Comparing Krusteaz to Dolly Parton’s line – Banana Nut Muffin Mixes

The new Dolly Parton line of Duncan Hines caught my eye at the store. When looking into it sounds like Dolly was looking to bring authentic southern desserts to everyone’s table. Her banana nut muffins caught my attention and since I’ve never tried her line I thought it would be good to compare it side by side to another brand, Krusteaz. 

These two box mixes couldn’t be more different. The ingredients they called for and the steps to make just did not line up at all which had me intrigued. Would one method of mixing or change of ingredients be better? Let’s find out. Dolly’s box mix asked for eggs, oil, milk and butter which I expected to give it a more homemade taste. Krusteaz was standard with water oil and eggs. The Krusteaz package stated that a serving size is 2 muffins whereas Duncan and Dolly stated it was less than 1 muffin. The Dolly mix claims to make 12 muffins but then has serving size broken down by 1/14 of the muffin mix which is inconsistent.

I mixed both batters by hand and side by side to keep them the same. Once mixed up the batters looked and smelled very different. Dolly’s mix was thicker and resembled the usual look of a boxed cake mix. It smelled and tasted like standard cake mix with a bit of an artificial banana flavor like those little banana candies. The Krusteaz mix looked and smelled as if you smashed up a banana and just made it into banana bread batter. It was thin but really tasty, like actual banana flavor. At this point Krusteaz looked and tasted like homemade banana nut muffin batter, not a store bought mix.

A big difference is that Dolly Parton’s box mix came with a streusel topping that you add on top of the batter before cooking. Both mixes were baked at the required temperature (Dolly 375F and Krusteaz 400F). I started at the lower end of the time estimated for them to cook and both muffins came out looking overly browned. It looked like they were in too long which is frustrating as most people would follow these directions exactly. 

The Krusteaz muffins came out with a gorgeous dome top while Dolly’s came out flat and not the prettiest, likely due to the streusel topping. The consistency of the Dolly muffin was more light and airy while Krusteaz was almost more dense. Both seemed like good muffin consistencies though.

These muffins were both delicious. I loved the streusel topping on Dolly’s banana nut but the flavor was still that artificial banana which definitely has its place but side by side with Krusteaz, you could tell. Krusteaz was so good and moist and tasted like fresh bananas. It was close but Krusteaz is the winner for me. You can’t go wrong buying either box, both made quality products however when going for a box mix you want it to feel authentic and Krusteaz really did a fantastic job with that. 

Krusteaz as prepared totaled 2646 calories which is 220.5 per muffin. Duncan and Dolly totaled 3825 calories which means each muffin is 318.75 calories. This is a large difference and further solidifies Krusteaz as the winner for me. Have you tried these muffin mixes? What were your thoughts?

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Plastic Measuring Cup – https://amzn.to/4bDJIoV
Glass Measuring Cup – https://amzn.to/44IuX1B
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