These Might be Bran Muffins

Six bran beauties in search of a photographer

1 ¼ cup of bran or high fiber grain
1 ½ cup milk
1 cup raisins or your choice of dried fruit, diced
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
¾ cup brown sugar
1 ¼ cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Pre-heat your oven to 400 F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin. While the oven is heating mix the bran, milk, raisins, and vanilla in a medium sized bowl and let stand for a couple of minutes. Mix in the egg and the oil and beat with a fork. Mix in the remaining ingredients. The batter should look like cake mix batter; thin, if necessary, with a tablespoon or two of milk.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes. You'll know they're done if an inserted knife blade comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Shelf-life: about 30 hours.

As we said, you should feel free to experiment. For example, you can substitute any boxed cereal for the bran, and exchange (or combine) the raisins for any other dried fruit. I added a ½ cup of coconut to the second batch I made and...it was pretty good.

So: These are bran muffins--or any kind of muffin you desire!