Simple pleasures

There is nothing more simple than a bran muffin.

I am their biggest fan.

And, I get a good one from the local grocery, but they are expensive as all get-out, so I prefer to bake my own.  The store ones are also twice as large as mine and only half as…effective.

Anyway, I found the recipe before my MIL’s visit this year.  I was searching for diabetic bran muffin recipes.  I am sorry I didn’t write down my resource, but I didn’t.  And the best I can do now is admit that the original recipe is not my own.

• 1C bran cereal (preferably not flakes)
• 1C whole wheat flour
• 1t baking soda
• 1t baking powder
• 1/2t salt
• 1egg
• 1C buttermilk
• 1/4C splenda
• 1/4C applesauce
• 1/3C oil
• 1/2t vanilla

1. combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
2. stir the bran cereal into the buttermilk and let stand 5 minutes
3. add the remaining ingredients to the bran and milk mixture. 
4. Stir in the flour mixture
5. fill 12 greased muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  If there is extra, add it to the 12 as these don’t rise very high.

That is a good muffin.  But, it’s kind of dry and not very sweet.  So, first I added a handful of golden raisins and some chopped pecans.  That made a much sweeter muffin, and it wasn’t as dry, but it could be better.  And, we prefer to use real sugar. 

My second attempt was after my MIL had left, so I substituted sugar for the splenda, increasing the amount to 1/2 cup and added a smidge of cinnamon.  That was even better.  But, it could still be better.

My latest couple of attempts, I added chopped dried cranberries instead of raisins, left out the pecans, and substituted orange extract for the vanilla.  That was the best so far.

But, Rob says it can be better still if I add one more ingredient.  It needs walnuts.  So, my next batch will have that. 

I’ve made these several times and can offer these substitutions.

• If you don’t want to use the applesauce, increase the oil to 1/2 cup.
• If you don’t have buttermilk, put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a 1C measuring cup and fill the rest with regular milk.  Let that set a couple of minutes.  It’s actually an interesting substitution and may have made the muffins a bit lighter.

One of Sydney’s chores yesterday was to get a picture of a gold daylily and a green daylily in the same shot to show the difference in color.

Hey, not every chore has to be a Cinderella chore.  Some chores should be fun.  So, I try to give her some of the fun stuff that I don’t get to before I leave in the mornings. 

Plus the vaccuming, sweeping, mopping, dishes, windows, feed the chickens, milk the cows, hoe the back forty, curry the horses, cut the wheat, pick the corn, bake bread on Monday, laundry on Tuesday…you know, the regular chores that I ask her to do once in a while.

Be well.  Have a great Friday.  I think I will be able to finish those two quilts and take 6 large quilts to Linus this weekend.  I found some unfinished quilting on one and knocked that out and pinned the foldover binding on the other one and I think I could knock all that out in time to get them laundered in time to turn in.

Nothing like a goal, eh?  And, every little distraction from work counts.

Lane