Flexible muffins

This simple muffin recipe needs only a few ingredients, comes together quickly, and can be made with endless variations. It's a great way to turn the last bits of dairy or produce about to go off in the fridge into a satisfying grab-and-go breakfast or snack. Flavour suggestions are below, but don't afraid to get creative and try out anything you think would be tasty.

Dry ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
  
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
  
• 1/3 cup sugar
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
  
  
• 1/2 cup neutral oil
  
  
• 1 egg

Toppings:

• See below for suggestions

1. Preheat oven to 350C, and grease a muffin pan.
   
   
2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
   
   
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, along with whatever toppings you're using. Use a spatula to gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry, until just mixed.
   
   
4. Spoon mixture evenly into muffin pan; recipe makes 12 regular-sized muffins.
   
   
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from tray.

• When measuring flour, don't scoop it out of the container with the measuring cup. This will compact the flour, and you'll end up with too much in your recipe. Instead, fluff the flour in the container, and spoon it into your cup until it's overfull. Level the top with a knife, and you'll have exactly the right amount.
  
  
• Overmixing the batter will result in dense, rubbery muffins. Be sure to mix gently, until the ingredients are just combined. It's ok if the batter is lumpy, but you don't want to see any visible streaks of flour.

Substitutions:

This recipe is very flexible, and most of the ingredients can be swapped

• You can use all purpose or whole wheat flour, though whole wheat flour will result in denser muffins. You can also replace a little of the flour with rolled oats or wheat bran, for some extra fiber. Gluten-free flours might not work, unless they're specifically made for baking.
  
  
• White and brown sugar are both fine. You can increase the amount added, for a sweeter muffin, or take it out entiresly to make savory muffins. You can also try substituting mashed overripe bananas or honey for the sugar, though you'll need to reduce the amount of milk added to compensate for the moisture.
  
  
• Cow's milk and plant milks both work in this recipe. You can also substitute the milk with yogurt, buttermilk, or sour cream. Denser milk products, like greek yogurt or sour cream, might result in dense muffins, so you might want to thin them a little with milk or water, or add a little extra baking powder to compensate.
  
  
• Neutral flavoured oils like canola, sunflower, or light olive oil all work well. Alternatively, melt 1/2 cup of margarine or butter, and let it cool to room temperature before mixing it into the wet ingredients. If you mix it in hot, it will cook the egg!

Variations:

You can try just about anything in this recipe, but there are suggestions below!

• Very berry: add around 1 cup fresh or frozen berries. Strawberries should be diced, but blueberries and raspberries can be added whole.
  
  
• Apple cinnamon: add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and around 1 cup of diced apples. Brown sugar instead of white will make this especially tasty.
  
  
• Double chocolate: replace 1/4 cup of flour with cocoa powder, and stir in chocolate chips.
  
  
• Banana nut: add 1 cup of mashed bananas, and 1/2 cup chopped nuts.
  
  
• Zucchini: add one cup grated zucchini (squeeze moisture out), and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
  
  
• Carrot spice: add 1 cup of grated carrot, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  
• Cheddar apple: add 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese, and 1 around cup diced apples.
  
  
• Ham and cheese: Leave out sugar and add one cup grated cheese, and 1/2 cup diced ham. Add dried herbs like rosemary, if have on hand.

• Store in air tight container, for up to 3 days on the counter, or 1 week in the fridge.
  
  
• Muffins can be frozen in sealed bags or airtight containers for up to 3 months.

Recipe adapted from Feed My People Food Bank

Food is Too Expensive! was funded by the City of Saskatoon through our Healthy Yards partnership, the Cyril Capling Trust Fund of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Department of Plant Sciences. Focus group research to inform this work was collected by CHEP. Thank you all for helping us make healthy food more accessible!