You’ve probably used paper baking cups at some point. They’re available in enormous variety, from the plain white ones to extraordinary feats of artistry.

Adorable as the paper kind can be, my heart belongs to their reusable silicone brethren.

I occasionally use reusable silicone baking cups to bake cupcakes, breakfast muffins, or the dangerously addictive brownie-dipped Oreos that I blame LauraC for adding to my baking repertoire. More often, though, I use them in my daughters’ school lunches. These flexible molds are just perfect for keeping the different elements of their lunch separated.
I use reusable baking cups for both hot and cold lunches. The hot lunch above consists of peas, rice, and sausage. The liners fit perfectly inside our small lunch Thermos containers to stack the dishes and keep them separate. My girls do then need to pry them out with the help of a fork, for a nice hot three part meal. For cold lunches, the liners serve to keep carrots or raisins from running into a sandwich or wrap.
I’ve even taking to packaging rice in these liners as soon as it’s cool, so the rice is already sorted into single servings when I go to the fridge.
They’re not all that expensive, either. I find the Ikea liners to be very affordable. I recently received a set from Calphalon that were excellent quality, but rather pricey.
Do you have reusable baking cups? Are they gathering dust in your kitchen? Do you use them for storage?