Part 10 of my Baking Basics series: Don’t have the right size muffin liners for those jumbo tins, or didn’t realize you were out of standard cupcake liners until you were ready to add your batter? Good news – you can easily make your own muffin liners out of parchment paper!

Blueberry muffin in a homemade parchment paper muffin liner

Tell me if you’ve ever been in this position: you’re all excited to make some gigantic, bakery style blueberry muffins so you gather all your ingredients and get to work!

15 minutes later, your oven is preheated and your batter is ready to go, and when you open your box of various colored and sized muffin liners you discover that you are completely out of jumbo muffin liners. [falls on floor in tears]

Just kidding, it’s not that serious. And sure, you could just grease or spray the tins with nonstick spray – but we’re talking muffins that are chock full of blueberries, which means the fruit might be touching the tin, and it might still stick to the sides and bottom.

I don’t know about you, but my idea of a good time isn’t trying to pry a blueberry muffin out of a baking tin only to find yourself with a pile of muffin pieces on a plate.

Thankfully, if you have some parchment paper we have an easy solution to this problem because you can quickly and easily DIY your own muffin liners. YAY!

Materials you need to make your own muffin liners

Parchment paper
Measuring tape or ruler
Scissors
Object that fits inside each muffin cup (i.e.: a glass or can)

Four photo collage showing the process of making your own parchment paper muffin liners

How to make muffin liners

The process is the same for both standard-sized muffins and jumbo-sized muffins, it’s just a matter of different measurements and quantities for each.

For jumbo muffin tins (aff link): Measure out approximately 6″ squares for each muffin cup (jumbo muffin cups are usually 3 ½″ in diameter). So for a jumbo muffin tin that holds 6 muffins, you want six 6″ squares of parchment paper.

For standard muffin tins (aff link): Measure out approximately 5″ squares for each muffin cup (standard muffin cups are usually 2 ¾″ in diameter). So for a standard muffin tin that holds 12 muffins, you want twelve 5″ squares of parchment paper. Even better, buy these pre-cut parchment squares and always have them handy!

Overhead shot of six jumbo homemade parchment paper muffin liners

Grab an object that fits well into the base of each muffin cup – I find that some of my drinking glasses work well, as well as some canned goods in my pantry.

Placing the object base in the center of the parchment square, wrap the parchment around your object to form the cup, forming creases around the bottom to really mold it into the shape you need.

You can simply remove it from the object and stick it into your muffin tin, or you can do what I like to do – place them into the muffin tin with the object sitting inside to weigh it down. I find that by letting them sit this way until I’m ready to use them, they hold their form a bit better.

Voila! You have homemade tulip style muffin cups.

Blueberry muffin batter before and after baking in homemade parchment paper muffin liners

Want cleaner looking pleats?

If you want to ensure that the pleats are as symmetrical as possible, you can pinch the paper against the object between the four corners of your parchment square with one hand while folding and pressing each corner with your other hand.

Can I use DIY muffin liners for cupcakes?

You sure can. Making cupcake liners out of parchment paper is the exact same process, but I’d recommend trimming the top edges of the parchment before adding any frosting to your cupcakes.

Can I use bleached parchment paper?

Yep! I just keep unbleached parchment paper in my house, but bleached parchment paper will work just as well for homemade muffin liners.

The only difference between the two is that bleached parchment paper is white because it’s been treated with chlorine, while unbleached parchment paper is untreated and brown in color.

Can I use wax paper instead?

Nope. Wax paper isn’t safe to put in the oven because the wax coating on the paper can melt, or even ignite!

Parchment paper is safe to use in the oven because its silicone coating is specifically developed to be heat resistant.

Blueberry muffin on an unwrapped homemade parchment paper muffin liner

I hope this helps! Are there any questions about this topic that I didn’t answer? Let me know in the comments below.

Yield: 6 jumbo or 12 standard muffin liners

How to Make Muffin Liners Out of Parchment Paper

Don't have the right size muffin liners for those jumbo tins, or didn't realize you were out of standard cupcake liners until you were ready to add your batter? Good news - you can easily make your own muffin liners out of parchment paper!

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Active Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 8 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Materials

Parchment paper
Object that fits inside each muffin cup (i.e.: a glass or can)

Tools

Ruler or tape measurer
Scissors

Instructions

For jumbo muffin tins: Measure out approximately 6″ squares for each muffin cup (jumbo muffin cups are usually 3 ½″ in diameter). So for a jumbo muffin tin that holds 6 muffins, you want six 6″ squares of parchment paper.
For standard muffin tins (aff link): Measure out approximately 5″ squares for each muffin cup (standard muffin cups are usually 2 ¾″ in diameter). So for a standard muffin tin that holds 12 muffins, you want twelve 5″ squares of parchment paper.
Grab an object that fits well into the base of each muffin cup – I find that some of my drinking glasses work well, as well as some canned goods in my pantry.
Placing the object base in the center of the parchment square, wrap the parchment around your object to form the cup, forming creases around the bottom to really mold it into the shape you need.
You can simply remove it from the object and stick it into your muffin tin, or you can do what I like to do – place them into the muffin tin with the object sitting inside to weigh it down. I find that by letting them sit this way until I’m ready to use them, they hold their form a bit better.
Voila! You have homemade tulip style muffin cups.

Notes

Want cleaner looking pleats? If you want to ensure that the pleats are as symmetrical as possible, you can pinch the paper against the object between the four corners of your parchment square with one hand while folding and pressing each corner with your other hand.
Can I use them for cupcakes? You sure can. Making cupcake liners out of parchment paper is the exact same process, but I’d recommend trimming the top edges of the parchment before adding any frosting to your cupcakes.
Can I use bleached parchment paper? Yep! I just keep unbleached parchment paper in my house, but bleached parchment paper will work just as well for homemade muffin liners. The only difference between the two is that bleached parchment paper is white because it’s been treated with chlorine, while unbleached parchment paper is untreated and brown in color.
Can I use wax paper instead? Nope. Wax paper isn’t safe to put in the oven because the wax coating on the paper can melt, or even ignite! Parchment paper is safe to use in the oven because its silicone coating is specifically developed to be heat resistant.