Muffin tins, also known as muffin pans or cupcake pans, originated in Britain in the 18th century, around the same time that muffins became a popular baked good. Traditional English muffins were originally cooked on griddles, but as baking evolved, people sought a way to create small, evenly sized cakes that could hold their shape in an oven. This led to the development of the muffin tin — shallow, cup-shaped molds that allowed batter to bake into uniform portions with crisp edges and soft centers. Their invention was driven by both practicality and efficiency: bakers could produce multiple individual cakes at once, ensuring consistency in size and texture while saving time.

Ingredients

1 cup diced apples (Amador Farms)

1 cup blueberries (Hayton Farms)

1/4 cup butter room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

5.3 oz plain Greek yogurt

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Makes 12 muffins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with muffin liners or lightly coat with butter and flour. If using flour the method, make sure to discard any excess flour from muffin tin.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

3. In a large sized bowl add butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and yogurt. Using an electric mixer, blend until smooth.

4. Mix flour in butter mixture until no dry flour remains. Gently fold in apples and blueberries.

5. Spoon evenly into muffin cups until 3/4 full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing muffins from pan.

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Federal Way resident Vickie Chynoweth published a cookbook called “Well Fed: Easy-to-Follow Recipes.”