Thursday, April 3, 2008

Look Ma! I CAN Cook!

So the big joke in my family is that my mom did not do a good job with me because I don't cook. I joke that my mom never taught me how. Her big meal consisted of Tomato soup and macaroni (still a favorite of mine). It's not that I can't cook but I certainly do not enjoy it and I would rather do just about anything else.

Every once in awhile however I get a bug and feel like cooking. Hubby is always shocked when this event occurs. And this week I felt like making Bran Muffins. My grandmother had the most amazing recipe and I altered it a little to make it slightly healthier.

Considering how picky I am it's funny that I love Bran Muffins. At least these!

Trooper decided that the mixer thing was fascinating and he did not leave the kitchen the whole time! Do you like my Apron? Handmade by Momo's Retro Fashions - it is SO cute! For someone who doesn't cook a lot I sure look good in that Apron! hahahaha

Ingredients:
  • 3 Cups Sugar (I've also used Splenda in the past and they still turned out good)
  • 1 Cup Shortening (I used plain yogurt)
  • 2 Cups Boiling Water
  • 2 Cups 100% Bran (Grandma's recipe calls specifically for Nabisco brand but I can't find it anywhere so I used General Mills Fiber One)
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 Quart Buttermilk (I used 1% lowfat)
  • 5 Cups Flour (I used 2 Cups Whole Wheat and 3 Cups White)
  • 5 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 4 cups Kellogs All Bran
  • Dog Hair is Optional
Instructions
  • Cream Sugar and Shortening (or yogurt).
  • In a seperate bowl pour boiling water on 100% bran.
  • Add 4 eggs to the creamed sugar mixture.
  • Add buttermilk and bran/water mixture to the creamed mix.
  • Fold in the flour (sifted? I never do that part), baking soda, and salt.
  • Fold in the Kellogs All Bran until all ingredients are moist.

It should look pretty runny at this point.

Makes 4 quarts! Woohoo! What is great about this recipe is that it is supposed to keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. Now that is with the original ingredients. I don't know if that still applies since I used yogurt instead of shortening. I'll find out. :)

When you are in the mood for some fresh and warm muffins, spoon into greased muffin tin (about halfway full for each muffin) and cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Mmmmmm....yummy!

Our house isn't really set up to do proper cooking. There are no electrical outlets in the island so you can see in the first photo my mixer plugged in on the opposite wall. lol Pretty pathetic. But I'm using my mom's mixer (which she got as a wedding gift) that she of course doesn't use. It works great so who needs a new one?

I have one of those big fancy Kitchenaid mixers. Mom got it for me for a wedding gift but I haven't used it yet. It's been more than 5 years! LOL

If you try this recipe let me know how you like it. Hubby has been grubbing on them for a couple days now. I'm going to make them again when we run out of this batch and try to use Splenda and more whole wheat flour. :)

10 comments:

Bunny B said...

Mmmm....yummy!

Rosanne said...

I use Splenda in my baking without a problem. I usually use it one for one..same amount Splenda as the amount of sugar called for. My mother thinks she can taste the difference so she uses half Splenda and half sugar. But any way you can save the calories is a bonus.
The muffins look good Megan!

Crimzen Creative said...

Love that apron! My Mother never taught me to cook, she would always shoo me out of the kitchen. I am trying to involve my kids so they won't be lost in the kitchen when they move away from home :)

Unknown said...

I can't cook. Never taught, and didn't care. Hubby is the king of the kitchen and I stay away, except to clean up after him! LOL And those aprons are so adorable!

Jennifer Casady said...

ooooo.....I'm going to have to try this one! *grin* YUMMY!!!

Btw.....you can easily throw in some wheat germ too. Oh, and some milled flax seed. *grin* I throw some of that into all my cookies/muffins and noone is the wiser. *cheesy grin*

Lookin' cute!!! hee, hee.

jennsquared said...

Those look really good! I'll definitely give it a try!

I'm more of a baker than cook but I like either none the less. The only thing is when I get home I get so tired so I just want to eat something fast, so I don't end up cooking a lot.

I should seriously consider buying an apron...

ikkinlala said...

Wow, that's a big batch of muffins!

It's good to know that yogurt can be substituted for shortening - I almost always have yogurt around, and I almost never have shortening.

Laura said...

Love the apron! There are a lot of really cute, retro aprons on etsy these days. You found a great one!

Helen said...

I'm diabetic and I've often substituted Splenda for sugar. I find that baking with Splenda makes dough stickier and that can often change the texture of the item being baked. There are certain recipes where Splenda worked fine and others where it really wasn't worth making again with Splenda.

MomOnTheEdge said...

Yummy! Those muffins sound great (minus the optional dog hair for me! LOL) I can't wait to try them. Thanks so much for the recipe.