Muffy Muffins and The Muffin Formula

When it comes to baking from scratch, I think whenever you can do it--do it. But sometimes a shortcut or two to save time, money or energy, is practical and acceptable. The following recipe, which is really a formula of sorts, was a tried-and-true go-to for when I was a young mom. It's become a staple and for my now grown kids, a taste of home.

Jan's Muffy Muffins

1 C. Pioneer Baking Mix, no substitutes!
1 C. quick oats
1 C. milk

1/2 C. sugar, plus a bit more for sprinkling
1 egg
3 TBS veg oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk into a mixing bowl, add oats and go fold some laundry for 15 minutes or so. Add sugar, egg, oil and vanilla. (To the bowl, not to the laundry!) Using a fork, beat mixture like a crazy person for about 30 seconds. Stir in Pioneer just until incorporated thoroughly. Pam spray a muffin pan for a dozen muffins. Get a big serving spoon or small ice cream scoop and evenly fill pan. Sprinkle muffin tops with sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Voila, muffins! Now for the best part, besides eating them of course, the formula...

Fill muffins with a two part pastry tip (available at crafts store) attached to a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. 

Jan's Muffin Formula

If you have 1 cup of Pioneer Baking Mix
1 cup of any other dry ingredient 
1 cup of wet (milk, buttermilk, mashed banana/sour cream, yogurt/almond milk, canned pumpkin/1/2&1/2...) and the rest of the above mentioned ingredients, you have muffins.

 Here are some suggestions for dry ingredients to accompany the Pioneer:  All Bran cereal or pretty much any cereal as long as it has been run through a blender to make a flour-like consistency, rye flour, rice flour, pecan meal, another cup of Pioneer, buckwheat four, coconut flour...you get where I'm going with this.

Your flavorings can change as well. Instead of vanilla, add almond extract. Throw in a pinch or two of nutmeg and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Add raisins or mini chocolate chips to the batter. Mix up a filling of softened cream cheese/powdered sugar and fill the muffins when they're done baking. Play with your food! You can make them as simple as Muffy Muffins or come up with your own crazy concoction. Have fun!

Court's pumpkin muffins (yummmmm)  for our most recent catering job