Nick Simpson
Food & Wine / Nick Simpson
This colorful, durable pan makes a gorgeous gift for any baker or brunch host.
It bakes quicker than other pans, which could lead to burnt food.
Available in bright raspberry and blueberry colors, this Great Jones pan is eye-catching and perfect for any stylish home cook's collection. If you're invited to a potluck brunch or birthday party, it can safely transport your baked goods and be left behind as a thoughtful host gift.
Just make sure to let the recipient know to adjust their baking times. The Stud Muffin transmitted heat more effectively than other pans in our testing and cooked faster. Our cupcakes still baked evenly, but they wound up darker in color than the same recipe cooking for the same time in a lighter-colored pan. We had a small amount of trouble releasing baked goods from the cups, but they still came out clean with a bit of a nudge from a silicone spatula.
Materials: Aluminized steel | Dimensions: 15.25 x 11 x 1.25 inches | Cup Capacity: 94 milliliters | Dishwasher-safe: Yes (hand-washing recommended)
Food & Wine / Nick Simpson
Food & Wine / Nick Simpson
This inexpensive pan has a very effective nonstick coating and provides even cooking.
The individual muffin cups are comparatively small and prone to overflow.
This pan might not be very expensive, but it features an impressively effective nonstick coating. Cupcakes, muffins, and mini-frittatas all slid right out, with no breakage or any need to run a knife around the edges to loosen anything. The silicone grips on either end give you a secure hold, and they're oven-safe up to 500°F, which should cover any situation where you'd use a muffin pan.
Our main problem with the Rachel Ray muffin tin is that its cups are small. They hold 87 milliliters each, the second-smallest in our tests and about 10 percent below average. That makes them more likely to overflow as muffin batter rises in the oven; you'll have to recalibrate your usual fill level. We also got some staining in muffin testing where blueberry pieces caramelized against the metal. This didn't affect performance but was visible.
Materials: Steel, silicone | Dimensions: 4.12 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches | Cup Capacity: 87 milliliters | Dishwasher-safe: Yes (hand-washing recommended)
This heavy-duty pan is well-designed and will last a lifetime.
It's quite expensive for a muffin tin.
Like most Le Creuset products, this muffin pan carries a comparatively high price tag. But like most Le Creuset products, it's also well-built, with smart design and materials to last a lifetime. The heavy-duty nonstick coating on this pan felt pretty invincible in our durability test, and cupcakes released from the cups like a dream.
The silicone handles on either side of this muffin pan make transferring between the oven and countertop effortless. Its dark color is also helpful when it comes to even cooking, though it may bake recipes quicker than expected in some instances — especially if you're used to lighter-colored cookware. The Le Creuset's small-ish cups could be prone to overflow, but one great feature of this pan is its raised rim, which keeps spills contained inside rather than all over the floor of your oven. If you're a baker who's prone to disaster, that's helpful.
Materials: Carbon steel, silicone | Dimensions: 11.81 x 15.75 x 1.49 inches | Cup Capacity: 89 milliliters | Dishwasher-safe: No
The USA Pan Nonstick Muffin Pan was an instant hit in our test kitchen. It baked all three of our test recipes to perfection, didn't take any damage in our scratch test, and was the easiest muffin tin to clean of the bunch. We recommend it to anybody looking to bake anything, really. You can’t go wrong.
We purchased a total of 14 muffin pans to test for this story. Many of the brands above are available in multiple sizes, but we used 12-cup muffin pans in our Lab in order to make as fair a comparison as possible. We looked at general design aspects but also ran a series of head-to-head tests.
The best muffin pan should heat evenly on all sides, allowing its contents to rise without overflowing and produce a nicely domed top. Whether a pan is successful depends a lot on its material. Steel conducts heat very evenly (especially compared to aluminum), which helps ensure your baked goods cook thoroughly all the way through without burning on the top of bottom.
The color of the pan also has a lot to do with its cooking effectiveness: Dark colors, which absorb more heat than light colors, tend to cook more quickly overall. If you're switching from a light pan to a dark one (or vice-versa), you might need to adjust your cook time by a few minutes or your temperature by a few degrees to account for the difference.
One of the most important considerations when choosing a muffin pan is whether you can grab and pull it out of the oven easily. You don't want the edges of your oven mitts dipping into the batter, and you don't want a pan that's so heavy it tips over when you try to pick it up. A generous space on either side to hold the pan is helpful, though it adds weight and makes the whole thing wider. This is mostly up to personal preference, but if you have carpal tunnel syndrome or other wrist issues, a lighter pan is probably better.
Most muffin pans are nonstick, which means they should be pretty simple to clean with just a sponge, soap, and water. But you should pay close attention to corners and seams, where crumbs that you might miss can get caught. A smooth, rounded surface will be easiest to clean.
Several of the muffin tins we tested say they're dishwasher-safe but recommend hand-washing. We say to keep these out of the dishwasher, as it can scratch the pan or damage the non-stick coating. To be honest, none of our test pans got dirty enough to really justify a trip through the dishwasher.
Metal is the most popular choice, as it conducts heat well and is can be finished with a nonstick coating. Steel transfers heat better than aluminum, but it costs more and is more susceptible to corrosion. For this reason, a steel core coated with aluminum (AKA "aluminized steel") is a popular choice. There are also pans made entirely of silicone, which is completely nonstick and can go from oven to fridge or freezer. However, silicone can't conduct heat as well as metal.
While many pans are advertised as dishwasher-safe, it’s still best to hand-wash. You'll have a better handle on getting any leftover batter caked into any crevices, and it will prolong the nonstick coating. All you should need is a sponge, soap, and warm water.
It’s still a good idea to grease a nonstick pan for extra insurance that your bakes won’t stick. You can grease your pan in many ways, including cooking spray, oil, or butter, or you can use cupcake liners made of foil or parchment paper. You should always read your pan's instructions, however: Some pans are lined with a type of silicone that can be damaged by cooking spray.
Anolon Advanced Nonstick 12-Cup Muffin Tin With Silicone Grips (Amazon)
This pan was impressively nonstick, releasing the test cupcakes with no problems whatsoever. It's designed much like the Rachel Ray model above but costs a few dollars more. Plus, we found that the space at the top of the cups held onto some batter that required scrubbing to fully clean.
Wilton Perfect Results Premium Nonstick Bakeware 12-Cup Muffin Pan & Cupcake Pan (Amazon)
Wilton's nonstick muffin pan is impressively cheap, but its test results were less impressive. The nonstick coating just wasn't quite as effective as other models. If you're baking in quantity and need a lot of muffin tins at once, though, it might be a good bulk choice.
Silpat Perfect Muffin Mold (Silpat)
Silpat made the original nonstick silicone baking mat, and it's still our favorite. Its muffin pan is pretty unique, with cup spaces molded out of that same ultra-nonstick material. The problem is that the silicone is flexible, so you'll have to put a baking pan underneath this gadget anyway. And it's a lot more expensive than other options that also won't stick to baked goods.
Cakes Baking Silicone Mold *Editor's note: Our tests also included the OXO Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan and Trudeau Structure Pro Standard Muffin Pan, which have been discontinued.