***Muffins*** ("*little muffs*" to warm the fingers) have come to be misunderstood and not properly appreciated.  Today we tend to think of them as being a type of **cake** when in reality they fall into that class of baked treats known as "*quick breads*" (as opposed to "*yeast breads*").  Quick breads flourished and came into their own during this country's pioneer days when families were moving west in covered wagons.  At the end of the day when the time came to stop for the night and prepare a meal, there wouldn't be time to screw around waiting for yeast to make dough rise and kneading it into loaves but it only required a matter of minutes to mix up a batch of muffins or biscuits.  (Other quick breads include corn bread, pancakes, doughnuts, dumplings, fritters and fruit breads.)  Back in a previous life, when I was in high school and *gungho* about baking even for breakfast, I used to frequent a simple but decadent muffin recipe from the old Betty Crocker Cookbook which called for the basic ingredients of egg, milk, shortening, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  A sweeter version was also available.  Either variety was wonderful and I must say that it took years for me to find something which was the equal of those muffins I used to make until now ... ***Tastefully Simple Cinnamon Muffin Melt Mix*** makes muffins which are almost as good as the old-fashioned ones of yesteryear.  Although not available in stores, this time-saving mix is available from Tastefully Simple representatives like [This2ShallPass19][1] . **NO KIDDING, THEY'RE REALLY SIMPLE** Heat up the oven, grease your muffin tins and follow the package instructions.  You don't even have to add an egg.  It took about five minutes to blend the mix with water and beat by hand.  (Muffin batter is meant to be a bit lumpy, not as smooth as cake batter.)  You will note little brown flecks in the mix -- do not be alarmed, these appear to be bits of cinnamon.  After allowing the baked muffins a chance to cool, dip their rounded crowns lightly into melted butter and then into the cinnamon-sugar coating provided with the mix. **STATS:** Muffins and other quick breads were deliberately designed to be a rich source of energy and these ***Cinnamon Melt Muffins*** are no exception.  One muffin as prepared will contain 280 calories with 110 calories from fat.  Each muffin delivers 18% (D.V.) Total Fat, 31% Saturated Fat, zero Trans Fat,  8% Cholesterol, 13% Sodium, 14% Total Carbs, 3% Dietary Fiber, 28 grams Sugars, 2 grams Protein and even 4% Calcium and 6% Iron.  **TASTE TIP:** ***Tastefully Simple Cinnamon Muffin Melt Mix*** creates muffins which would be just as good if they **weren't** dipped into melted butter and cinnamon-sugar topping (which reduces the calories to 210 with 35 calories from fat per muffin).  (I melted what was left of my "*[I Can't Believe It's Not Butter][2] *" for the dipping process and truly I could hardly believe it wasn't butter.)  Half of the muffins I baked according to package instructions but experimented with the rest of the batch by pushing whole [fresh blueberries][3] down into the half-baked batter during the baking and before the cooling and dipping process.  It took a longer time to bake the fruit muffins but this method helped preserve the character and flavor of the fruit.  These delightful muffins are so rich and satisfying that one along with a can of cold [Campbell's Tomato Juice][4] and a [hard-boiled egg][5] made a perfect 11 A.M. brunch which staved off hunger for hours.  Are these (or any **other** muffins) something a person should eat every day?  **Are you kidding?**  But for a special weekend or holiday breakfast treat, they are nearly unrivaled and leftover muffins refrigerate or freeze beautifully for later use.  With the addition of dried or fresh cranberries to the batter at the **beginning** of the baking process, they would be perfect for a festive Christmas holiday brunch or even festively presented as a holiday breakfast gift.    Also included in the package information are instructions for using ***Tastefully Simple Cinnamon Muffin Melt Mix*** to create another great pioneer idea -- cinnamon and sugar coated *Snickerdoodle Cookies*.     [1]: http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/this2shallpass19 [2]: http://www.viewpoints.com/Unilever-I-Cant-Believe-Its-Not-Butter-Original-review-be3f6 [3]: http://www.viewpoints.com/Fresh-Michigan-Blueberries-review-f2b03 [4]: http://www.viewpoints.com/Campbells-Tomato-Juice-Regular-review-51d01 [5]: http://www.viewpoints.com/Egglands-Best-Hard-Cooked-Peeled-Eggs-review-f7330

AnnaBanana

Oak Park, IL