Muffin Tin Mania: 20 Unique Muffin Ideas

"Muffin Tin, how do I love thee, let me count the ways.  You have faithfully cooked up delicious little cakes and breads since the day of your invention, and we have discovered that you are the perfect pan to make delightful, little portable, handheld meals, snacks and desserts already portioned out in just the right size.  Children and adults  love the foods that pop out of those little cups of yours; food that is perfect for  parties, picnics, or lunch boxes; breakfasts, lunch or dinner; to stay or to go; beautiful or rustic; wholesome or comforting, glitzy or humble, your creations are perfect for any occasion. You are adorable".

One of the most viewed posts on this blog,  is Spaghetti Pie Meal in a Muffin as pictured in the header. It isn't the post I would have thought to have had so much traffic. It has been featured in several websites such as Chowhound,  Luvo, Huffington Post and The Whoot, all of which have contributed to its popularity; but I think the main reason that it has done so well, is that Muffin Tin ideas are flourishing and I can understand why, they are irresistible. I find myself often thinking of meals that I can make for the muffin tin.

Soooo …..I decided to share some of my favorite muffin tin ideas that I have saved on my Muffin and Cupcake Pinterest board; they are from a variety of websites, including this one. So get out those  muffin tins, and put them to use with some of these recipes, and change up the menu plan with a little bit of fun.

Cheesy Steak Cups

by Gather For Bread

Pizza Pie Muffins 

From Where Your Treasure Is

Hashbrown Egg Muffins 

By Play Party Pin

Meatball Sandwich Muffins

by Where Your Treasure Is

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

by Circle of Moms

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

by Iowa Girl Eats

Shepherd's Pie Muffin

From Where Your Treasure Is

Breakfast Oatmeal Cupcakes

From Chocolate Covered Katie

Reuben Sandwich Muffins

From Where Your Treasure Is

Almost No Bake Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Pies
From Carlsbad Cravings

Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

From Cakes Cottage

Meatloaf Cupcakes

from Cincyshopper.com

Eggplant Parmagiana Meal in a Muffin

From Where Your Treasure Is

Baked Potato Cupcakes

From Dairy Makes Sense

Granola Yogurt Cups

From Muffin Mania

Mac n Cheese Muffins

From Fifteen Spatulas

Trim Healthy Mama Compliant

Chocolate Pecan Muffins
from Flowers in His Garden

Eggs in a Potato Nest

from Stranded Foodie

Pancake and Sausage Muffins

from Heavenly Homemakers

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Muffins
from Where Your Treasure Is

Meatball Sandwich Muffins

I don't know about you, but I do love a Hot Meatball Sandwich.  On those rare occasion that we eat at a Sub shop, the Hot Meatball Sandwich is usually the one I order.  These muffins are inspired by my love for those Meatball Sandwiches. These are made with bread dough and stuffed with pre-made meatballs and chunks of Mozzarella cheese. Dip them in Marinara Sauce and they are Mm Mm good. For this recipe I did use pre made bread dough, like I did for the Reuben Muffins for convenience sake, but of course, you can use whatever kind of dough you would like.  Also, this recipe now a class offered on Skillshare , so if you are interested in the video, just click this link.

Meatballs

Cheese Slices

and bread dough are all the ingredients you need to make these.

Serve Warm 

With Marinara or Spaghetti Sauce

Meatball Sandwich Muffins

Ingredients:
Bread dough: 24 frozen dinner rolls, thawed  (about 2 1/2 pounds bread dough)
24 Pre made Meatballs
24  slices Mozerella or Provolone Cheese (about 2 inches by 2 inches)
Marinara Sauce

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Roll and stretch each roll until it is about 4 inches across.
3. Top with cheese and then Meatball.
4. Stretch dough over meatball and cheese.
5. Squeeze dough together at the seems, to form a dough ball.
6. Place in greased Muffin Tin.
7. Allow to rise 30 - 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
8. Bake 15 -20 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes before serving.
10. Serve with Marinara Sauce for dipping.
11. Enjoy!

Dip

and bite….

and dip and….

bite…. and dip and….

bite…. its like exercise… really it is.

Reuben Sandwich Muffins

This muffin was inspired by the Corned Beef left overs I had this week.  I cooked up a nice one in  crockpot last week, and had quite a bit left over.  When Corned Beef goes on sale the week of St. Patrick's day, I always buy one or two. It has become a seasonal treat the way turkey is at Thanksgiving time. One of Steve's favorite sandwiches is the Reuben Sandwich, which is reason number #2 for this muffin. I was looking at my left over Corned Beef and thought why not a Reuben Sandwich in Muffin format.  So here they are.  They turned out delicious, and were very good served with potato salad.

Begin by gathering your ingredients:

2 cups Corned Beef cooked and chopped

8 oz of Sauerkraut, well drained.

10 oz  Swiss, Provolone or Monterey Jack Cheese (this will be 2-3 cups shredded)

1/4 cup finely chopped onions

One recipe for 24 rolls (For this I used Rhodes frozen dough/rolls).  You will be using 2 rolls for each muffin. Stretch and roll each piece of dough flat to where it is about 4 inches across its base.

 Corned Beef for your first layer.

Top with minced onion.  I added onion to these, because I love the little bit of onion flavor and crunch added to it.  I realize it isn't typically used in a Reuben Sandwich, so put it on or leave it off as you like.

Next  a layer of Sauerkraut.

Finally top with cheese.

You can adjust the amounts as you like, but don't be shy, put as much as you can get on them.

Take another rolled out piece of dough...

...and place on top of the filling.

It will look a little like hamburger buns at this point.

You will bring the muffin together by stretching the top dough over the bottom dough….

… tucking it underneath little by little….

...as you go around the muffin...

….until it is evenly tucked in underneath the entire muffin. 

 It will look like this.

Place it in a well greased muffin pan.

Fill pan entirely and allow to rise about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow to cool slightly and then place into a nice serving bowl.

We like it served with mustard, but if you like it with Russian dressing as is traditionally done; by all means serve it  that way. 

Reuben Sandwich Muffins

Ingredients:

Bread dough: 24 frozen dinner rolls (about 2 1/2 pounds)

2 cups chopped, sliced or shredded Corned Beef (already cooked)

8 oz Sauerkraut (well drained)

1/4 cup diced onion

10 oz Cheese such as Swiss, Provolone or Mozerella, shredded

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Begin by thawing dough if it is frozen.
3. Stretch and roll out the rolls until they are 3-4 inches across.
4. Layer the ingredients on top of 12 of the rolls as follows: beef, onion, sauerkraut, cheese.
5. Place a second piece of flattened dough on top.
6. Seal together into one muffin, by stretching the top dough around and behind the bottom dough until you have evenly tucked it under the entire muffin.  You should have a roll shape. See pictures above for example.
7. Place into a 12 cup muffin pan.
8. Allow rolls to raise 30 minutes.
9. Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
10. Allow to cool about 5 minutes, then remove from muffin tin and serve.

Enjoy!