Okay, well maybe not my best friend, but they are certainly useful. When it comes to family, those cupcake liners can really make my life easier in the kitchen and even on the road.
I first discovered the wonder of cupcake liners when preparing for my son’s birthday. Not only could I use them to help decorate his castle cake (turrets anyone) but they made desert go so much easier than I expected. Everyone around her expects ice cream at a birthday party (can you blame them) either with the cake or sometime afterwards.
I found that scooping out the ice cream in the middle of the party wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had. It was messy (my arm was full of chocolate and vanilla) and I couldn’t do it fast enough to satisfy the kids who were all clamoring to get ice cream and to get it NOW. The cupcake liners came to my rescue. I simply lined a cookie sheet with liners, and then I scooped a scoop into each cup (use the foil ones). The whole sheet went into the freezer (I needed two sheets) until party time. Then it was simply a matter of serving the scoops right off of the cookie sheets!
Another way that cupcake liners save my headaches is with brownies. Instead of fretting about cutting the brownies evenly (it never happens) and without crumbs, I simply spoon the batter into cupcake liners in muffin pans. Instant individual servings that are easy to grab and travel well.
Speaking of traveling, dolling out snacks for the car can be a pain. Filling cupcake liners with a handful of snack mix works wonders. I’ve also used this trick for playdates and filled the cupcake liners with everything from cut up grapes to goldfish. No one complains about getting less than someone else, and germs don’t mix.