create (food)

We'll take a break in our book-making adventure to eat muffins together, because every creative journey needs fuel. These muffins are delicious: sweet, fluffy... and bran. I never thought I would put fluffy and bran in the same sentence. Usually bran and baking, at least in my experience, equates something dense that I can either eat or use as a door-stop. These are the absolute opposite, and they freeze wonderfully too. That is, if your family doesn't eat them all first.

This recipe comes from the 2011 Marsh Holiday Cookbook:

Rise 'N Shine Blueberry Bran Muffins

2 cups shredded bran cereal

1 1/4 cups skim milk (we use whole)

1/4 cup applesauce

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (we usually use 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. In a large bowl, combine cereal, milk, applesauce & egg. Let stand for 10 minutes. 

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. (I whisk bran mixture lightly at this point.) Add dry mixture to bran mixture, stirring gently to combine (do not over mix). Stir in blueberries and vanilla. 

4. Spoon batter into a lightly greased 12-cup muffin pan. 

5. Bake for 20 minutes, let stand in pans 1 minute; then remove. 

 6. Try to convince your daughter to let them cool down before her first big bite.