Create a Muffin

This recipe came from a Frugal book...Tightwad...I need to look up the name of it :-)
Anyway, it's awesome! It tells you a basic muffin recipe and then you can tweak it and make it into whatever flavor you want! It tells all the secrets!
I LOVE THIS RECIPE! It's the recipe I use for all my muffins anymore!

Got it - it's called
The complete Tightwad gazette : promoting thrift as a viable alternative lifestyle
by: Amy Dacyczyn.


Create a Muffin

The quantities listed below are for a single batch of 12 muffins. Make double batches to save energy. To make muffins, combine dry ingredients, and then mix in wet ingredients until just combined; the batter should be lumpy. Grease muffin tin and fill cups two thirds full. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (give or take 5 minutes). The following ingredients are required:

Grain: Use 2 to 2 ½ cups white flour. Or substitute oatmeal, cornmeal, or whole wheat flour, rye flour, or flake cereal for 1 cup of the white flour. Or substitute 1 cup leftover cooked oatmeal, rice, or cornmeal for ½ cup of the white flour and decrease liquid to ½ cup.

Milk: Use 1 cup. Or substitute butter milk or sour milk. Or substitute fruit juice for part of all of the milk.

Fat: use ¼ cup vegetable oil or 4 Tbsp melted butter. Or substitute crunchy or regular peanut butter for part or all of the fat. The fat can be reduced or omitted with fair results if using a “wet addition”

Egg: use 1 egg. Or substitute 1 heaping Tbsp soy flour and 1 Tbsp water. If using a cooked grain, separate the egg, add the yolk to the batter, beat the white until stiff, and fold into batter.

Sweetener: Use between 2 Tbsp and ½ cup sugar. Or substitute up to ¾ cup brown sugar. Or substitute up to ½ cup honey or molasses, and decrease milk to ¾ cup.

Baking Powder: Use 2 tsp. If using whole or cooked grains or more than 1 cup of additions, increase to 3 tsp. If using buttermilk or sourmilk, decrease to 1 tsp and add ½ tsp baking soda.

Salt: Use ½ tsp.

The following ingredients are optional. Additions can be used in any combination, up to 1 ½ cups total. If using more than 1 cup of wet additions, decrease the milk to ½ cup:

Dry Additions: Nuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, coconut, and so on.

Moist Additions: Blueberries, chopped apple, freshly shredded zucchini, shredded carrot, and so on

Wet Additions: Pumpkin puree, applesauce, mashed, cooked sweet potato, mashed banana, mashed and cooked carrot, etc. If using ½ cup drained, canned fruit or thawed shredded zucchini, substitute the syrup or zucchini liquid for all or part of the milk.

Spices: Use spices that compliment the additions, such as 1 tsp cinnamon with ¼ tsp nutmeg or cloves. Try 2 tsp grated orange or lemon peel.

Jellies and Jams: Fill cups half full with a plain batter. Add 1 tsp jam or jelly and top with 2 more Tbsp batter.

Topping: Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the batter in the tins.

Nonsweet Combinations: Use only 2 Tbsp sugar and no fruit. Add combinations of the following: ½ cup shredded cheese, 3 strips fried and crumbled bacon, 2 Tbsp grated onion, ½ cup shredded zucchini, 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese. Spices could include a tsp of parsley and a pinch of marjoram.

Post recipe on fridge for Create-a-Muffins

2 to 2 ½ cups grain

1 cup milk

up to ¼ cup fat

1 egg

up to ½ cup sweetener

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

up to 1 ½ cups additions

Freeze any extras for later