Raisin Bran Cereal Muffins

On one of our visits, my mother-in-law made us some 6-week bran muffins.  They say the batter keeps up to 6 weeks in the fridge (I'm guessing because of the buttermilk) and thus the name.  Well, Mr. A ate so many of them, as did I, that I decided it was worth making a batch at home.  So I Googled "6-week bran muffins" and finally settled on Pinch of Yum's recipe.

But first, I had to make some substitutions.  You see, Mr. A is allergic to eggs.  My MIL just substituted some applesauce for the eggs (a 1/4 c for each egg, I think).  Fast forward several numerous batches later, I'm happy with a mixture of smashed bananas and applesauce, though as I found out with this latest batch, if you're out of applesauce, shredded apple is kind of nice too.

Batter, after bran flakes have soaked in liquid.

Quick note: this batter is ugly.  When you first put in the bran flakes cereal, it just looks like cereal in buttermilk.  Then when the bran flakes start to soak up the liquid, then it looks... ugly.  Looking at the pic, it reminds me of how shucked oysters look - slimy, squishy, an odd color, and just unappetizing.  The husband actually opened up the container of muffin batter last night on his search for yummies because he thought it looked like a container of meat.


This is where "don't judge a book by its cover" comes in.  These muffins are tasty and you can pretend they are good for you since they have lots of fiber in them.  Oh and by the way, I happened to get plain bran cereal because that's what Trader Joe's has, so I bought raisins and cranberries to add, but you could totally just buy raisin bran cereal too, then leave out the extra raisins and cranberries.

Raisin Bran Cereal Muffins

adapted from Pinch of Yum
 
Ingredients:
2 smashed bananas
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c applesauce
2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp cinnamon 
4 c bran cereal
2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c raisins
1/4 c dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Smash bananas with a fork.  Add 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup applesauce.  Whisk together.
3. Whisk in 2 cups buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon.
4. Add 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Mix with large spoon.  Add 1/2 cup raisins and 1/4 cup dried cranberries. *
5. Bake in muffin tin at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until tops are brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool at least 10 minutes.

* Some substitutions:

• Instead of 2 cups buttermilk, substitute 1 cup milk and 1 cup yogurt.  If using flavored yogurt, reduce sugar to 1/3 cup or none at all.  I tried strawberry yogurt + milk and it was a nice strawberry bran muffin.
• Instead of dried fruit, try 1 pound fresh blueberries.
• Instead of applesauce, try 1/2 cup peeled and shredded apple.

Enjoy!