Whole Wheat Spiced Muffin Mix

What was Mr. Putt Putt thinking? Look at this bottle from 1959. It was labeled "Dad's Wheat Test March 3 1959". I'm not sure what he was testing it for, but it still looked okay. I didn't open the jar though. I may be crazy, but if that wheat was put in that jar in 1959, who am I to open it. What if it just turns to dust from exposure to our air. It mystified me. Really. I'm easily entertained. We did end up making muffins from some other wheat though.

Despite myself, we didn't grind Putt Putt's treasure. However, we also found some that was in some number ten cans dated 1989. That, my friends, is some twenty-one year old wheat. I'm rocket scientific and can do simple math like that. Be impressed. I've been told that wheat is one of those grains that can be stored for a very long time and still be edible. My goodness, I've heard of some wheat that was found in an Egyptian tomb and sprouted to grow grain several hundred years later. Don't quote me on that. It may be one of those urban legends made up to appease us crazy house wives. On that note, I've been a bit of a wheat nut for a long time. So I thought to myself, "Self...let's grind this up and see if it's still good". So we did. The aluminum can was old looking but not rusted, The wheat inside smelled fine and didn't have any mold growing on it. Carefully inspected I didn't see any reason why we couldn't try it out. Ace's parent's had stored it with an oxygen eating "packet" in there so it was vacuum tight. Ask me why we have wheat laying around that is this old. Why? Yeah, I don't know. I was feeling adventurous though. An interesting note is that wheat can in fact go rancid if stored improperly. So, the fact that the wheat smelled fine to me and hadn't a hint of "musty" funky smell to it, was amazing. Especially amazing in the desert of Arizona for wheat to not be rancid.

My kids don't have school on Fridays so that is our science day. My six year old son Face ran the 1989 wheat through the hand mill. It took him about an hour to grind five pounds by hand and he wanted to do it. Sweet! Child labor laws don't apply when they don't get paid, right? At any rate, it made some nice fine flour. If you don't have a grain mill, you can buy wheat pastry flour for the mix. I'm not judging you for not grinding your own wheat. We do because we're crazy.

Face was so excited to make his flour into something. I let him. If he was the little red hen, I'd be the...what? What animal would I be? The duck? Squawking...Goosing people. Don't answer that question.

Homemade whole wheat baking mix

9 cups whole wheat flour (fresh ground is best...for muffins use soft wheat)

1 cup organic shortening or butter (keep mix in fridge if you use butter)

1/3 cup baking powder

1T plus 1 tsp salt

2 cup nonfat dry milk powder (or soy milk powder)

Combine all ingredients in a Kitchen Aid type blender with paddle attachment until fat is well combined (or follow directions for homemade cake mix from last Monday).

Spiced nut muffin Mix

In medium bowl combine:

3 cups homemade whole wheat baking mix

1/3 cup sugar or granulated fructose

2/3 cup chopped almonds or walnuts

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp clove

In separate bowl whisk:

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

2/3 cup water or milk

1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and pour whisked wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan lined with cupcake papers or greased well. Bake 425 degrees 14-17 minutes until just firm. Yields 12 muffins.

You can fold in 1 cup of fruit into the batter like peeled chopped apple, pitted cherries, blueberries or cranberries.

• Add 1T orange or lemon zest to the mix for orange or lemon muffins.
• Add 1 cup shredded carrot to the mix for carrot muffins.
• Add 1 mashed banana to the wet ingredients for banana muffins.
• Add 1/2 cup mashed pumpkin to the wet ingredients for pumpkin muffins.

We put 3 cups of mix in separate bags and ended up with 4 bags of mix. That is enough for 4 dozen muffins. Give or take. More if you add fruit. How did they taste you ask? Thank you for asking. They where awesome. I'm really picky about rancid wheat taste...and there wasn't even the slightest hint of that this wheat was so old. Creepy isn't it. Creepy still is the fact that I may live an extra twenty one years if I eat this whole grain junk all the time. Yikes. That is creepy. Goose. Goose.

There you go.