Top of the muffin to you
Why bother baking a whole muffin if you know you only want the top? Imagine if there were a way you could bake just the part you want to eat, the crown. Now stop imagining and rejoice.
At the risk of sounding as old as I am, do you remember that "Seinfeld" episode where Elaine decided to create a bakery that sold only the top part of the muffin? They baked muffins, cut the tops off to sell, then debated what to do with the leftovers. Eventually, she donated them to a homeless shelter and was told in no uncertain terms that the homeless had no interest in her rejected muffin bottoms.
If she had just used this muffin crown pan from Norpro, she could have avoided the whole messy confrontation.
This nonstick pan lets you make half a dozen muffin tops, each 4 inches wide and half an inch deep. You'll get the puffy goodness you expect in the top of a muffin, and the pan even comes with a recipe booklet you can use to get started. Amazon has them for $15. If you spring for one, you'll want to hand wash it to keep the nonstick surface intact.