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Make-Ahead Muffin Mix

This easy muffin mix base recipe can be made ahead of time and stored for later use. It makes having fresh baked muffins for breakfast quick and easy! One mix, endless varieties! Make a bunch and freeze the muffins for later!

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Blueberry muffins on a tray and plate, made from the Make-Ahead Muffin Mix recipe.

Make-Ahead Muffin Mix

I love a good muffin! But I’m not a big fan of the store-bought mixes.  Or maybe they’re not a fan of me.  Because whenever I make them, the muffins are teeny tiny.  Maybe I’m doing something wrong.  But when I think delicious breakfast muffin, I’m thinking of the ones you see in bakeries and coffee shops, or Costco (those things are HUGE, ha ha), with tons of mix-ins and preferably a streusel top!  Since I have yet to find a mix that pulls that off, that means I have to make my own. But sometimes the idea of hauling out all the ingredients to make muffins from scratch is just more than I can muster, even at 10 am! So, enter my favorite Make-Ahead Muffin Mix!!!

I can’t claim any fame for this one. A baker I am not. So when I find a good recipe for baked goods, like Amazing Honey Wheat Bread, and it works, I tend to just leave it alone, because why mess with a good thing, right? This is one of those things!

Make-Ahead Muffin Mix Dry Mix

I found the recipe several years ago on grouprecipes.com.  I’ve since seen it a couple of other places, with a different name attached to it as the author, so I’m not entirely sure who to credit here.  But whoever it is, they are a genius!  The recipe posting says they learned this recipe while working at a neighborhood bakery.  I have no idea if that’s true, but I have no reason to doubt it.  Because this make-ahead muffin mix makes true bakery-style muffins!

The recipe itself is for the muffin mix base – all of the dry ingredients.  It makes a huge batch, which you can store until needed.  Then, when you’re ready to make muffins, you just add the correct amount of mix, your wet ingredients, and whatever mix-in’s you want (there is a list of about three or four dozen options) – and voilà!

My personal favorite is the lemon poppy-seed variety, although I really like the pumpkin with cream cheese topping, too!

For today’s post, and for most morning breakfasts, I go with blueberry, strawberry, or mixed berry muffins.

Muffins cooling on a tray.

The large batch of muffin mix will make enough for 5 batches of 24 muffins each.  However, feel free to halve the mix recipe if you’re not sure you’ll go through it quickly enough.  It’s good for a couple months in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.  Or you can also stick your extra dry mix in a ziptop freezer bag and freeze it to keep it good longer.

I will add a couple of the mix-in instructions in the notes section, but for the full list, be sure to visit the original recipe page.  You will not believe the combinations that are available!  You could probably make a different variety each week for an entire year and still not get through them all!!  It’s muffin heaven!!!

Even better than having an amazing mix already to go, to speed up your muffin-making, is the fact that your baked muffins can then be FROZEN!!  I like to make up a batch of 24, keep about half out for the next few mornings, and then freeze the other 12 muffins for future breakfasts.  So, it’s really a make-ahead mix that makes make-ahead muffins!  Pretty clever, eh?  I had to get up really early in the morning for to come up with that one! 😉

Corny jokes and bad alliteration aside, I hope you will enjoy these as much as we do at my house!!

Make-Ahead Muffin Mix Buttered

Make Ahead Muffin Mix buttered blueberry muffins

Make-Ahead Muffin Mix

Yield: 5 batches of 24
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

A make-ahead muffin mix that you can keep on hand and use to make amazing make-ahead muffins!  

Ingredients

  • 18 cups flour
  • 5 cups sugar
  • 2 1/4 cups buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk
  • 6 tablespoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients in a VERY large bowl, and stir gently until combined.  Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry location.

To make muffins:

  1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees.  Spray two muffin tins with non-stick spray, or prepare with paper liners.
  2. In large bowl, beat 4 eggs.  Add 3 teaspoons vanilla, 2 cups water and 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil.  
  3. Stir in 5 1/2 cups of dry muffin mix, just until moistened.  Gently add in any mix-ins (see notes or find the full list at grouprecipes.com).  
  4. Spoon into prepared muffin tins, making sure to fill each muffin cup to the top.  Optional: Add topping(s).
  5. Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.

Notes

Here are a few of the mix-in options we use most often:

Blueberry - add 2 cups fresh or frozen berries

Strawberry - add 2 cups fresh or frozen chopped berries

Mixed berries - add 2 cups combo of fresh or frozen chopped berries

Lemon Poppy Seed - add 2 pkgs (3.4oz) lemon flavor instant pudding, 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, omit 1 cup water and replace with 1 cup lemon juice

Pumpkin - add 2 cups solid pack pumpkin and 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (add 1/2 cup chopped nuts if desired)

Cream Cheese topping - mix 2 8oz pkgs softened cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and 2 eggs, then drop by rounded tablespoon onto top of each muffin before baking

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 120 Serving Size: 1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 112Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 257mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 10gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information provided as an estimate only.

Did you make this recipe?

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Victoria

Sunday 6th of November 2022

Candi, could this mix be used to make a 8 inch square coffeecake?

Janet

Monday 26th of September 2022

if making the pumpkin muffins, do I cut down or omit the water??

Lucie

Tuesday 22nd of February 2022

how can you use the mix to make fewer muffins?

Patricia Ballas

Sunday 18th of September 2022

@Lucie,Cut the recipe in half . instead of using the full amount of muffin mix use half the amount. Half the amount 2ith the added ingredients before baking also.

rachelle

Saturday 7th of August 2021

Hello! I'm very excited to try the freezer breakfast sandwiches and these muffins as well! What would the process be to make them banana muffins?

Candi

Saturday 7th of August 2021

For banana muffins, follow the directions to make up a regular batch of muffins (not just the mix) and then add 2 cups mashed bananas and 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional).

Julie Rushton

Monday 4th of February 2019

The original recipe page that you cited lists 2 1/2 c. of dry milk or dry buttermilk... did you change it to 2c. or ...? I loved all the varieties and want these to turn out just like yours look! Yum! Thanks for sharing!

Candi

Wednesday 6th of February 2019

Oh goodness - I apologize for that! I went and pulled out my really old, worn copy of the printed recipe. It should be 2 1/4 cups dry milk. I have updated the recipe card accordingly! Thanks for catching that! If you made it with the 2 cups, I think you're still good, as I don't know if you'll notice the 1/4 cup difference (I have apparently made it a couple times with 2 cups when I pull up my recipe on my site and just make it from there), but if you haven't made it yet, use 2 1/4 instead of the 2 cups, since that is original (and it's what I have in my older printed copy from when I first started making these).

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