In a past post I gave away all my secrets when I taught you how to make muffins that are so great, your friends will call you a genius. Reader feedback has been off the chart. In fact, that’s exactly what I was thinking about one Saturday morning as I was making muffins for brunch.

I was all ready to fill the muffin cups with batter when I remembered that I’d used every last one of my cupcake paper liners. I was in no mood to go to the store. Muffin batter is not kind to those who do not move it quickly to the oven once the wet ingredients have been stirred in.

I wanted to kick myself because I’d planned to splurge and order very nice Tulip Muffin Cups online, but at the last minute felt myself beginning to choke at the price.

How dumb would that be to spend ten times the cost of the muffin just to bake it in a very cool looking throw away “paper?” Don’t answer. And don’t hate me when I tell you how much I wished that I’d ordered them anyway. Because at that moment I really needed them.

Back to my dilemma.

I do not like to bake muffins in a pan without paper liners. The batter tends to flow onto the pan as the muffins rise, making them ugly and difficult to remove. And then once removed to cool, their poor little bodies are all exposed. And this causes them to get all dried out and crusty well before their time.

Right about then, I got to thinking: What if I…

My photography skills leave much to be desired, but trust me on this: It worked so well, no more cupcake paper liners for muffins in my little bakery.

My DIY tulip papers are way superior because they keep all of the muffin in the cup. Not even the muffin top spills out. And besides, they look like they came from a quaint little French bakery.

First published: 6-13-13; Updated and re-published: 10-16-19

DIY muffin liner homemade tulip baking lavender cutting board shadows

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

4.55 from 11 votes

How to Make Tulip Muffin Cups

My DIY tulip papers are way superior because they keep all of the muffin in the cup. Not even the muffin top spills out. And besides, they look like they came from a quaint little French bakery.

Prep Time10

Total Time10

Course: Baking

Cuisine: American

Servings: tulip muffin cups

Ingredients

2 sheets 12" x 18" parchment paper
1 6-oz can (see Note 1)

Instructions

With scissors, cut parchment paper in 12 (6-inch) squares, 6 per sheet parchment
Form each 6-inch square piece parchment over a small can, sliding your hand down the sides of the can to "pleat" the paper as it conforms to the size of the can (see Note 2).
To use: Place tulip muffin cups in a muffin pan, fill with batter (see Note 3).

Notes

Note 1: Like tomato paste, frozen fruit juice, etc.

Note 2: Because parchment paper is sturdy, it will hold this shape very well.

Note 3: Filling these muffin papers without making a mess all over the sides of the paper is a little tricky, just go slow and easy. Or pour your batter into a disposable cake decorating bag or a gallon-size zip lock bag to fill the muffin cups. I tried the zip bag idea a few days after these pics were taken, cutting off one of the bottom corners just large enough to allow my blueberries to pass through easily. I filled the cups as if I were decorating a cake. Fabulous results.

Note 4: Baked in these tulip papers, muffins are a cinch to lift out of the muffin pan to cool, because as I said, everything in contained. Just pick them up by two "ears." To open right at the moment of consumption, pull on two opposite "ears" and Viola! There it is, a beautiful, moist, luscious piece of heaven.

Note 5: For jumbo-size muffins, 7-inch squares of parchment work perfectly when formed over a regular size can, soup size.

Note 6: I also have a mini-muffin pan. Yes, I made tiny tulip papers for it: 3 1/2-inch squares of parchment formed over an upside-down prescription bottle. So adorable.

Everyday Cheapskate participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon affiliated sites.

More from Everyday Cheapskate

DIY Tulip Muffin Liners: A Genius Hack for Perfect Muffins Every Time

traditional st patricks day meal corned beef and cabbage potatoes carrots

Corned Beef and Cabbage: A Classic Irish Dish Made Simple

quick dinner recipe italian cheesy meatball bake casserole dish

Quick Dinner Recipe: Italian Cheesy Meatball Bake for Busy Cooks

spicy homemade pico de gallo vegetable chopper tomato onion jalapeño cilantro

Confessions of a Compulsive Chopper (Shopper)

women serving small bites for appetizers party

Skip the Dinner, Bring on the Appetizer Party!

ingredients on a table for homemade pizza with no-rise dough

I Challenged Dominos to a Pizza Bake-Off and This is What Happened

pile of rotten produce food waste in Amerian

Simple Ways We Can Stop Throwing Our Food Dollars Into The Garbage

Frozen food in the refrigerator. Vegetables on the freezer shelves.

Money-Saving Tips, Tricks, and Hacks to Put Your Freezer To Work

february-2024-wallpaper-calendar-valentines-day

Yummy Sweets to Make for Valentine’s Day

Please keep your comments positive, encouraging, helpful, brief,
and on-topic in keeping with EC Commenting Guidelines

Linda Norman says:

October 16, 2019 at 1:28 pm

Definitely no need to ever purchase pre made Tulip cups. Thank you!

Jackie S. says:

October 16, 2019 at 11:51 am

Mary:
About 10 years ago I bought a case of assorted size cupcake papers for about $6 for the whole box. I have the big cupcake paper and really small papers and everything in between. A local store had found them in their back room where they had just been putting the unsold cupcake papers into the box for about 15 years. They were still well contained. I haven’t used even 1/4 of them. My daughter will probably inherent them when I am gone. (I’m 69). I don’t make a lot of cupcakes but I used to make a lot of Blueberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Cherry muffins but since my oldest son was killed in 2017 I have not wanted to bake much of anything. I really need to start making the muffins my other 2 children enjoy eating. They like me to make muffins where I half fill the cup and then take preserves (not what they call preserves not but the old timey kind where they have pieces of fruit all through the preserves) and put the preserves on the muffin batter in the cup and then put enough batter on top to keep the preserves in the middle of the muffin. My kids have always loved them.
I don’t think I should call them kids anymore my youngest is 41 and getting married the 2nd of Nov. and my daughter is 45. As they tell me they are not children anymore they are adults. I tell them OK but you are still my kids.

Sue says:
October 16, 2019 at 12:06 pm

Jackie S. So very sorry about the loss of your son. No matter the age of our kids, they’ll always be our kids and we do almost anything for them!
Great idea about jam in the middle of your muffins! Yum!

How to Make Tulip Muffin Cups