Transposing instruments

I just checked the instruments in MuseScore. They don't use the transposition settings. Instead some of them use clefs with octave shifts.
Soprano Recorder uses a treble clef which is transposed down an octave. it sounds an octave higher than written.
Tenor and Alto recorders use a regular treble clef (and no trasposing). They sound as written.
Bass Recorder uses a bass clef which is transposed down an octave. It sounds an octave higher than written.

Is this not what you want?

If you do want to use the transposing instrument method, that would of course work too.
You do not mention that you are aware of the concert pitch button. When you "entered notes at the appropriate written pitches for the instruments", did you make sure the concert pitch button was not activated/pressed? If it was pressed, you actually entered the sounding pitches, not the written pitches.

Also: when you choose the desired instruments by creating a new score or adding them afterwards via edit->instruments... or shortcut "i", you'll find a lot of predefined instruments, if you switch from "common instruments" to "all instruments" or if you search them in the search field there.
For a better assistance, attache your score and describe what you want to achieve, maybe also with information about the transpositions and clefs of the recorders, you didn't find.