Flashback: From when I was very little, I remember these brown muffins vividly. The smell, the taste, even the dough. My mom made bran muffins for my dad all of the time. She would mix these up at the counter and bake them off before my dad would come home from work.  They were and still are his favorite muffin.

These muffins take All Bran cereal. At least for me, this is not common cereal and I honestly have never eaten it in a bowl with milk.  But when blended in the muffins, the cereal softens into the dough and dissappears. You are left with a dark and very distinct-flavored muffin, studded with raisins.

Recently, my family all traveled home for the weekend and my mom made these muffins once again.  It’s been years, yet the memories flooded back instantly.  These muffins hold a special place in our home and our childhood. 

 So make these for your own family or make a favorite family recipe from when you were growing up.  Sometimes bringing an old favorite back into the kitchen brings families closer together.  

These muffins are good with your breakfast, as a snack, or a treat for anytime of the day. If you want to make them extra hearty, add wheat flour instead of white. I also like to add extra raisins. They really plump up and make the muffin even better.  

This recipe is only one-fourth of the original-which made a lot of muffins.  This recipe will make about 12.  The dough will keep in the refrigerator (for a few weeks!) if you don’t want to bake them all at once.  And try the dough…its delish.  I also like to use mini-muffin tins for bite-size muffins.

Bran Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

• ½ cup All Bran (or Bran Buds)
• ½ cup boiling water
• ¼ cup margarine
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 ¼ tsp. soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 more cup All Bran
• 1 ½ cup Flour (White or Whole Wheat)
• Raisins (if desired - add 1 cup or more as necessary)

- Boil the water and pour over ½ cup All Bran.  Let stand while mixing the other ingredients in a separate bowl.

- Mix the rest of the ingredients in a mixer. Mix in the water and Bran. 

Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 of the way full.  Or you can use muffin liners.

Bake 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees.