Aren’t homemade muffins the best? Yet they’re not the easiest to get out of their pans. They need to cool sufficiently before removal—otherwise, you may end up with a handful of crumbs. But muffin mavens advise against cooling muffins completely in their pans. They say that the bottoms will get soggy. Instead, take the muffins out of the oven and put the pan on a wire rack. Let the muffins and pan sit there for 10 minutes. Then angle the baking pan so that the muffins can gently fall out (you may have to loosen some sides slightly with a butter knife), and put them on the rack (without the pan) until they finish cooling (at least a half-hour). Muffins that have been allowed to cool this way are less likely to fall apart.
If the muffins are stuck to the pan when you try to remove them, spread a wet towel on your work surface. Then put the still-warm muffin pan on the wet towel. After one to two minutes, you should be able to pop out the muffins without any problem. But next time, consider baking the muffins in paper baking cups.
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