Your muffin tray is one of your most versatile baking equipment. You can use it to store ingredients like herbs and spices as you cook, as a pet feeder for fast-eating pets or even serve several condiments in them!
 
But there are just as many dishes that you can make using muffin trays. They’re perfect for making mini, individual servings of normally large dishes. Here are some suggestions for you to try out!
 

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Mini Pot Pies

The secret to an easy and delicious pot pie is store-bought puff pastry. Puff pastry despite being really yummy, is simply tiring to make.
 
Even if you don’t mind kneading the dough in the first place, you then need to fold in multiple layers of cold better that’s been shredded while scurrying back to the fridge every so often because it’s meant to stay cold until you’re ready to bake.
 

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There are several recipes that you can use for your pot pie, and they will all be great for a muffin tray version. After all you’re just making a smaller version. However, it would be best to make sure that your meats and vegetables are in smaller chunks than you usually make them so that they can fit in the smaller spaces.
 
To really get the best results, remember to check out how to best utilise your convection oven in our article here.
 

Mini Quiches

Quiches are absolutely delicious and they can be a perfect dish for any mealtime of the day. The main ingredients of eggs and cheese are hard to go wrong together, and you can add in almost anything else into the mix!
 
Spinach, bacon, ground meat, top it off with some avocado and you’ll have just pure breakfast in a bite!
 

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However, eggs and cheese have a tendency to be a bit on the expensive side. So, making mini quiches can both settle that craving and use up less ingredients. You can even try out using different types of flours for the dough to have a different flavour and texture from normal quiches.
 

Cookie Shells

While you would usually be looking for a tart mould, your muffin tray remains on your shelf, lonely and unused. Cookie shells come in many different flavours and designs, so you don’t really need a tart mould with its pretty pleats and curves if you’re just looking for a way to contain whatever filling you want to put in it.
 
Fruit tarts, egg tarts, cheese tarts. You can make any of these and more! So long as you have custard-like filling, your cookie shells can more than do the job.
 

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However, do be careful about how much butter you’re using and remember to grease the sides with oil lightly. The former is so that your cookie shell doesn’t become too wet while the latter is so that you can still easily remove it from the pan without having to hack at it and possibly break the cookie shell.
 

Mini Cheesecakes

Following the cookie base theming, you can actually make multiple mini cheesecakes using a muffin tray. It doesn’t matter if it’s a baked or no-bake cheesecake, the only thing you need to worry about is the thickness of your cookie base as it will be harder to gauge than in a normal baking pan.
 

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After all, you don’t want to be pouring in the cheesecake filling only to realize that you’ve made a half-cookie-half-cheesecake rather than a proper lovely mini cheesecake with a modest cookie base.
 
Try adding some fruits to up your intake of fiber and natural sugars for a healthier digestive system as well!
 

Mini lasagnas

Good, authentic lasagnas are hard to get a hold of in Malaysia. So if you want to try them, you’re better off trying to make one yourself.
 

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Which should hardly be a chore since homemade lasagnas are absolutely delectable! And since you’re in charge of the ingredients, you can have as much sauce and cheese as you want. Some places just never serve their lasagnas with enough of them!
 
Normally, lasagnas will have to be shared, and by the time the dish comes back to you, it’s more than half gone and the cheese has gone cold and rubbery! Muffin trays make it so that everyone can have their own individual serving so that everyone can enjoy it while the cheese is still warm and gooey!
 

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Finally, one great tip when it comes to making muffin tray recipes is that you can keep them to warm up for later meals or give them as a treat to friends and family.
 
If you’re a person that gets busy mornings, grab a few of whatever muffin tray recipe you’ve made and munch on them for lunch! Want more suggestions for quick-prep meals? Read our article here!
 
Never underestimate the power of the muffin tray, even once you’ve grown tired of muffins and cupcakes themselves!