Quick, nutritious breakfasts make my life a lot easier. But sometimes I get in a rut so I’m always on the look-out for quick breakfast ideas. Not too long ago, I got the the idea for muffin baking mixes from Life As Mom’s blog. She’s got a lot of fabulous ideas. But, her Mix-and-Match Muffin recipe never really worked for me because it calls for yogurt. Yogurt in my house lasts all of about 4.5 seconds and I never had it when I needed it. But I really like idea of muffin mixes in my freezer as I’ve done the same thing with scones for a while and wanted something different!
So, I searched for an alternative in my handy handy Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, Limited Edition: Prizewinning Recipes (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid)
Basic Muffin Recipe
1 3/4 cup flour (I use freshly milled hard white wheat)
1/3 cup sugar (I use raw sugar)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
For blueberry muffins: add 3/4 cup blueberries.
Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into flour mix and stir just until moistened. Add 3/4 cup mix-ins. Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm.
My spin:
Take out at least 5 large bowls and mix all of the dry ingredients into 5 separate bowls so you make 5 different mixes. I set this up assembly-line style, adding the flour to all the bowls, then the sugar, then the baking powder and so on. Mix everything up, put the dry ingredients in freezer bags, and label like so. Then freeze for warm muffins on busy days:
In the morning, simply pull out a bag, mix up the wet ingredients, add your mix-ins, and bake. Super quick, delicious muffins in a snap! I suggest the first time you make these to make the blueberry muffins so you can get a feel for the desired batter consistency. Betty Crocker tweaks the recipe based on which mix-ins you choose, such as adding a tad more sugar for more sour mix-ins like cranberries, or a tad less liquid for wetter mix-ins like bananas.
Here are my thoughts on potential mix-ins:
- Rhubarb
- Blueberry
- Apple Walnut
- Banana Nut (reduce milk to 1/2 cup, add 3/4 cup banana and nuts)
- Apple Carrot
- Apple Cranberry
- Apple Pear
- Pumpkin
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip
- Zucchini
- Zucchini Chocolate Chip
- Cranberry (add 2 more tbs sugar and 1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries)
- Oatmeal (reduce flour to 1 1/3 cup and add 3/4 cup rolled oats)
- Cheese (add 1/2 cup shredded cheese)
You are limited only by your imagination!!
I’m linking up to Frugal Tuesday and the Thrifty Peach. What are your good mix-in ideas?
About Michelle
Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
I also tried the Life As Mom’s Mix-and-Match Muffin recipe, but I have the same issue with having yogurt on hand. I’ll definitely give this one a try – thanks! BTW, why only two zuchinni variations?
And apparently I can’t spell… I mean “zucchini!”
I think I’m going to try these with some chocolate chips… sounds great!
Thanks for linking up to the blog hop!
What a great idea! Sometimes I just freeze and reheat the baked muffins, but fresh-from-the-oven flavor can’t be beat!
I love this! Thanks for linking up at Thrifty Peach Blog Hop. This is a great idea for me to jump start my freezer cooking journey.
Have a great weekend!