It has been awhile since we have done a box mix showdown but I couldn’t find any exciting mixes at my local stores that advertise being the same product. Brands have gotten good at changing up a word or an ingredient to make their products slightly different but I found these pumpkin spice muffins to compare today. It wasn’t my intention to put Krusteaz in another box mix showdown since they have beyond proven themselves but I have been looking for these muffins from Krusteaz for about 2 months now. After I had given up and grabbed the Martha White muffin mix to try, I found the Krusteaz mix on a late night grocery run and knew we had to try them both.
I picked these mixes up at different stores so it is harder to compare the price point but I wanted to provide it anyways. The Martha White mix was from grocery outlet and came out to $.99. The Krusteaz mix was from Raley’s and came out to $4.29. These price points are so different but I feel you could tell from the packaging that it would be. The plastic bag tends to indicate the budget friendly mixes. It also seems that one of these stores is known for having cheaper prices and one is known for being more expensive so take that into account as well.
Both of these box mixes are labeled “pumpkin spice muffin mix” but that’s where the similarities end. Just by looking at the packaging you can tell they do not belong side by side. The Martha White mix comes in a plastic bag whereas Krusteaz’s mix comes in the traditional box. Martha advertises ease by writing “just add milk!” front and center but Krusteaz writes “made with real pumpkin” which indicates good quality. As advertised, Martha White’s mix only requires 3/4c of milk. That’s it. For Krusteaz’s mix you need oil, eggs, and water, which is very standard.
Once I started mixing the batters up I found that the differences would just keep adding up. The color is drastically different, neither batter is even close to a natural pumpkin color. The Krusteaz batter mixed up into a nice muffin batter consistency, it tasted like pumpkin bread mix. The Martha White mix says “stir just until moistened” and if I had done that I would have to left lumps the size of Texas in it. If initially frothed up a lot but then calmed down a bit as I continued to mix and mix and mix. I still could not get all the lumps out. The powdered mix had just clumped up entirely and left me with a watery mix that seemed like orange tinted milk. I did taste it and it had a pumpkin flavor but it’s overpowered by a yeasty, flour like flavor which I hoped would bake out. Both batters tasted reminiscent of a pumpkin pie batter but both left a bad taste in my mouth but you aren’t supposed to eat raw batter anyways so maybe that’s a sign. I scooped the batter into muffin papers using a 3 tablespoon sized scoop, the Martha mix made 7 muffins and the Krusteaz mix made 12.
The required oven temperatures are surprising. The Martha White mix asks for 425°f whereas Krusteaz asks for 350°f, I am unsure what would create such a large difference especially when the bake times are so similar. Martha White lists the bake time as 12-14 minutes and has an asterisk that says “directions developed using conventional ovens. Ovens vary; baking time may need to be adjusted” I can’t say I have ever seen that before and I really appreciate the disclaimer. The muffins were finished baking at 10 minutes.
Krusteaz lists the bake time as 17-19 minutes, they were finished baking at 17 minutes, exactly like they claimed.
When all the muffins came out of the oven, they looked different as well. Krusteaz’s muffins came out all looking very uniform. They had a nice brown color and were taller than the cupcake papers but didn’t overflow. Martha’s muffins were uneven and misshapen. it looked like they fully baked at the top and then one section busted through and baked in a big lump in one spot. They were short and didn’t rise much so they were dense as well. They were a pale brownish orange color.
Let’s dive into taste. Martha’s muffins taste like the Jello pumpkin flavored pie. It has that same artificial fall flavor that tastes like I’m eating a candle and also has an aftertaste that is not good, just like the batter did. It does contain pumpkin and the spices. It does taste like pumpkin spice, I’ll give it that, but it’s not good enough to want to eat again. I tried them again the next day to see if maybe I was the problem, and after one bite I decided I never wanted to eat these muffins again. The aftertaste is terrible and overwrites the decent pumpkin spice flavor.
Just like you probably predicted from the beginning, Krusteaz killed it, as they always do. The muffin is the perfect consistency and tastes like pumpkin bread. I feel this is not just a pumpkin spice muffin but a pumpkin muffin with spice in it. The flavor is really good and it’s moist enough that it doesn’t need any icing or anything. This mix is fantastic and makes great muffins.
Krusteaz is a nearly $5 box mix which is steep for 12 muffins so if you are wanting a cheaper alternative, don’t look at Martha White’s mix, instead consider a plain muffin mix or cake mix and adding pumpkin pie spice into it. A homemade recipe might be in the same price range as well so using Krusteaz really comes down to wanting the easy convenient option. Krusteaz continues to impress me and at this point, it seems we can reliably trust Krusteaz to provide us with quality products. If you want to see more Krusteaz product reviews, at the top of this blog you can click on the tag “Krusteaz” and it will show all reviews related to Krusteaz products.
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