What do 1.3 L milk bags and muffin batter have in common? ‘Squeezing’ out some homemade muffin batter from a hand-washed empty milk bag is a brilliant way to recycle, re-use and produce quick and delicious muffins without any mess.
Re-using a milk bag to freeze produce or carry a sandwich to school in is not a revolutionary idea to Canadians. Our grandparents used them as early as 1967 when the milk bag concept was introduced to help Canada implement its conversion to using the metric system. Dairy companies could seal a bag in a certain spot to make them metric-compliant much more easily than redesigning and manufacturing a new line of cartons and jugs. From an environmental standpoint, the bag’s simple and light-weight structure make them a better option given that they contain less plastic than a milk jug and cause less waste than a carton. In some parts of Canada, they are even recyclable.
But the best part about re-using the empty milk bags for storing frozen muffin batter is the durability factor. If you’ve ever dropped a milk bag on the floor, you know it won’t burst. Filling them with muffin batter, rolling down the top and fastening with an elastic band (or using a twist tie) and placing them in the freezer is the secret to having muffin batter ready to go anytime. Once thawed, the only thing you need to do is cut the corner a little larger than you would a full bag of milk and squeeze your batter right into your muffin tins. Bake as directed on the recipe and you have warm muffins with no mess in the time it takes to thaw a milk bag and make a pot of coffee.
It must be time for a coffee break, don’t you think?
