{"id":10225,"date":"2019-04-19T11:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gw.finelimedesigns.com\/2007\/05\/the-difference-between-cupcakes-and-muffins\/"},"modified":"2020-12-14T14:14:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T20:14:46","slug":"cupcake-vs-muffin-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cupcakeproject.com\/cupcake-vs-muffin-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Muffins vs. Cupcakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The difference between a cupcake and muffin depends on who you ask, and their answers can include such things as the amount of frosting, ingredients, and time of the day that you eat it!<\/p>\n

In this post, I provide some general guidelines on the differences between the two.
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\n1. Cupcakes have frosting. Muffins do not.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. The ingredient ratio is different.<\/strong> “A basic formula for muffins is 2 cups flour, 2-4 tablespoons sugar, 2\u00bd teaspoons baking powder, \u00bd teaspoon salt, 1 egg, \u00bc cup oil, shortening or butter and 1 cup milk,” wrote Diana from Diana’s Desserts<\/a>. When the fat, sugar, and egg to flour ratio in a recipe reaches double that of a muffin, you create a more open crumb and a sweeter end product – a cupcake.<\/strong> When the ratio is right and you get a cupcake, it’s a joyous thing!<\/p>\n

3. The cupcake has a finer crumb while the muffin has a bigger\/coarser crumb<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

4. Muffins have more of a domed top than cupcakes<\/strong>, often overflowing out of their wrappers.<\/p>\n

5. If you throw a cupcake against a wall, it will make a ‘POOF’ sound. However, if you did the same with a muffin, it would make more of a ‘THUD’ sound<\/strong>,” says one of my readers, MooCow_The Baker.<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> Some say that a cupcake eaten in the morning is a muffin<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

7. Muffins are healthier than cupcakes.<\/strong> Because they don’t have frosting, they automatically have less calories than most cupcakes. But don’t be fooled; as NBC News reported, “The 3-inch muffins grandmother made had only 120 to 160 calories. But today’s giant bakery muffins contain from 340 to 630 calories each<\/em>, without any butter or other spread.”<\/p>\n

Is There a Difference Between a Cupcake Pan and a Muffin Pan?<\/h2>\n
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Image from Amazon<\/p><\/div>\n

Muffin pans and cupcake pans are exactly the same.<\/strong> However, in yet another difference between cupcakes and muffins, cupcakes always use liners and muffins are often baked without liners.<\/p>\n

If you are baking muffins, be sure use a nonstick pan.<\/em> Even with a nonstick pan, I typically grease the pan well to be absolutely certain that nothing sticks.<\/p>\n

Is There a Difference Between Cupcake Liners and Muffin Liners?<\/h2>\n
\"tulip

Image from Amazon<\/p><\/div>\n

Again, the answer is no! Cupcake liners and muffin liners are the same thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, you may see taller liners like the tulip baking cups [paid link]<\/a> above being used with muffins because muffins are often domed and unfrosted. The tulip baking cups don’t work as well for cupcakes because they hide the frosting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cupcake Recipes<\/h2>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

To get started with cupcakes, try these foolproof cupcake recipes:<\/p>\n