Save my budget with muffin recipes

[sharonhr]

Confession: I am a frugal maven, but I have a weakness for muffins. I love fancy gourmet muffins that cost $2.75 each.

At a rate of three times a week, 50 weeks a year, I am spending about $400 a year on muffins!!!!

So I'm on a quest to find great muffin recipes. I don't care about calories.
I prefer natural ingredients...
I prefer simple recipes.

Do you have a great muffin recipe for me?

Do you have an estimate on how much it costs per muffin to make a batch from your recipe?

Thanks

[Bookie]

From the Coupons, Food and Recipes section, under recipes,

Muffins

[sharonhr]

Thanks! I will do a search before starting a new thread.
Best wishes,
shr

[lrjohnson]

Sharon: The Tighwad Gazette's recipe is a base you can do many muffins from; healthier or more indulgent, cheap or pricier. It gives the skeleton (up to 1/4 fat-could be oil, butter, shortening, apple suace etc. etc.) 2-2-1/2 cups grain (with possibilites for corn meal oatmeal whole wheat etc. etc.0

I've made banana walnut, Oatmeal apple, cornmeal, cinnamon oatmeal, bran apple, etc. etc. if you don't have TG or the base recipe isn't in another thread, let me know I'll post.

[sharonhr]

Thanks so much!
I have TG. I will look up that recipe.
Oatmeal apple sounds good. I'll try blueberry also.

What works best: frozen fruit, dried fruit or fresh fruit?

As you can see, my baking experience is limited.

Thanks

[lrjohnson]

The ONLY thing I've ever baked is muffins, from this recipe!

I've used frozen and fresh fruit. I think dried would work fine, but following Amy's recipe it would probably be a "dry addition" or "moist addition" versus a "dry addition." (That will make more sense when you read the TG!)

[sharonhr]

I appreciate your note and advice about the fruit.

I will read the recipe carefully.

I really, really love the muffins from my favorite cafe. But the steady diet of $2.75 muffins, plus tax and tip are really eating into my budget.

Maybe I'll indulge as an every-now-and-then treat, but not 3 to five times a week.

Plus, I think baking muffins will be a fun and relaxing activity with my kids.

Thanks for the input!