Early in my adult life, I made bran muffins frequently for breakfast.  I do not recall where I got my original recipe from, but I recall that I made it even more ‘oomphy’ by replacing white sugar and white flour with brown sugar and whole wheat flour.  I do not recall why I stopped making them, but likely it was when I moved to Japan and could not easily get bran cereal.  I recently came across a yellowing 30+ year-old printout of my old bran muffin recipe and made them.  They were good.  They are much lower fat than the typical bakery muffin.  The batter keeps well in the refrigerator, so they can be baked day by day for breakfast.  They also keep well.  This will make around 20 muffins, 2 of which would be a good breakfast serving.

1 cup boiling water

3 cups whole bran cereal (such as Original All Bran)

2 cups whole fat buttermilk

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup butter

4 eggs

17.3 oz. (4 cups) whole wheat flour

2-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

½ cup raisins

Pre heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Put the bran cereal in a medium bowl and pour over it the boiling water.  Mix well and allow to cool.  Mix in the buttermilk.

In the bowl of a standing mixer and using the paddle attachment, cream together the brown sugar and butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Mix in the eggs.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add it to the mixing bowl and beat until just combined.  (Do not over mix.)  Stir in the nuts and raisins.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Variations – mix in some chopped candied citrus peel or candied ginger.