Muffin Mix---Anyone Have it? [Archive]

TinaL

09-11-2007, 01:01 AM

Create A Breakfast Muffin Taken from book, The Tightwad Gazette

As you read The Tightwad Gazette, you may notice that I don’t print many recipes. Running recipes would be the easy (that is, lazy) way to fill the book, but blindly following recipes won’t help you save the maximum amount on your food bill. Over the years, I have collected and created recipes that use foods that are cheapest to me, but you can’t count on my pumpkin-blueberry muffin recipe to be a money-saver in Tucson, Arizona. So instead of sharing a single muffin recipe, I wanted to share the process of creating muffin recipes. This will allow you to use ingredients that are cheap in your part of the country, use up odd leftovers, and accommodate dietary restrictions.
So I made a big chart to compare the various components in 30 muffin recipes. Although no two are the same, the recipes all combine a grain, milk or juice, egg, a fat, a sweetener, baking powder, and salt. These basic ingredients are often combined with spices, fruits, vegetables, and/or nuts.
I studied these elements, came up with a formula, and made numerous batches over a period of weeks to make sure it worked. Now I’ve memorized the formula. I no longer need to refer to a recipe to make any kind of muffins, which saves me time.
The quantities listed are for a single batch of 12 muffins. To save energy and time, I always make a double batch. If your oven is large enough to allow ample air circulation, the tins can be placed side by side. If you have a small oven, place tins one over the other, and swap positions after ten minutes of baking.
To make muffins, combine dry ingredients, and then mix in wet ingredients until just combined; the batter should be lumpy. Grease muffin tin and fill cups two thirds full. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (give or take 5 minutes).
The following ingredients are required:

Grain: Use 2 to 2 ½ cups of white flour. Or substitute oatmeal, cornmeal, whole-wheat flour, rye flour, or flake cereal for 1 cup of the white flour. Or suvstitute 1 cup leftover cooked oatmeal, rice, or cornmeal for 1/2 cup of the white flour and decrease liqued to ½ cup.

Milk: Use 1 cup. Or substitute buttermilk or sour milk (add a tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup milk). Or substitute fruit juice for part or all of the milk.

Fat: Use ¼ cup vegetable oil or 4 tablespoons melted butter or margarine. Or substitute crunchy or regular peanut butter for part or all of the fat. The fat can be reduced or omitted with fair results if using a “wet addition”.

Egg : Use 1 egg. Or substitute 1 heaping tablespoon of soy flour and 1 tablespoon of water. If using a cooked grain, separate the egg, add the yolk to the batter, beat the white until stiff, and fold into the batter.

Sweetener: Use between 2 tablespoons and ½ cup sugar. Or substitute up to ¾ cup brown sugar. Or substitute up to ½ cup of honey of molasses, and decrease milk to ¾ cup.

Baking Powder: Use 2 teaspoons. If using whole or cooked grains or more than 1 cup of additions, increase to 3 teaspoons. If using buttermilk or sour milk, decrease to 1 teaspoon and add ½ teaspoon baking soda.

Salt: Use ½ teaspoon. Or omit if you have a salt-restricted diet.

The following ingredients are optional. Additions can be used in any combination, up to 1½ cups total. If using more than 1 cup of wet additions, decrease the milk to ½ cup:

Dry Additions: Nuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, coconut, and so on.

Moist Additions: Blueberries, chopped apple, freshly shredded zucchini, shredded carrot, and so on.

Wet Additions: Pumpkin puree, applesauce, mashed cooked sweet potato, mashed banana, mashed cooked carrot, and so on. If using ½ cup drained, canned fruit or thawed shredded zucchini, substitute the syrup or zucchini liquid for all or part of the milk.

Spices: Use spices that complement the additions, such as 1 teaspoon cinnamon with ¼ teaspoon nutmeg or cloves. Try 2 teaspoons grated orange or lemon peel.

Jellies and Jam: Fill cups half full with a plain batter. Add 1 teaspoon jam or jelly and top with 2 more tablespoons batter.

Toppings: Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the batter in the tins.

Nonsweet Combinations: Use only 2 tablespoons sugar and no fruit. Add combinations of the following: ½ cup shredded cheese, 3 strips fried-and-crumbled bacon, 2 tablespoons grated onion, ½ cup shredded zucchini, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Spices could include a teaspoon of parsley and a pinch of marjoram.

All this may seem a bit complicated to follow first thing in the morning. So, once you learn the possible variations, copy the following list of ingredients into your personal cookbook.

2 to 2 ½ cups of grain
1 cup of milk
Up to ¼ cup fat
1 egg
Up to ½ cup sweetener
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Up to 1 ½ cups additions

Even including the brain work of creating a new recipe, I can get muffins in the oven in 20 minutes, and I take my shower while they’re baking.
Muffins are a mainstay in our household; we eat them about twice a week. If made with nutritious ingredients and served with juice or milk, they make a hearty breakfast. Leftover muffins become snacks or are hoarded for future lunch boxes. Those who don’t have six children can freeze the extra muffins for future breakfasts.
Though the cost varies depending upon the ingredients, I can make muffins for an average of about 4 cents each, including the cost of electicity to bake them. A breakfast of muffins costs our family between 50 cents and 60 cents. This is a bargain, considering my tribe can consume a 4 dollar box of cereal in a single sitting.
The end