Blueberry Muffins

I'm pretty sure the only reason people buy muffin mixes is that they have no idea how easy it is to make them from scratch!  After all, look at the ingredient list from an inexpensive name brand of blueberry muffins that probably should remain nameless because they should totally be embarassed by this:

INGREDIENTS: WHEAT FLOUR, SUGAR, ANIMAL SHORTENING (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: LARD, HYDROGENATED LARD, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED LARD), DEXTROSE, LEAVENING (SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, BAKING SODA, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), contains less than 2% of each of the following: PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN & COTTONSEED OILS, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, SALT, CITRIC ACID, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MALTODEXTRIN, RED 40, BLUE 2, BLUE 1, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID.

 

Seriously, ewwwww!  I can't even find blueberries on that list, can you?  Now compare that to the ingredient list of the recipe below in ingredient label format: 

INGREDIENTS: WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, BLUEBERRIES, MILK, VEGETABLE OIL, SUGAR, EGG, BAKING POWDER (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPATE, SODIUM BICARBONATE, CORN STARTCH AND MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT

Which would you rather eat?  (Note:  Because of a history of Alzheimer's in my family, I buy the aluminum free baking powder.  Your ingredients may vary on that one.  I'm thinking about not buying baking powder anymore after looking at that ingredient list and making my own though.)

And it isn't that it is harder to make the scratch muffins than the mix.  Here are the mix instructions:

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pans or use paper baking cups.  Blend mix, egg, and milk. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Fill muffin cups 1/2 full.  Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Except for a couple minor details, exactly the same as the recipe below, yet the homemade ones are healthier and cheaper!  Oh, yeah, and the homemade ones taste better too.

 Blueberry Muffins

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom only of muffin cups.  Beat egg; mix in milk, blueberries, and vegetable oil. Add remaining ingredients all at once and mix until flour is just moistened.  Batter will be slightly lumpy. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.