Raisin-Bran Muffins

These muffins from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast cookbook are great for breakfast or for a satisfying snack anytime during the day. The cinnamon adds a lot to these muffins and the oil keeps them moist. I think kids would enjoy these for breakfast as well, especially if you're trying to get them away from sugary pastries.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups raisin-bran cereal

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 6 cups of a standard muffin tin with paper liners. In a bowl, combine cereal with milk; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. In another bowl, whisk both flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir oil, egg, and brown sugar into cereal mixture, then fold in flour mixture.

2. Divide batter evenly among lined cups. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until golden brown and cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Cool in tin 5 minutes, then turn out muffins onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature. Muffins can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 3 months, in a large re-sealable plastic bag; thaw at room temperature and warm in the oven before serving.

Notes:

To make these low-fat muffins healthier, use regular bran flake cereal instead of raisin-bran cereal, which contains a surprising amount of sugar. Take 1-1/4 cups of bran flakes and 1/4 cup raisins and you're all set!

I liked this recipe because the muffins were delicious and I didn't have to use an electric mixer, which saved me the hassle of hauling it out of the cupboard and the potential disaster of dropping the stainless steal bowl on my toes again.