Abe's One Big Muffin - Banana

I didn't enter a big muffin phase intentionally, but what the produce box delivers, I accept with open arms. This flavor is boring. I like banana things, breads especially, and I have been abstaining from banana for about 9 months since it's supposedly histamine rich. But no longer! Anyway, even with all that distance, this flavor is boring. Maybe on a par with blueberry, which is better visually but maybe the same taste-ily. Choco is still the best big muffin (so far).

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Abe's One Big Muffin - Chocolate Chip

I know that 'in for a penny, in for a pound' is one of my most toxic patterns, but also, I'm in for a lot of pennies at the moment. So the fact that this chocolate chip muffin probably weighs a pound is irrelevant to me. This one is better than the big corn muffin and big blueberry muffin, but I'm not sure if it's because I ate it cold and not in a hurry, or if it's truly better tasting. The chocolate chips are like normal lil dark chocolate chips and the rest of the muffin tastes like normal muffin. The texture is a little bit too dense for my preference, but it's not egregious. Overall it is a treat, which is what you want from your weird large nut-free muffin. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

abe's One Big Muffin - blueberry

I thought these massive muffins would be good for me to consume in the .5 seconds I have between classes, and in some ways (calorie density, portability) they are good for that. But in other ways (nutrition, giving me flulike weariness) I am not so sure. They're big and taste like a mushy, slightly processed pound cake. I haven't identified a better option, but to be fair, I haven't put much energy into the task. Maybe if these muffins were better at giving me energy, I'd have energy to replace them. Clever Abe.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Abe's One Big Muffin - Corn

This sure is a big muffin. Which I like. However, this might be old-fashioned of me, but I think the primary note in a corn muffin ought to be corn (and not sugar, like here, or even salt or butter etc). I could hardly taste the corn! Just a whisp of corn! Other than that minor(?) issue, this was very pleasant. Large, as mentioned, and moist and sweet. Plus the packaging is all about how Abe's dad loves his trago allergy-having son. Some beautiful wish-fulfillment-via-muffin-packaging there.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Abe's Mom's Blueberry Muffins

Noooo I didn't realise these were Abe's MOM'S and not ABE'S. That means they're gluten free. That means, apparently, that they're much worse. (Sorry, gluten free fam). Just a weird dry firm texture, doesn't taste very good or sweet or berry-y, which is a shame. I miss Abe's!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Abe's mini muffins - Pumpkin Spice

These would be really good with like, a cream cheese frosting! As it stands, they're kind of boring. Needs more of the "spices" maybe. It's pumpkiny, but only just, and not spicy much at all. Reminds me of the pumpkin muffin mix I made at home, which was also fine, and I love safe bakery items, but the taste as it stands doesn't thrill me. It's the potato of muffins. Sorry, abe! I like your other flavors, though!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Partake - Pumpkin Spice Muffin Mix

Good news: I'm still alive! I did find weird plastic in the Dolly Brownies though. But no walnuts, I guess. 

For those of you who aren't chronological readers of this blog, what are you doing?! Just kidding. I apologise. This is a nice baking mix because it's super nut free! It's also everything free, but happily, you can't really tell from the taste. And as a bonus, these are super easy to make -- just add oil and plop in muffin liners. Makes 12 muffins, which is a reasonable number -- I froze a bunch of them anyway, though, so we'll see how those hold up. They actually are pretty good muffins, spicy and smooth, and not too sticky.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Abe's Cranberry Orange Mini Muffins

These were good! The best Abe's-muffin flavor I've tried so far. The cranberry and orange pieces are the key, and the more of those, the better the muffin is. The bread is plain/sweet otherwise. A little dry for my taste, but still, good.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

Abe's Apple Cider Mini Muffins

You know I love a nut-free bakery item! And although these are also egg and milk free, they do still have wheat, which for my purposes makes them taste in the realm of "normal muffin" (woo). As far as taste, they certainly are spice heavy more than apple, and they're a little bit dense/dry for my taste (probably because they're kept refridgerated), but in general a decent spicy breakfast bread vibe.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

abe's Blueberry muffins

Alas! So most importantly, these muffins are free from my allergens (nuts, sesame, pea, legume) very explicitly. And they have wheat in them, so they're not top-8 free, and therefore I hoped they might taste.... normal. But they're vegan, and they taste it. Thus the "alas". They also taste very lemony, which I wasn't expecting. It's not bad, it just isn't the prototypical bakery muffin of my dreams. I think they're a little too dry, spongy, and dense all at once. The flavor is OK though. They also don't have wrappers, which I actually like. More bang for your buck!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Giant Mini Blueberry Muffins

Hehe, Giant Mini is a funny combination. Anyway, these are exciting. Anytime I see nut free desserts, you know I gotta check it out. I wish I had a Giant by me, but instead I need to hoard these like a deviant whenever I hit up my boyf's local grocery. And these were definitely tasty to eat - but they weirdly taste a lot like cake, and not muffins. I guess they're sweet, but it's also a texture thing too. Obviously cake is tasty, but maybe I'd prefer a moister, denser muffin. Still, I'm very into it and will return to the Giant Mini Muffin fields as soon as possible.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Miss Jones Organic Mini Pumpkin Donut Muffin Mix

This company seems pretty nut-free overall; on their frostings they explicitly say so and on these mixes they don't, but they do may-contain other stuff so I think it's still safe. Nice. Also, even though they suggest butter and milk, you can substitute oil and water (and use egg) which works for my non-refrigerated quar life. So this was a bit of fun. It makes a lot more than those lil 6-muffin packs from Betty though! 24 mini muffins, for one lady, that's a lot! I only had regular size muffin liners, but that worked fine I think, even with the water + oil subs. They didn't have a suuuper strong pumpkin taste (or pumpkin spice taste?) but they had a good texture, were a pleasant treat, and pretty easy to make. They also cooked through just fine. I'd make these again I think. The included flavored sugar that I brushed on top didn't seem that relevant at first, but it really grew on me and adds a fun textural element too, so use it!

Overall
Cost: 5/10 (About 4.50)
Taste: 7/10

Betty Crocker Triple Berry Muffin Mix

These aren't that good. However, consider the following:

1. This cost 99 cents.

2. This is nut-free from a trusted labeller.

3. All you need to add is water! No egg, no milk, no butter.

4. It makes 6 muffins, which is great amount for a single girl like me.

So, with all those upsides, I would probably get this again, or try any other flavors BC has for me. The convenience is excellent and it's nice to have a "baked good" even if it's a baked mediocre. The only real bad part of these is the horrible fake berry pieces, which are obviously just coloring and cornstarch. They don't even taste like berry! But the muffin texture is nice and soft/crumbly, they smell good in the oven, and are a generally fun treat. If I could somehow get real berries in there (or a different flavor, like pumpkin?) it'd be lit.

Overall

Cost: 9/10

Taste: 7/10