more muffins, of the bran variety.

i know i know i know.  i'm an old woman.  bran muffins = lame.  but not these bran muffins!  I WILL PROVE YOU WRONG.  these ones came out fluffy and delicious with a nice balance of sweet and ...not sweet.  oh and the fiber.  yeah, i'm a big fiber fan.  the cashier at shaws (i hate you shaws) asked me curiously "what do you use this for?" when she was scanning the wheat bran and i was forced to think "....to keep me regular??"  but i didn't say that.  i said "i'm going to make muffins with it."  she accepted.  but yeah, lets be honest, the regularity really doesn't hurt.  we all appreciate that.  BRING IT ON FIBER.

so anyways, i tried to make this pretty low fat by using applesauce in place of half of the oil.  i was planning on using 2/3 cups applesauce and no oil but ran out of applesauce, so feel free to make that change if you wish!  if you use unsweetened cranberries or raisins you might want to increase the sugar a bit.  this recipe as is makes muffins with about 120 calories each and 4 grams of fiber.  i wonder if i can make an even more fibrous version in the future???

the secret to fluffy muffins is to work the batter as little as possible.  stir it until everything is just barely mixed.  there should definitely still be lumps.

this is a double batch that makes 24 muffins (i've just REALLY been wanting them lately, okay?), so feel free to halve it if you just want 12.  the amounts are very half-able.


bran muffins.


ingredients
3 c wheat bran
2 c low fat buttermilk
1/3 c grapeseed oil
1/3 c applesauce
2 eggs
2/3 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 c mix of dried cranberries, golden raisins, cherries, and blueberries (from TJ's of course)

directions
1.  preheat the oven to 375 and put some paper liners into a muffin pan (or pans if you have two) or just lightly grease the pan.
2.  mix the wheat bran and buttermilk, and let it sit while you get the other ingredients together.
3.  use a fork to beat the oil, applesauce, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla in a bowl.
4.  mix the two flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in another bowl.
5.  add the wet ingredients into the bran mixture.
6.  stir the dry ingredients into the bran until just barely combined.  you can even leave it with dry patches because you are about to mix it a little more when you add the raisins.
7.  fold in the raisins/cranberries.
8.  fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full with batter and bake for 15 minutes.

pile o' muffinz.

oh and i proactively hid these in a cabinet so gypsy doesn't get into them.  i'm almost positive she can't scheme a way to get in there this time!