Everyday Food's Raisin Bran Muffins

 I'm not the biggest muffin fan, but of all the muffins out there, I really love a good ol' bran muffin.  Strange, eh?  Not only do I love the flavor of the bran, but I also love the not so sweet quality of a bran muffin.  This recipe, from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, produces a slightly sweet muffin using good 'ol Raisin Bran cereal.  The end result is a dense muffin with a nice crackly top.  The recipe is quite healthy, using whole wheat flour and only 1/4 cup brown sugar and oil each.  I also love that the recipe only makes 6 muffins, which is perfect because we all know what happens when we have extra muffins laying around.

 Raisin-Bran Muffins

Adapted from Everyday Food

Serves 6

1-1/2 cups raisin-bran cereal

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil, such as safflower

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line 6 cups of a standard muffin tin with paper liners.  In a bowl, combine cereal with milk; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.  In another bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir oil, egg, and brown sugar into cereal mixture, then fold in flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups.  Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.

Cool in tin 5 minutes, then turn out muffins onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Muffins can be store up to 3 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 3 months, in a large resealable plastic bag; thaw at room temperature and warm in the oven before serving.

Notes/Results:  I initially made these muffins for myself because I had a very busy week last week and wanted something semi-healthy to grab on the go.  Turns out that I was only able to have one because everyone else stole the rest.  I think this is a great recipe for bran muffins, but I do want to note that they do have a rather "healthy" taste (which I liked) and also that they are not very sweet (which I also liked).