QUICK AND EASY BRAN MUFFINS

I love this recipe from King Arthur Flour as it will keep in the refrigerator for a week. You can scoop out as much batter as you want at a time allowing you to make anywhere from one to twelve muffins at a time.

• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup bran cereal (not flakes, preferably a wheat bran)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups bran cereal (not flakes)

1) In a small mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the half cup of cereal. When cooled, mix in the vegetable oil and egg.

2) While the water/bran mixture cools, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the raisins.

3) In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and brown sugar, and stir into the dry ingredients. Stir in remaining cereal, then the softened bran mixture. Cover the batter and refrigerate it overnight.

4) When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F for 15 minutes. Line a muffin tin with papers, and spray the insides of the papers. Or just grease the muffin cups themselves, if you like a crustier muffin edge.

5) Stir the batter once or twice, then scoop a heaping 1/4-cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup.

6) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

7) Remove from the oven, cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

Baking Note: 

• If you only want to bake one or two muffins, you can use greased custard cups instead of the muffin tin. If you use the muffin tin, put an inch of water in the empty wells to keep the pan from warping.
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