Ah Relief

We are home. Temporarily in between Christmas celebrations. Last weekend we had a 90th birthday party, a wedding reception, and 2 Christmases with my family. This weekend we have a Christmas celebration, a birthday party and a baby shower. Celebrations and family happiness abound. But I have to say, I love my quiet little house and my nice firm mattress. I can lay awake in the early morning hours and listen comfortably to the nothingness.

I digress. After all that rich food in Michigan, and with the expectation of rich food to come, I am craving vegetables. But I'm not really cooking this week. (We're playing "what leftovers are in the freezer" for the 2 nights I actually have to think about dinner.) So I've made do with some very tasty bran muffins. I got some pretty cool silicone cupcake liners in both heart shapes and squares as a Christmas present and I wanted to try them out.

This recipe is loosely based on this recipe here. But I don't keep buttermilk on hand, so I substituted yogurt. And the reviews said it was dry, so a little applesauce couldn't hurt. And really when I was cutting up the apricots and prunes and I just kept finding more dried fruit in my cupboards, I couldn't help adding raisins and currants and craisins and adding an entire 1/2 cup more dried fruit than I was supposed to. I don't know what the original recipe tasted like, but my recipe made 18 muffins (in both heart and square shapes) and tasted darn good.

And a little relief is a good good thing.

Bran Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oat bran

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 egg white

1 1/2 cups plain non-fat yogurt

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup applesauce

1 1/2 dried fruit, chopped if big pieces, (I used prunes, apricots, golden raisins, currants, and craisins)

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degree F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners (or use silicone ones without liners).

Whisk flours, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Lightly beat the eggs and egg white in a medium bowl. Stir in the yogurt, brown sugar, applesauce, and oil. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until blended. Fold in the dried fruit and the nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until firm when pressed gently and a tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Turn the muffins out of the cups and cool on rack. Serve warm or room temperature.