Muffin Formula

I've seen a LOT of muffin recipes in my day but inevitably I always come back to a trusty old recipe a good friend of mine gave me over a decade ago. It's more of a formula than a recipe which is probably what I love about it. I can use whatever I have on hand and they always turn out delicious. My muffins have never turned out the same way twice, I can pack them full of nutrition, and the best part about is they're CHEAP! You can make a batch of muffins for as little as 4 cents each.

Here's the basic formula:

2 to 2 1/2 C grain
1 C milk
up to 1/4 C fat
1 egg
up to 1/2 C sweetener
2 teaspoons salt
up to 1 1/2 cup additions

Makes 12 muffins

Mix dry ingredients first. Mix wet ingredients, then add to dry ingredients. Blend together; the batter should be lumpy. Grease muffin tin and fill cups two thirds full, Bake in a preheated oven to 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Be creative with your ingredients! Experiment with different grains (but never use white flour!). Try adding canned pumpkin or even some nonsweet options like onion and shredded zucchini and a pinch of parsley. Here are some more ideas:

GRAIN: Use whole wheat flour or subsitute oatmeal, cooked rice, quinoa or millet. Try to use whole grains, nothing refined like white flour. For even more nutrition you can soak your grains overnight (more about this later).

MILK: Use milk or substitute buttermilk or fruit juice for all or part of the milk.

FAT: I use butter but you can substitute all-natural peanut butter for part or all of the fat. The fat can be reduced or omitted with fair results if using a wet addition.

SWEETENER: Use between 2T and 1/2 C sugar. I use rapadura or sucanat, a less refined sugar. You can substitute with 1/2 C honey, molasses or even maple syrup but decrease milk by 3/4 cup.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS: Additions can be used in any combination, up to 1.5 cups total if using more than 1 C wet additions, decrease milk to 1/2 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, cooked and mashed sweet potato, mashed banana, mashed and cooked carrot, and so on. If using 1/2 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 tsp cinnamon with 1/4 tsp nutmeg or cloves. Try 2 tsp grated orange or lemon peel.

JELLIES/JAMS: Fill cups half full with a plain batter. Add 1 tsp jam or jelly and top with 2 more tbls batter.

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

NONSWEET ADDITIONS: Use only 2 T sugar and no fruit. Add combinations of the following: 1/2 C shredded cheese, 3 strips fried and crumbled bacon (without nitrites), 2 T grated onion, 1/2 C shredded zucchini, 2 T parmesan cheese. Spices could include a tsp of parsley and a pinch of marjoram.

HAPPY BAKING!