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!
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.
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
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
- 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:
- Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Spray two muffin tins with non-stick spray, or prepare with paper liners.
- In large bowl, beat 4 eggs. Add 3 teaspoons vanilla, 2 cups water and 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil.
- 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).
- Spoon into prepared muffin tins, making sure to fill each muffin cup to the top. Optional: Add topping(s).
- 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 muffinAmount 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.
Jenny from jennyisbaking.com says
Candi, I have to say, I love your pictures here! I want to grab one of those muffins right now! Such beautiful natural light! Wow, I still need to practice my photography skills… Pinned the recipe, thanks!
Candi says
Thanks Jenny!! 🙂 These are some of my favorites so far! It was a surprisingly easy shoot – I think I was done in under 20 minutes! That NEVER happens! It was a total fluke, too. I shot two other dishes that same day – and the other two shoots took forever and the pics were terrible!! I’m editing some from that same day right now for a post for tomorrow, and I’m wishing I could remember what I did for these muffins because the pics turned out so well but these others aren’t looking very good at all! I can’t remember how I had them set up, where, time, etc. – gah!
o says
Don’t do what I did. I made it with almost half whole wheat flour. The batter wasn’t looking too great, thick and heavy. Muffins are not light either. It’s kind of funny but sad because the mix is now wasted. My first regret of the new year 😛
Candi says
Oh no!!! 🙁 I wonder if there is any way to salvage the mix? Do you have access to vital wheat gluten?
Chloe says
Candi I am super curious what vital wheat gluten would do to salvage this recipe. I’ve tried using VWG to make Seitan but didn’t like the results.
Candi says
Wheat flour is heavier and denser than AP white. To compensate, recipes often include extra wheat gluten (the protein in wheat flour) to help give it more structure (otherwise it is too heavy to support itself and you don’t get as many air pockets making the baked good light and fluffy). I use it in my wheat bread recipe, along with a dough conditioner (lemon juice), and it makes a much lighter, almost white-bread type consistency. I’m wondering if adding some wheat gluten (and a dough conditioner like lemon juice at the time of baking) might help so the muffins weren’t so dense – they wouldn’t be quite like using AP flour, but maybe change it enough to make the mix at least tolerable so you don’t have to throw it out?
Julie Rushton says
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 says
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).