Easy DIY baking mix leaves room for endless improvisation

If your morning routine includes a coffee shop stop to grab joe and a muffin, you need this story. If your dinner menu’s looking a little uninspired, you also need this story. We have a way for you to have your muffin and eat it, too — any time of day, any way you want it. It’ll help your wallet, too. Whether you want sweet, chockablock with fruit and nuts, or savory, redolent with cheese and chiles or other savory ingredients, this baking mix lets you have muffins in minutes.

The baking mix is also a boon to have on hand for last-minute baking tasks, such as when your child informs you at 9 p.m. that tomorrow is her day to take a treat, or when friends pop by unexpectedly.

Store the mix at room temperature and make up a batch whenever you have a few minutes. Then freeze the cooled muffins in individual portions for quick grab-and-go snacks. It’s better to freeze the baked muffins than to freeze the batter.

Having the mix on hand allows for easy improvisation. Add a little vanilla to the batter if you’re going for sweet muffins. Top the muffins before baking with a simple streusel of 3 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons softened butter, if you like. Or, while the muffins bake, you may wish to make a simple glaze or icing from powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to gild them when they’ve cooled.

Some sweet add-in combinations that I especially like include:

¾ cup toasted coconut + ¾ cup diced pineapple + 1 tablespoon rum extract

¾ cup diced apple or pear + ¾ cup chopped dates

1 cup peanut butter chips + ¼ cup powdered peanut butter + ¼ cup cocoa

¾ cup mashed banana + ½ cup chopped walnuts

1 cup mashed pumpkin or butternut squash + 2 teaspoons cinnamon + 1 teaspoon each of nutmeg and ginger

1 cup fresh blueberries (toss these with the dry ingredients so they won’t sink to the bottom of the muffins) + 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

On the other side of the fence, savory muffins match up well with simple suppers of soup, stew or chili. Some savory add-in combinations that have pleased me include:

1 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn

With the DIY mix on hand, you just need to add milk, oil and an egg to bake up a fresh batch of muffins. Make them sweet or savory. And mix in your favorite ingredients.