Muffin Tin Hideout: Baking Tray Bunker
Published on July 31, 2025
Your elf found a muffin tin and treated every cup like a tiny apartment. Drop a couple of paper liners, leave a few cups empty, and tuck the elf into one like they paid first and last month’s rent. It is a kitchen surprise you can set while the oven is still cold. If you already have a posable holiday elf, skip to the recipe. If you don't, start with the setup kit.
Use a clean, cool muffin tin that has not been in the oven, keep the oven off, and do not put the elf anywhere near a hot pan.
You Will Need This:
- • Your holiday elf
- • A muffin tin
- • Paper muffin liners
- • A wooden spoon or spatula as a “ladder”
- • Optional: mini baking set if you want doll-size tins and liners already sized for a bunker.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Step 1: Set the bakery bunker
Set a clean muffin tin on a cool counter away from the stove. Drop paper liners into three or four cups and leave the rest empty so it looks mid-bake prep. Keep real batter in the fridge until morning.
Step 2: Build a way in
Lean a wooden spoon against the tin like a ladder into one of the cups. If you have sprinkles, put a pinch in a liner as “gravel,” not a pile kids will eat off the counter. Wipe the tin if it still has oil from last weekend’s muffins.
Step 3: Tuck the elf in a cup
Sit your elf in a liner cup with knees up, or stand them in a neighboring empty cup holding the spoon ladder. A jumbo tin is easier than a mini tin if your elf is full size. Face them toward the kitchen entrance.
Step 4: Leave a do-not-bake note
Write “Occupied. Do not preheat.” on a sticky note and stick it to the oven handle. In the morning, let kids “evict” the elf before anyone turns the oven on. Wash the tin if the elf sat in a liner you might bake with later.
Pro Tips:
- • A 6-cup tin is less sprawling on a small counter than a 12-cup.
- • Patterned holiday liners make the bunker look intentional.
- • If the elf is too tall, sit them beside the tin with one foot in a cup instead.
- • This pairs well with a later sprinkle-snowstorm night so the kitchen stays on theme.
