You’ve probably read the book, If You Give a Moose a Muffin or its predecessor, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. If so, you’ll love the poem, “If You Give a Mom a Muffin.” It tells the tale of how a mother can get (way too easily) sidetracked in her life as mom. It’s told with humor and realism. If you haven’t read it, I recommend that you do. And then, make up some muffin kits for the moms in your life.
‘Cause if you give a mom a muffin kit, the whole family can enjoy them!
I love to eat and I love to cook. And as a result, I love to give my friends gifts of food. But years ago I realized that with all the goodie giving, my friends were so inundated with baked goods — from me and from others — that they couldn’t possibly enjoy them all before these goodies went stale. That’s when I clued it that giving a custom-mix was almost as good, if not better than a batch of baked muffins.
Since I make my own muffin, scone, and pancake mixes, packaging a mix as a gift just takes a few special touches, like in the case of this muffin kit. In a clear plastic treat bag, I placed a bag of muffin mix from this recipe, some fun mix-ins and a package of muffin papers. Customize the mix-ins and muffin papers to suit the tastes of your friend. (There are some amazing muffin papers out there.)
As is, I estimate that a gift like this costs no more than $2 or $3. Cute, fun, economical. You could easily take it up a few notches by throwing in a muffin pan, a bread basket, and a copy of If You Give a Moose a Muffin. At most, you’re spending an extra $20-30 for a great family gift that will last well past the holidays.
However you package it, don’t forget to include baking instructions!
(And if you want, you can buy my $1 Download of Muffin Printables. This pdf file includes instructions on how to make a muffin kit, the muffin recipe, and two card designs to print. One set of cards is expressly for moms while the other set is for anyone.)
Do you ever make food gifts? If so, you’re going to want to visit this week’s Holiday Food Fest starting tomorrow over at Cents to Get Debt Free. Phoebe is hosting a roundup of great food presents that you can make easily and affordably.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
This is right up my alley. my brother inherited my grandma's house and he is learning how to cook. I had already planned to do some mixes so this was very timely.
thanks!
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This is sooooo cute! Sending the link to my MOPS group now… I know a bunch of moms will love it! Thanks for doing all the work for us.
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I do believe you have just lit a fire under me to mass produce a fun little gifty for all of my girlfriends this Christmas!
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Cute idea! Love it with the muffin pan, book etc.
~Liz
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How fun and what a great idea! Thanks for the tip!
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You know, you could spend that much just the basket without the book! What a great economical way to say Happy Holidays:-)
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I love your idea of adding in the extras, and special muffin liners. Never heard of "If you Give A Mom a Muffin" before now. Love it!
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I was reading the directions and it says to fill the cups to "slightly overflowing". Am I missing something? Don't you usually fill muffin cups 1/2-2/3 full? BTW, great idea for teachers gifts! I just got some specialty santa claus cup cake liners on ebay. So cute!
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Super cute!
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Anonymous, yes these are really puffy muffins! Mound it up high. You can make smaller ones, just bake less.
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One of the best gifts I received last year was from my sister,a meal of mixes-chili, cornbread and brownies. I ended up using each mix at a different time and in each case it was a blessing to have those handy in my pantry saving me time and my sanity.
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What a great idea and beautiful presentation! I'm a lover of children's books so I had read the books mentioned, but not that poem–very cute and true … made me chuckle.
Great idea … it would be nice for me to make this muffin kit gluten free for my gluten-free friends, too!
Thanks!
Shirley
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I second Shirley's comment – I have several family members that would love a gluten-free kit like this!
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I just read "If you give a mom a muffin," very funny! My daughter loves "If you give a moose a muffin." I need to show this to my wife. Great idea for the muffin kits.
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