How to Cut Cupcake Liners

Cupcake liners are often the only thing standing between you and delicious, freshly baked muffins or cupcakes. When you've got all the ingredients on hand but forgot the liners at the store, you can make them on your own using parchment paper. Homemade cupcake liners are also worth the extra effort if you'll be serving your baked goods to guests since they look so striking compared to plain store-bought ones. White parchment liners look elegant and refined while unbleached parchment liners have an organic, rustic feel to them. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Cover your work surface with newspaper or brown paper bags to prevent damage. Unroll the parchment paper and lay it flat over the newspaper. Weigh the edges down with a few items to prevent them from curling.

Lay the yardstick across the top of the parchment paper. Make a small mark with a pencil every 5 inches. For mini cupcake liners, make a mark every 2 1/2 inches.

Turn the yardstick and line it up with your first pencil mark, so that it serves as a straight edge for cutting. Hold the yardstick firmly in place and then cut into 5-inch strips using a freshly sharpened kitchen knife or box cutter.

Mark one strip of paper every 5 inches (or 2 1/2 inches for mini cupcakes) using the yardstick. Stack the strips of paper with the pencil-marked strip on top. Once again, use the yardstick as a straight edge and cut at each pencil-marked increment. Cut directly through each strip of paper to create uniform cupcake liners quickly.

Coat the muffin tin with cooking spray before inserting the liners to help the parchment paper stick in place. To make the liners stay flat in the tin, place a snugly fitting glass into the muffin tin and give it a twist.