Reynolds Fun Shapes Baking Cups

Reynolds Fun Shapes Bakware are a line of small, shaped pans sold as disposable bakeware by Reynolds. I would venture to say that the little aluminum pans are a variation on traditional paper muffin cups, rather than a completely new concept in bakeware. No matter what you call them, however, a really versatile product.

The pans come in star and heart shapes, as well as oval/egg shapes around Easter time. The foil layer is very thin, making it relatively easy to distort the pan shape when you’re handling them. That said, the cups are more stable than more traditionally shaped baking cups. The sides are straight and are strong enough to contain even a very thick batter without warping. They can be set directly on a baking sheet (no need for a specialty pan)  and could eve be set directly on an oven rack if necessary. Pricewise, they’re comparable to regular muffin cups – making them an inexpensive way to get the same look as that of an expensive shaped pan.

Each one holds about as much batter as a regular muffin tin, perhaps a bit more. Since they are shallower than mot muffin cups, the baking times comes out to be about the same. If you do any small-batch baking, these can work out really well just based on size alone.

These pans are nothing new; they’ve been around for a couple of years now. They tend to be more readily available during the holidays, around the baking aisle of the average supermarket.