This morning my daycare children helped me make a batch of muffins for breakfast. Because we are usually very busy in the mornings, we don't always have time to make our muffins from scratch. It's also difficult, if not impossible, to find fresh blueberries at the market during the winter season in Alaska. That leaves no choice but to use mix's, and this morning we used the Krusteaz Wild Blueberry Muffin Mix.

Description

This comes in a 16.5 ounce box, and the front proclaims it as a supreme muffin mix. It contains a tuna fish- sized can of wild blueberries.

Unlike the popular Krusteaz pancake mix which only requires the addition of water, these muffins call for water, 1/3 cup oil and one egg. Once the muffins are mixed up, they bake in just 18 short minutes.

Taste

While I am a huge Krusteaz fan, I can honestly say that I give the edge to Betty Crocker's Blueberry Muffin Mix.

Both products have incredibly small sized blueberries, which are supposed to be rinsed in cold water before adding. The berries must be gently folded into the muffin batter, or you can crush them and turn the entire batter an ugly blue/purple color. They taste much better if you can leave the berries whole. I have learned not to let the kids stir the berries in for me!

I purchased several boxes of Krusteaz muffin mixes because of a good sale, but normally buy the Betty Crocker muffin mixes. There is a difference between the two that I wasn't aware of until the Krusteaz muffins were already made this morning. While the Betty Crocker mix makes 12 muffins, this Krusteaz mix only makes 10. Not realizing this, I had the kids put muffin paper liners in all 12 of the muffin cups, but only a few of them were nicely raised when I took them out of the oven. Most of them were flat, and lacked the nice dark brown, crusty crown that Betty Crocker's muffins always give me.

The Krusteaz blueberry muffins did taste good, very moist and not too sweet. The blueberries were flavorful, and there were plenty of them in each muffin.

The box gives a few other ideas for how to use this muffin mix. There is a recipe for "Orange Blueberry Quick Bread", and suggestions for adding in a banana or finely grated orange zest and replacing the water with orange juice when making the muffins.

Nutrition Information (Per muffin)

Calories: 220
Calories from fat: 90
Total fat: 1.5g
Saturated fat: 0.5g
Trans fat: 0.5g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Carbs: 31g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 2g

Closing Recommendation

This product does contain enriched flour, which is something I always look for. The muffins are low in fat, the sodium amounts aren't too high, and there is no cholesterol. (Although since it does call for one egg, they do contain minimal amounts of cholesterol).

The regular price for these muffins was $3.29. but I picked them up for $2.50. Normally the cost of Krusteaz and Betty Crocker Muffin Mixes cost about the same, but I feel Betty Crocker gives me more for my money since one box makes 12 muffins instead of the 10 that Krusteaz produces.

While I wasn't completely satisfied with them, I asked my daycare children what they thought about them, and all seven of them gave their hearty approval. Of course, they felt a little bit of pride in having helped make them! It was a nice treat to have fresh, hot muffins for breakfast, and they had fun helping me with them.

If these are on sale, I'd buy them again, otherwise I'd pick up my all time favorite, Betty Crocker.







Recommended: Yes