Apple Muffins

The first muffins I made with my muffin mix. Winners. Definitely winners! I happened to have some homemade applesauce from last fall, which my minis prefer to the store bought. They were really good!

Apple Muffins

2 1/3 cups Muffin Mix (recipe here)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I left these out)
1/4 teaspoon cloves (I did not have these either)
1 cup sweet applesauce
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400'.  Butter muffin pans or place baking cups. In a medium bowl, combine Muffin Mix, nuts and cloves. Combine applesauce, milk and egg in a small bowl. Add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened; batter should be lumpy. fill prepared muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

Granola Mix

I have only made this once. It is good, we are eating it. But I have been thinking of ways I am going to tweak it. I will put the main recipe here, from the book Make-a-Mix Cookery, and then I will post my exact recipe later when I finalize it.

Granola Mix

10 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 lb. shredded coconut
2 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 cups sesame seeds
3 cups chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, or combination)
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons vanilla

Dried fruit as desired

Preheat oven to 300'. In a large bowl combine oats, wheat germ, coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and nuts. Blend well. In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, oil, honey, molasses, salt, cinnamon and vanilla. Heat until sugar is dissolved, but do not boil. Pour syrup over dry ingredients and stir until well-coated. Spread into five 13"x9" baking pans, or cookie sheets with sides. Bake 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bake 15 minutes longer for crunchier texture. Cool. Add dried fruit. Put in airtight container. Label. Store in a cool, dry place. Use with in 6 months. Makes 20 cups of Granola Mix.

Muffin Mix

Muffin Mix
This is a base that you can use for many different types of muffins! It is like having those little packets of Martha White in your cupboard, but instead they taste like Homemade from scratch, cause they are!!

8 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup vegetable shortening

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix Well. With a pastry blender, cut shortening into dry ingredients until evenly distributed. Putin a large air tight container. Label. Store in a  cool, dry place. Use with in 10-12 weeks. Makes about 10 cups of Muffin Mix. note: I did all the mixing in my electric mixer, it worked great.

To use this mix to make basic muffins:

2 1/3 muffin mix
1 egg
1 cup milk

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes

Fast Breakfasts

My favorite breakfast lately is biscuits and sausage! You can't beat a warm biscuit from the oven smothered with butter and honey! From scratch? you say? Nope - just a pack of Jiffy! Why bother with scratch when these are so good and fast!

For a little variety, we sometimes mix it up with a box of Jiffy Chocolate Muffins. It's like having a cupcake for breakfast - only healthy because it says 'muffin' ! We usually don't do breakfast sausage with this option. But throw in a banana or some strawberries, and it isn't too bad!