Baking may require precision, but that doesn't mean you can't experiment within reason. This holds especially true with two forgiving categories of recipes: quick breads (like banana bread and coffee cake) and muffins. The key nugget to know is that these easy breakfast treats are made from virtually identical batters; where they differ is in the baking vessel used. If you have a solid quick bread recipe that you'd like to convert to muffins, try this.

• Preheat your oven to 25°F hotter than the quick bread recipe calls for. The standard baking temperature for quick breads is 350°F; muffins do well at 375°F.
• Divvy up the batter equally between the muffin tins, filling each well 3/4 full.
• Bake the muffins for less time; check to see how they're coming along at 13 minutes, though they'll likely take closer to 15 to 18 minutes to fully bake. Use visual cues (look for golden-brown tops that spring back when touched) to let you know when they're done.

If you'd like to convert a muffin recipe to a quick bread loaf, try this.

• Before proceeding, make sure your muffin recipe yields enough batter to make a loaf of quick bread. If your recipe yields less than 10 to 12 muffins, consider scaling up the volume of batter.
• Preheat your oven to 25°F lower than the muffin recipe calls for. The standard baking temperature for muffins is 375°F; quick bread loaves do well at 350°F.
• Bake the batter in a loaf pan.
• Bake the quick bread for a longer time; check to see how it's coming along at around 40 minutes, though it'll likely take closer to 50 minutes to 1 hour to fully bake. Use visual cues (look for a golden-brown top that springs back when touched) to let you know when it's done.