Muffin Tin Sizes: Mini, Standard and Jumbo Explained

UK muffin tins come in three cup sizes. A mini muffin tin has 4.5cm cups holding about 30ml each, a standard muffin tin has 7.5cm cups holding about 120ml, and a jumbo (sometimes sold as a "deep" or "large" muffin tray) has 10cm cups that take a standard 4-inch case and hold roughly twice a standard cup. When a recipe just says "a muffin tin", it means the standard 12-cup.

That's the answer in one paragraph. The rest of this guide is the detail that stops a bake going wrong: which size your recipe assumes, what "deep" actually means on a listing, which paper cases fit what, and how timing changes when you switch sizes.

Muffin tin sizes compared

	Mini	Standard	Jumbo ("deep")
Cup diameter	4.5 cm	7.5 cm	10 cm
Cup capacity	~30 ml	~120 ml	~2x standard
Cups per tray	24	12	6
Paper case	Mini cases	Muffin or cupcake cases	4-inch jumbo or tulip cases
Typical bakes	Canapés, brownie bites, mini quiches	Everyday muffins, cupcakes, fairy cakes	Coffee-shop muffins, cinnamon rolls, egg bites

One 12-muffin recipe fills any of the three: about 24 minis, 12 standards, or six jumbos. The batter doesn't change; the bake time does, which is where most size swaps go wrong.

Which size does my recipe mean?

Unless it says otherwise, a UK or US recipe means the standard 12-cup tin with 120ml cups. American recipes occasionally assume slightly larger cups, which is why a US recipe sometimes fills 10 UK cups rather than 12; if the recipe gives a cup count that doesn't match your tin, trust the two-thirds fill rule instead and bake the spare batter separately.

What sellers mean by a "deep" or "large" muffin tray

There's no official "deep" size. A listing that says deep, large or jumbo almost always means the same thing: wider, deeper cups around 10cm across that take a 4-inch case. Depth is what produces the tall, domed muffin you get from a coffee shop, because the batter has walls to climb before it crowns. It's also what makes jumbo cups the right shape for bakery-style cinnamon rolls and egg bites.

Switching sizes without ruining the bake

Smaller cups bake faster and bigger cups bake slower, at the same oven temperature. Going from standard to mini, start checking well before the recipe's stated time; a skewer is the truth, not the clock. Our guide to using a regular recipe in a mini muffin tin covers the conversion properly, including timing. Going up to jumbo, expect a noticeably longer bake and resist opening the door early, exactly as you would with a large cake.

Whatever the size, fill cups about two-thirds full for cupcakes with a flat, iceable top, or close to the brim for muffins where you want a rustic dome.

The mini and jumbo trays both come as sets of two for batch baking, and the full range is in our muffin and cupcake tins collection. For what separates a tin that lasts a decade from one that warps by Easter, see our muffin tin buying guide.

Related reading: best muffin tin UK | regular recipes in a mini muffin tin | cinnamon rolls in the jumbo pan | why bakeware warps | care and use guide | our 10-year guarantee