27 May 2010

Magic Muffins

My Own Mother, angel of my postpartum kitchen, stocked our fridge with this batter, to my forever gratitude. Imagine: reasonably healthy homemade muffins that can be produced on a whim, in only the time it takes to scoop and bake ‘em! Super moist and mmmmmmm. I’d imagine that the sugar could be cut a bit, and whole wheat flour possibly swapped in for some of the white. (If someone tries that, come back and let us know how it turns out.)

6 c. bran cereal
2 c. water, boiling
1 c. oil
3 c. sugar
4 eggs, well beaten
1 quart buttermilk
3 c. raisins (optional)
5 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
5 tsp. baking soda

Mix 2 c. bran in boiling water, letting water absorb. Stir in oil. Mix remaining 4 c. bran with buttermilk and beaten eggs. Combine bran mixtures; add flour, soda, sugar, salt, and raisins. Store in airtight container in refrigerator until ready to cook. Keeps for 6 weeks in fridge. Bake in greased muffin tins for 20 min. at 400 degrees.

12 comments:

Untamed Shrew said...

When you say "bran cereal" is that the flake kind? like Wheaties? I'm thinking this would be great for a preggo fiber hog like me!

Dakotapam said...

I'm guessing the pellet kind, like All Bran.

Anonymous said...

We have this "perpetually" in our fridge. We cut the sugar to two cups and use wheat flour and skip the raisins. We like it straight up. I find the batter smells funny after two weeks, personally. The muffins freeze well, though.

Consecutive Odds said...

I'd bet that you could probably use millet, quinoa, or another whole grain in place of the bran... hmmm... I will see if I can't come up with food allergy version...

lisa said...

Quinoa? Whoa. This could get interesting :) Let me know how that works out Liz.

Maybe chocolate chips instead of raisins?

I like contradictions in my muffins :)

Melrose said...

mmm, I love quinoa, but I prefer mine with cheddar, ground beef, garlic and taco sauce :D

Reb. Mary said...

Joy: used bran flakes this time, but other versions would probably work.

Anon, thanks for the tip! Our first batter batch only lasted about two weeks, so I can't personally vouch for the whole 6 just yet.

Lisa, choc. chips sound like an excellent variation to me too :) Raisins or whatever can be added just before baking, so that every batch can be a little different.

Liz, by all means let us know if the "hypoallergenic" version works!

lisa said...

These muffins also grace our fridge approximately 2 weeks before DD. You never know when someone else is going to have to take over in the kitchen.

I've been known to double the recipe & then freeze portions of the batter in those nifty Ziploc containters. It freezes well & then you don't have 8 gallons of muffin batter in your fridge waiting to go bad. It thaws super quick.

A Deacon's Wife said...

I have a similar recipe that uses a combination of All Bran cereal and Oat Bran. I halved the quantity mostly because it took up so much room in the fridge, but we use it up in about two weeks too. I'll have to try freezing it.

lisa said...

Tried it this wknd,

Followed directions with these exceptions -

* Used oats instead of bran (quick-cook Quaker kind)
*Added vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg
*Sprinkled cinnamon and sugar overtop
*Added butterscotch pieces (chocolate just didn't seem right)

*Baked 30 mins (prob can bake for 25mins instead. Oats have to set and firm up before you eat them. That takes about 15 mins)

It seemed to me you need all three cups of sugar with the oats (I tried two cups and my husband sent me back to the kitchen :) Also, we just used the "Wheat Montana" natural white flour from Wal*Mart so we could stick with white.

lisa said...

Tried the oat version with coconut! Totally a keeper :)

Please pass our thanks on to your mom!

Leah said...

I made these this morning, replacing one of the cups of flour with oat flour (just ground oats in my food processor).
I skipped the raisins and loaded them with blueberries.
I cut the sugar by half a cup and sprinkled a little on top.
My kids each ate two and so did I!
Thank you for the recipe.
I'm thinking next time trying them with apples (softened in butter and brown sugar in a frying pan first) and adding cinnamon.