Hi Honeys
Feeling at a bit of a loss for anything to do yesterday afternoon I wandered off into the kitchen and discovered something I'd actually forgotten buying!
On our last trip to Ikea I had picked up a pack of their make in the carton chocolate muffin mix. I was interested in trying it since I have previously tried the other two items in the range. One being their multi-grain bread mix (yum!) and the other being another muffin mix, this time a lovely lemon flavour.
Having really enjoyed the multi-grain bread, seriously delicious when topped with a little marmalade I thought, and the lemon flavour muffins I had promised myself we'd pick up a pack of their chocolate muffin mix on our next visit.
Having brought it home it was promptly forgotten all about and left to languish in the cupboard. To be fair though I have been battling a persistent, and ouchy, arthritis flare for what feels like forever now and baking has been the last thing on my mind.
Anyway dear ones with my laundry all done yesterday and on the lookout for something to do I saw the cartoon in the kitchen and I thought "why not?"
If you've tried any of the Ikea mixes honeys you'll know they are essentially a carton containing the ingredients to which you add water and then shake vigorously in order to mix them together. This is explained in the usual Ikea fashion by an illustration on the packaging...
Now I know there are mixed feelings on the Ikea illustrations which act as wordless directions on how to use their products but I like them and have to admit I find them charming π
So, on to the muffins mix itself then honeys, what are the pluses and the minuses.....
As with the other mixes, being someone who suffers from painful shoulders and spine, the shaking involved to properly mix the ingredients with the water.... well I'm not able to do that. There is a way around it though honeys... but I'm getting ahead of myself π
In addition to the (I think cute but that's me π) "how to" illustration on the front of the packaging is (in the tiniest print ever) a few lines of extra instructions on the back of the packaging. It says to add 250 ml of warm (40C) water to the muffin mix.
Knowing I couldn't mix in the carton by shaking it as I was expected to, I began by heating water in our kettle, switching off way before it boiled obviously. I then measured 250ml of the warm water into a large measuring jug.
I then opened the carton and carefully added all of the muffin mix to the water in the jug. Then it was just a case of mixing all together to a creamy, thick batter with my much loved little electric hand mixer. See? Told you there was a way around all that shaking π
My trusty electric mixer combined the ingredients perfectly saving my achey wee shoulders. Doesn't the muffin batter look delicious...
The batter for these chocolate muffins seemed much thicker than the batter when I made the lemon flavoured ones, even though when I made those I had added less water than instructed and had mixed them in exactly the same way.
As you can see I also ran out of my paper muffin cases although I luckily remembered those silicone cases from the Jane Asher range I'd bought a while ago so all was well π They went into the oven at 200C for 12 minutes (I used my timer) and were perfectly cooked after the 12 minutes.
The batter made 22 muffins in total and they were light, soft, fluffy and very moist. Definitely a success π They were not only delicious but the kitchen also smelled fabulously chocolately when I opened the oven π
Would I buy these again? Yes I think I would. I know it takes no time to whip up a batch of muffins from scratch but these were so, so easy to make and really took no time at all from pack to table. No weighing ingredients and very little washing up. None if you are able to do the mixing in the carton as instructed.
I can see how these little "shake & bake" packs would be very useful to have in the pantry. Imagine finding out guests are due unexpectedly? How great would it be for those unexpected guests to be greeted with the scent of freshly baked bread or muffins when they arrive π The fact that they're also yummy is a bonus π
I hope that whatever you're doing today honeys you're having fun. Our furbaby Jade and I have been doing laundry it's such a gorgeous sunny day outside so the laundry is pegged out in the back garden.
Till next time dear ones, smile lots and don't let a chance to hug pass you by π Huggles always xx
YUM, those look so good! I love making things from mixes I find at random stores :) Great blog - keep up the awesome work!
ReplyDelete-Jenna <3
Follow me back? The Chic Cupcake
Hi Jenna, you have such a fun blog. Loved your latest post on the Sephora Birthday Tarte set. The shades look lovely and belated Happy Birthday wishes too x I do love trying new things in the kitchen and mixes are such fun, a little like make up, sometimes what you end up with isn't how it looked on the packaging but that's OK too :) Thank you so much for visiting and for your lovely comment too. Have a fabulous weekend, sending heaps of hugs xx
Delete