The Great Blueberry Muffin Mix Challenge

Hey Y’all.  This is the recap of that time I went into the grocery store and bought 8 different blueberry muffin mixes, for science.  Because we need to know once and for all, which mix is the best blueberry muffin mix.  This is not a sponsored post.  For the record, I am biased. I love a Jiffy Blueberry muffin with a cup of coffee.  There is always a box or two in my pantry at all times.   After completing the Cornbread Mix Challenge, I discovered a couple of new brands to add to my pantry.  So this experiment is to see if we should expand our blueberry mix loyalty. 

Jump to:

• Acknowledgments
• About Blueberry Muffin Mix 
• The Blueberry Muffin Mix Challenge Plan
• The Contenders
• The Blueberry Muffin Mix Challenge Rule
• The Judging Criteria
• The Results 
• Overall Top 3: 
• More Baking Challenges:
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Acknowledgments

Shout out to my friend Zeynep for helping with this challenge!  Not only did she go all the way to World Market to secure a bag of muffin mix, but she also hung out in the kitchen during the baking process.  Also, big thanks to my daughter and her friends who were incredibly thorough judges. 

About Blueberry Muffin Mix 

Blueberry Muffins are considered a “quick” bread.  This means that the batter relies on a raising agent– like baking soda or baking powder to help the muffins rise quickly. Blueberry muffins are the most popular muffin flavor in America. Blueberry Muffin Mix eliminates some of the guesswork and makes the time from muffin mix to warm muffin very quick. 

The Blueberry Muffin Mix Challenge Plan

Like every other challenge, I start at the very beginning, by reading all of the baking instructions on the packages from start to finish. This way I am able to jot down the patterns that start to emerge, note oven temperatures and baking times.  From there I am able to chart out a baking order, so that I can minimize the amount in the kitchen.  

For this challenge, I baked all of the muffin mix in batches based on oven temperature and similar ingredients, and number of proposed muffins.  Notably, I have 4 -dozen muffin tins and 1 ½ dozen tin.  I typically use the ½ dozen pan when I am baking in my toaster oven. 

A large reason that I am able to pull these challenges is because of my double oven. I love that thing 🙂   Basically I ordered the bakes based on temperature so that there was always at least one pan of muffins in one of the ovens at all times.  In all, it took me about an hour and half to make 8 batches of muffins.  

The Contenders

Choosing the contender is as simple as walking down the baking aisle in every grocery store in a five mile vicinity.  These blueberry muffin mixes were chosen based on availability at my local (North Carolina) Wal-Mart, Harris Teeter, Lowes and World Market.   

The Blueberry Muffin Mix Challenge Rule

1. Follow the instructions! No add ons on ingredients, and following the bake temperature and time frames. This rule is always the hardest one to follow. 
2. The judging.  We had three adult judges and three kid judges. After tasting each muffin, the judges rated the muffins based on the traditional A (best) to F (worst) grading scale.  

Baker’s Notes: 

Whenever I bake multiples of the same thing in a short period, I start to notice patterns and this challenge was no exception.  The key themes I notices during my planning stage for the blueberry muffins fell into two categories: 

Baking Temperature

• 375ºF– Dolly Parton’s
• 400ºF– Martha White; Jiffy, Duncan Hines, Sticky Fingers,Krusteaz 
• 425ºF- Betty Crocker, That’s Smart

Ingredients 

There are two camps of blueberries:  the fake blueberries and the blueberries that come in this can.  

1. “Fake” Blueberries:  Jiffy, Martha White, That’s Smart, Sticky Fingers
2. Canned Blueberries:  Duncan Hines, Krusteaz, Betty Crocker, Dolly Parton

For the canned blueberries the instructions tell you to drain and rinse the blueberries.  The only batter that turned blue is the Dolly Parton muffin. 

Crumb Topping or Not:  Only two of the muffin mixes had a crumb topping:  Duncan Hines and Dolly Parton’s. 

The Judging Criteria

For each blueberry muffin mix we noted the:

• Appearance (color and rise)
• Blueberry Distribution (e.g., did they all sink to the bottom, were there enough etc). 
• Moisture
• Added Ingredients
• Flavor/ Texture
• Cost

The Results 

Alright, are y’all ready to read the reviews?  Here we go: 

Jiffy Blueberry Muffin Mix 

• Cost: 98 cents 
• Added Ingredients: Egg and Milk 
• Appearance: Good rise, but not the tallest out of the bunch.  Good Color. 
• Flavor:  
• Is it Dry? No. 
• Blueberry Distribution: The blueberries are evenly distributed and didn’t sink to the bottom. 
• Notes:  This muffin mix only makes 6 muffins. 
• Rating: Adults: A  Kids: A-

Martha White Blueberry Flavored Muffin Mix

• Cost: $1.12
• Added Ingredients: Milk 
• Appearance: Not a lot of rise and not a lot of color. This mix doesn’t have any eggs, so they didn’t brown as much as the others.  
• Flavor:  Not overly sweet and more dense muffin. 
• Is it Dry? No. 
• Blueberry Distribution: All of the blueberries sunk to the bottom of the muffin, but the blueberries taste good. 
• Notes:  My mother in law exclusively makes Martha White’s blueberry muffin mix, and they never look like this one.  Knowing her, I know she adds whatever she wants to that blueberry muffin mix and we will never ever be able to replicate it. 
• Rating: Adults: C- Kids: F

Krusteaz Wild Blueberry Muffin Mix 

• Cost: $2.97
• Added Ingredients: Vegetable Oil, Water and Eggs
• Appearance:  Good height on the muffin top, but the muffins didn't brown nearly enough in the time suggested on the box.
• Flavor/Texture: Good crunch on the edge.  The muffin on the interior felt too sticky and wet. 
• Is it Dry? No. 
• Blueberry Distribution: Even blueberry distribution. 
• Notes:  We had high expectations for this mix after the Cornbread Mix Challenge, and were slightly disappointed by the lack of color and the interior. If I were to make these again, I would increase the bake time by 3-4 minutes.
• Rating: Adults: B+; Kids: C-

Duncan Hines Simple Mornings Blueberry Streusel Muffin Mix 

• Cost: $3.48
• Added Ingredients:  Vegetable Oil, Water and Eggs
• Appearance: The muffin browned a little more than I expected using the outside range of the baking times. The muffins got good height and the crumb topping was attractive. 
• Flavor/ Texture:  The muffin texture is more cakey than muffin. 
• Is it Dry? No. 
• Blueberry Distribution:  The blueberries were evenly distributed, but were overwhelmed by the crumb topping for some. 
• Notes:  Interestingly, the adults preferred muffins without the crumb topping, while the kids loved those specific muffins. 
• Rating:  Adults: B -  Kids: B+

Betty Crocker Wild Blueberry Muffin and Quick Bread Mix

• Cost: $2.84
• Added Ingredients:  Vegetable Oil, Water, Eggs
• Appearance:  A classic blueberry muffin appearance.  Light browned with a enough rise and speckled with blueberries. 
• Flavor/ Texture:  Incredible muffin texture– light and airy, not too sweet, with a good crust. 
• Is it Dry? No. 
• Blueberry Distribution: Blueberries are evenly distributed. 
• Notes:  Betty knows what she’s doing.  Despite being a Jiffy Blueberry muffin girl, I will definitely start keeping a box of Betty Crocker muffins in my pantry. 
• Rating: Adults: A  Kids: B+

Dolly Parton’s Blueberry Muffin and Bread Mix 

• Cost: $3.97
• Added Ingredients: Melted butter, eggs and oil
• Appearance: Despite rinsing the canned blueberries as instructed, the muffin batter turned blue/green color.  This color didn’t deter the children, if anything it made them love this muffin even more.  The crumble added that expected Dolly Parton glitter. 
• Flavor:  The prevailing flavor is “sweet”. 
• Is it Dry? No. 
• Blueberry Distribution:  Blueberry distribution was even across.  They didn’t all sink to the bottom of the muffin. 
• Notes:  Overall this muffin is more dessert than breakfast food. 
• Rating: Adults: C+  Kids: A

Sticky Fingers Blueberry Muffin Mix 

• Cost: $5.99
• Added Ingredients: Water
• Appearance:  These muffins have a good rise, but didn’t brown as much as the others. 
• Flavor: This mix is the only mix that included cinnamon in the batter, which was incredible. 
• Is it Dry? No. This muffin has the right amount of moisture. 
• Blueberry Distribution: Great blueberry distribution across all of the muffins. 
• Notes: The expectations for this muffin mix were so high because of the price and the fact that the mix was only available at World Market. However, after realizing that mix only required water, I was pretty skeptical. 
• Ratings:  Adults: B  Kids: B-

That’s Smart Blueberry Muffin Mix 

• Cost:  $1.09
• Added Ingredients: Milk and eggs
• Appearance: Good color on top, but not a lot of rise.  
• Flavor:  Overall the muffin tasted fairly bland.  One kid noted that “there is an aftertaste".
• Is it Dry? The muffin wasn’t dry, but it was very dense. 
• Blueberry Distribution: Good Blueberry distribution, there were enough blueberries and they didn’t all sink to the bottom. 
• Notes:  There were literally no notes on this one, the resounding response to this muffing was “next!”
• Ratings: Adults:  C  Kids: D

Overall Top 3: 

Adults:  Jiffy, Betty Crocker, Krusteaz

Kids: Dolly Parton, Jiffy, Duncan Hines

More Baking Challenges:

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