K.A.F. Muffin Pans

The picture below is of the muffin tins my family has used as long as I can remember. To give them fair credit, they have served us faithfully for many years... but perhaps not well. My mother has frequently expressed her... frustration with them while standing at the sink fussing and scrubbing out each individual cup, coated with a layer of baked on flour and sugar. And I more than once felt my blood pressure rise as yet another batch of muffins came out with the bottoms torn off. Paper liners helped a great deal, but I frequently forget to use them.



Then mom and I paid a visit to King Arthur Flour, and I eyed their exclusive line of baking pans. They claimed great things about them; even cooking, no stick, easy clean-up, lifetime warranty, made in the U.S.A.! Granted they are pricier than most pans you come across in the supermarket, but I am all for paying a little more for U.S. made and good quality. So, mom bought me the muffin tin for Christmas so we could test their claims.


Their claims are good.



My first batch of Blueberry Muffins turned out beautifully. They all seemed to rise evenly, as opposed to our old pans where some stood above the pan by two inches or more and others would be nearly flat. And then removing them from the pan... memories of gouging around the edges of each muffin with a table knife filled my mind as I simply lifted each muffin out of the pan.



No sticking. Whatsoever. And layers of baked on flour and sugar to scrub off, and what little bit was left on the top of the pan simply wiped away. Yesterday mom made her own batch of muffins using my pan and declared quite firmly after washing the pan that we ALL need our own set of K.A.F. pans now!

As you've probably figured out, I'm planning on investing in their baking sheets and bread pans next. Maybe I can wait until my next trip to the store to pick them up... but maybe not. And no, they aren't paying me anything to gush about their products. They don't have to!

Kitchen Gadgets #1

Introducing - Pampered Chef's medium scoop! Basically a stainless steel mini ice-cream scoop.




Pampered Chef actually carried three scoop sizes, but the medium one is destined to be my favorite. The reason? It's the exact size you need for drop cookies. And they don't make ordinary drop cookies; they make PERFECT drop cookies. Each the same size, each beautifully rounded. The peanut butter cookies I made today satisfy my baker's soul entirely.


I got the three piece set for my birthday ( may I take a moment to say I have awesome friends? I have awesome friends!!!) and they are quickly making their way up on my list of favorite gadgets, right next to the pastry blender.

Another perk to this marvelous invention is that drop-cookies are now a one handed task! I was able to talk to a dear friend on the phone with one hand and drop domes of dough with the other.

Okay, so this one is my favorite, but what of the other two? Well, the large scoop is perfect for muffins, making filling tins very quick with minimum mess. And the small... I haven't used it yet, but I understand that you can make melon balls and fill mini muffin tins with it. There are probably many more uses for these, I just haven't discovered them all yet.