Frosty Morning Bran Muffins
The Junior League of Greater Utica, New York
The Eastern Junior League Cookbook
1 cup whole-bran cereal
1 cup boiling water
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup melted shortening
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups buttermilk
2-1/2 cups unsifted flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups bran flake cereal
1 cup raisins
In a small pan, mix cereal and boiling water. Cover and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Beat in eggs, then stir in reserved bran mixture and buttermilk.
Sift together flour, soda, and salt right into mixing bowl. Stir in bran flakes and raisins.
Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full and bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
Batter will keep 4 weeks, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.
Yield: 30 muffins
Notes:
Halved the recipe with great success, and didn’t add raisins as a personal preference
Best I could figure for whole bran cereal was something at least close to the bran buds I picked up for another recipe so used those, which worked well
In the pictures above the muffin on the right was baked immediately after mixed (rich flavor, bouncy crumb) & the one on the left after sitting for an hour (beautiful color, more lift, complex flavor, dense crumb)