Muffin Mixes: Quick, Easy and Fun

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

When something in the grocery store catches my daughter’s eye, I usually try to stop and listen. That’s when I catch a glimpse of what life looks like through her eyes, what appeals to her 8-year-old soul. What’s most interesting to note is that her choices usually include her learning a new skill—or all of us trying a new taste or food that we hadn’t had before.

In this case we were in the dollar store, of all places, stocking up on some household odds and ends, and by the checkout they had little wrapped packages of blueberry muffin mix:

“Just add milk!” It proclaimed in bold print.

Her eyes lit up. “Look, Mommy! Those blueberry muffins look good—and I bet I could mix them myself.”

Sure enough. Those words are music to any mom’s ears, and we ended up buying that little pack of blueberry muffin mix.

And yes indeed, this story has a happy ending: she did end up mixing those muffins herself—pouring and measuring the half cup of milk and spooning them into the muffin tins quite happily, even handling the hot oven with skill and panache.

Mixes are a great way to get kids into the kitchen. Sure, they’re a time-saving advent of modern society, but they’re really a fun change to encourage kids to make some homemade treats. And if you’d rather not have them making more cakes and cookies, muffins are a super middle-ground baked good that can do double duty for breakfast, lunch or snacks—perhaps even dinner—especially if you pair chili or a hearty soup with cornbread muffins.

Conclusion: Muffin mixes are not only tasty, they are fun and easy for kids. No matter if you go for the simple add-milk ones or the bit more complicated add-milk-eggs-oil, we now keep a variety of muffin mixes on the baking shelf. And you know what? I now have an even-more enthusiastic baker in the house.

And that’s a skill that translates into other baking also. Once kids have got the hang of reading and following the directions, recipes with more steps and ingredients are not nearly as intimidating.

So, go ahead—take a second look at the muffin mixes in the baking aisle the next time you go shopping. You just might help to spark an undiscovered baker at your house.

Here are some easy meal ideas to expand those muffins—for like all baked goods, don’t count on filling up on just muffins. Yet added to a whole diet approach that includes vegetables, fruits and tasty soups and stews, muffins can help to create a satisfying, wholesome meal.

Muffins at breakfast:

• Slice a blueberry muffin in half and serve with ½ cup yogurt with diced peaches or nectarines

• Slice a lemon-poppy seed muffin in half and serve with ½ cup vanilla yogurt topped with 1 tablespoon of almonds or peanuts

• Slice a cranberry-orange muffin into quarters and serve alongside scrambled eggs with orange or grapefruit juice

• Jazz up a plain mix with ¾ cup raisin bran for raisin-bran muffins to serve with a protein drink or smoothie


Muffins for lunch:

• Spruce up a can of beef vegetable soup by pairing it with corn or whole wheat muffins

• Create ham & cheese muffins to go with tomato soup: start with plain or cornmeal muffin mix and toss in ½ cup of diced turkey ham with ½ shredded cheddar cheese

• Create pizza muffins to pair with vegetable soup or salad: stir in ½ cup diced pepperoni. ½ cup mozzarella cheese and ½ tsp. oregano and basil


Snack-time muffins:

• Grab a cheese stick, apple and any-flavor muffin for a satisfying, filling on-the-go snack

• Create a PB&J delight: place ½ tsp. peanut butter and ½ tsp. jelly in the middle of a plain muffin before baking. Pair with a tall glass of ice cold milk

• Pair any-flavor muffin with a cup of fruit yogurt


Muffins for dinner:

• Corn muffins are super to stretch a hearty pot of chicken soup or chili into a satisfying meal. Serve with some grated cheese also

• Muffins make a nice on-the-side addition if your meal is missing a grain … paired with baked chicken or a beef and vegetable casserole, they help to satiate

• Turn a chef’s salad into a meal by adding cheese chunks, sunflower seeds, beans and your favorite muffin on the side