Tessa Arias, Chef and Cookbook Author
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There’s nothing worse than spending all this time making and decorating the perfect cupcakes, only to have them stick to the liners and turn into a big disappointing mess. Talk about frustrating!
I’m going to show you a few simple tricks to show you exactly How to Prevent Cupcake Liners from Sticking. The video covers everything you need to know, and I’ve also summarized my tips for you below.
How to Prevent Cupcake Liners from Sticking:
1. Use high-quality liners. Look up reviews online to see if anyone has a problem with sticking.
2. Use a high-quality baking pan, it doesn’t have to be expensive but make sure it gets solid reviews.
3. Spray them with nonstick cooking spray or brush with a little melted butter (spray over the dishwasher to avoid a mess).
4. Slide a deeper baking pan filled with water into the bottom rack of your oven. The added moisture prevents sticking.
5. Allow the cupcakes to cool for a few minutes in the pan then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. The residual heat can cause the liner to stick.
6. Let the cupcakes cool completely before removing the wrappers. Pop the cupcakes in the fridge for an hour to ensure they’re cool and will release.
If they’re already stuck:
Put the cupcakes upside-down in the microwave under a wet paper towel for 15 seconds. Easy!
More Science of Baking Articles You’ll Love:
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I just tried the microwave trick and it didn’t work for me….All my cupcakes are stuck and it’s really annoying. Think I’ll just buy silicone cupcake wrappers instead to avoid the paper.
Great tips
Hey Tessa, regarding the whole YouTube and thumbs up thing, 😉 what if you just write a little mini statement with a copy of the URL that takes you right to your YouTube video (just UNDER the embedded video), encouraging people to click there and save it to their favorite folder of cooking tips (what I did), add a thumbs up, or share it with their friends, if they like. 😉
Like this:
http://youtu.be/miW5AexCLWE
Julie, I also have had this problem with some types of cupcakes. I have to experiment a bit to determine the cause. I’ve seen a suggestion that it’s because of moisture that builds up in the pan if you don’t remove the cupcakes quickly enough. It may also have to do with the amount of fat in the recipe…
Tessa, I actually have never had the liners stick to the pan or the cupcake to the point where it ruins the cupcake. When I saw this post on Pinterest I had to read it to see what you meant. That’s the strange case to me. Anyway, it brought me to your blog, which seems great. I’m off to explore it!
Actually, the last time that I made cupcakes my problem was that the liners released on their own, before anyone had a chance to pick them up. But I’m glad for the tips anyway.
How strange!!
Thanks for the tips. I never thought about spraying the inside of the liners. that’s cool. I have used the water in the pan when baking and I find that it works. Great job!
Awesome, Lisa! Glad that one works for you 🙂
Great tips. I was spraying the cupcake pans and liners, so they would not stick.
Wow, so nice to watch a video that has such helpful information.
Hi, Betty! Thanks for your comment! Nonstick pans really do require special care to make them last. I used to work at a kitchenware store and tried to emphasize that point to everyone who bought nonstick bakeware or cookware, but hardly anyone listened! Lol. Thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately YouTube simply doesn’t offer a way to thumbs up an embedded video, and their mobile capabilities are definitely lacking 🙁 I do appreciate you taking the time to click over to give it a thumbs up!!
Love your non churn Ice cream I have made it a lot for people, especially the peanut butter, I thank you for the tips on baking, I bake Once a week for hospice, patients that are terminally I’ll, want to make the best cupcakes I can for them.
Thank you for you help.
Donna McKenzie
It never occurred to me to spray the inside of the liners with a nonstick cooking spray and I had not heard that placing a pan of water in the oven would also help. Great tips! Thank you.
Much needed information, thank you!