The muffin man, the muffin man…

Years ago when the Tightwad Gazette came out, the author, Amy Dacyczyn has a great all purpose muffin recipe that we have now used for years, often using whatever is on hand. Her books are full of wonderful tips, and the muffins are just one of them.


I find muffins to be a great easy breakfast or after school snack. They are also a frugal addition to a packed lunch. I have not done the math, but I would estimate that each muffin I make costs less than 8-10 cents each. A Betty Crocker boxed muffin mix makes 12 muffins, and costs $2.00, making each one 16 cents, 28 cents if you count the eggs and oil. I calculate eggs at 10 cents each.

The other reason I prefer to make them homemade is fewer processed ingredients, and I am able to use up items that may otherwise go to waste, such as a too ripe banana, the last uneaten slice of apple that I shred, etc. Get creative, use what you have, see if you can use so many leftovers that it makes the muffins almost free :)

Here is the recipe, from the above posted book:
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (or other liquid, such as drained pineapple juice, orange juice, etc...)
1/4 cup oil or oil substitute
1 egg
1 1/2 cups fruit, additions (or vegetable, such as 1 cup mashed banana and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts)
spices, of your choice

Directions
1. Heat oven to 400.
2. Grease 12 muffin cups, or 24 mini muffin cups.
3. Combine dry ingredients, including dry additions (like nuts, chocolate chips, etc -- ) and spices.
4. Combine wet ingredients, including wet additions (like banana, berries, pineapple, etc -- ).
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full (perfectly ok if you have leftover batter to fill cups to top.).
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.