Late to the Party…

I could be late to the party on this one, but I tried these last week and a new realm opened!

My daughter hadn’t seen them before, so maybe I’m not that late if a thirty-something doesn’t know.

Introducing….. Baking Cups!!

Two years in a row, I have seen these at Home Goods. I thought you baked cupcakes or muffins and then placed them in the cups for presentation. I obviously didn’t read the box… you bake right in them!!

Disclaimer: I’m not much of a baker.

I actually bought some a few weeks ago because last year I saw them and then thought of a way I could use them for a present. It had nothing to do with baking. When I went back to get them, they were gone. So, I picked them up for holiday use. I chose some I thought would work for Fall and Christmas.

Then, I was reading a blog two weeks ago and there they were! She baked muffins in them and I understood their intended purpose! Slow learner over here.

I hopped on the idea of making my pumpkin bread recipe into muffins. Just so happens, I shared the recipe last week… find it HERE!

The cups worked great!!
Here’s the best part: you don’t need muffin tins!!

You just set them on a baking sheet, fill them about 1/2 full and bake. No more having to bake in two batches because you don’t have enough muffin tins. You can bake as many as you like, one time.

The muffins were yummy, and the cups kept their vibrant beauty. No brown edges, no discoloring, no curling or grease bleed-through. They were as pretty as when I took them out of the box. Happy Dance!

They elevate presentation to a whole new level and the muffins didn’t suffer in quality. My grandson sent a text after taking some home and said, “Those were incredible!” I’ll take that any day.

I did add a muffin topping to the pumpkin bread recipe:
4 TBL Flour, 4 TBL Brown sugar, 2 TBL Soft Butter
Mix together streusel topping of flour, brown sugar, and soft butter. Sprinkle on top of muffins before baking.

They are nice for traveling or sending home. The muffins or cupcakes won’t crumble or quash in a ziplock. I also imagine they’d work great for a car trip (or any transporting needed). You could pass them out individually with a plastic fork and bingo… no mess consumption.

You can peel them off to eat or like we did, we ate them out of the cup with a fork, even at home. Easy peasy.

Here are a few other ways you could use them:

*Serve Chex Mix or any mix in them for a party, individual portions.

*Serve individual charcuterie cups in them.

*Serve appetizer size salads in them.

*Make individual desserts in them like banana pudding, tiramisu, dirt cups, brownies, etc.

*Package a small gift in them, put in clear plastic sleeve and tie with a ribbon.

What would you use them for? Tell us in the comments.

Amazon carries them, take a look HERE and HERE. Like I said, the Home Goods in my area have a healthy selection right now, for every occasion, not just holidays! Home Goods cups are cheaper than I’ve found online. They were 50 cups for 4.99.

I might be late to the party, but don’t count me out!

Encouragement: Make something in the cups and then share a few with a neighbor, friend, coworker or stranger. We’ve been accustomed to leading separated lives since Covid. It’s easy to disconnect from others. This is a great way to “dip your toe back into the pool.” We need other people and they need us! Maybe some one is new to the neighborhood, lives alone or you’ve never taken the time to meet. If germs are concerning, do a porch drop with a note😉

Enjoying the Party,