Autumn is making its presence known in subtle ways in the Desert Southwest. It's almost November. after all. I still haven't seen trees in town with leaves changing colors, but the air has a hint of chill in early mornings and late afternoons. And now just two weeks before Daylight Savings Time ends, our household beats the sun up and awakes in the dark. My thoughts turn to comfort food.
One morning this week, my husband Wayne greeted me with a large mug of coffee and a basket of warm bran muffins. And these were not your grandmother's bran muffins. My husband the chef had taken a recipe from an old, paperback Favorite Brand Name Recipe Cookbook and made the humble bran muffin into a gourmet treat.
This is his description of the muffin making. Mix together 1 1/4 all-purpose flour, 1 T baking powder, 1/2 t salt and 1 cup Splenda. In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups All Bran cereal with 1 1/4 cups milk and let mixture stand a few minutes until softened. Then add 1 egg and 1/3 cup vegetable oil to the cereal mixture. Finally add the flour mixture. Next came the special
additions - 3/4 cup raisins and 3/4 cup chopped pecans. Bake in muffin pans at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Here was the tasty result:
Speaking as someone who didn't have to do the baking, the muffins were truly a treat on a chilly morning.
All-Bran Muffins brought to mind another recipe we used to make often, Six-Week Muffins. At first the name may be a bit off-putting (the batter is supposed to keep for six weeks in the refrigerator!). I can't personally vouch for the longevity of the batter because we always used it up long before the six weeks period was over. But I can say that it was great to have something pre-mixed and ready to cook on busy mornings.
When I looked for the Six-Week Muffin recipe in another old cookbook, this one published locally in 1982 by Sue Turner, I discovered that we had used the recipe so often and spilled so much batter on it that it was no longer legible. I found a similar recipe on p. 210 of Lone Star Legacy I. Here is how it goes:
Add 5 t baking soda to 2 cups of boiling water and let cool. Cream 1 cup shortening with 2 cups sugar (or Splenda), add 4 eggs and the soda mixture. Then add 1 quart buttermilk, 4 cups flour, 1 t salt, 4 cups All Bran, 2 cups 40% Bran, and 2 cups of dates, raisins or both. Mix well and store covered in refrigerator. When ready to use, bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.
I hope you will enjoy a breakfast muffin some cool autumn morning. I had a little help writing this blog from our cat, Bitsy!
