An Egg Carton Is Perfect For Transporting Mini Muffins
It's hard to resist a tray of mini muffins. After all, they're just two bites each, which is enough to get a taste of something sweet without committing to a whole regular-sized muffin. The only problem is how to transport them if you want to give a few of the bite-sized pastries away. Tins and baskets are nice, and a Ziplock bag might get the job done, but there's no guarantee that your precious cargo won't get damaged rattling around inside. If you really want your tiny treats to make it to the bridal shower or birthday party intact, try packing them in an empty egg carton.
Mini muffins might not be as fragile as raw eggs, but they do need some safekeeping when they're moved from place to place. As luck would have it, mini muffins and eggs are similarly sized, so your treats will fit perfectly inside the spaces in an egg carton. Just be sure that your empty egg carton is clean, and only put muffins in cartons that are baked in muffin cups or parchment cones to prevent food-borne illness.
Egg cartons can transport and display mini muffins
Of all the delicate groceries we buy, eggs are definitely the most breakable, which is why a smart inventor came up with the design for cartons in the early 1900s. These cardboard containers were made to keep fragile eggs from cracking before they make it to market, but they're just as good at keeping your mini muffins from getting squished or cracked once they leave your kitchen. All you have to do is make sure your muffins are cool and ready to eat, then just load a dozen up into a carton and you're ready to hit the road.
Once you get to the party with your muffins, you don't even need to unload them because they look adorable all packed in the egg cartons. If you're crafty you can also add some decorations to the outside of the carton and give away the boxes as gifts. If you want, you can even split the cartons down the middle with a pair of scissors or a sharp knife to give away smaller quantities of muffins.
Bake your muffins with wrappers
It's important to keep food safety in mind if you're planning to use them for mini muffin transportation, however. The USDA does not recommend reusing egg cartons, probably because a lot of eggs still break in the cartons despite the soft cardboard or styrofoam padding, leaving dried egg residue behind. If you're planning to pack your mini muffins in a salvaged egg carton, you can take some steps to prevent food-borne illness.
First, make sure that the carton you're planning to use doesn't have any obvious egg residue inside, and don't store empty eggshells in the carton. Second, always bake your muffins in paper or foil muffin cups. Not only will this make it easier to get them out of the pan, it will also create a physical barrier between your muffin and the egg carton. If you're still concerned about getting sick, leave the recycled egg carton for jobs like lighting charcoal and order a couple of new, unused cartons from the internet or your local farm and feed store. New cartons are also nice to have if you plan to give muffins away as gifts; because they don't have anything printed on the outside, you can create a special design on the outside to make your gift of mini muffins a little extra special.