Bran Muffins and Music

Don't they look innocent

(This post is rated PG-13 for bodily function mentions)

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day...well, I love every meal BUT breakfast I can't live without. I'm a pastry and muffin junkie and pretty much anything with eggs. Jarom eats cereal every morning. I don't know how. I refuse. I also refuse to let my children eat it everyday and now they don't care much for "cereal day."

Now that we have our morning history covered you must understand that I am no baker or cook. I do "like" looking for new recipes on occasion for some good food. My recent discovery, Hearty Honey Bran Muffins. We have two whole-wheat haters in the fam and they loved these muffins. It gets 5 stars and became blog worthy. I know, they are that good. I hear they are even better with a big slab of butter on them, mmmm. Are they still hearty after that?

They became so popular that they began to be eaten at other meals and snacks. Sounds great til that "music" starts playing. Imagine sitting at the dinner table and EVERY male at the table seems to be taking turns sharing there "pull my finger" tunes. With giggles of encouragement the melodies of flatulence continues on while I wonder how I will finish my meal. I can see my dad's face turning red as this is all happening. This would have never been acceptable at my home growing up. However, as I have learned in a marriage you both bring different things to the table. In this case, literally.

Enjoy the recipe and the side effects.

Hearty Honey Bran Muffins (I'd show a picture but we already ate them.)

1 1/2 cups bran flakes cereal (raisin bran optional)

1/3 cup boiling water

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk (I only had milk and it worked fine)

1/4 cup nuts, chopped (optional)

1/4 cup honey

Combine the cereal and boiling water in a heatproof bowl and mix well. Let stand until cool. Mix the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together; set aside. Beat the brown sugar, applesauce and egg in a mixing bowl until creamy. Add the dry ingredients, cereal mixture and buttermilk and mix just until moistened. Fold in the nuts.

Fill 12 jumbo muffin cups or 24 standard muffin cups sprayed with nonstick cooking spray three-fourths full. Drizzle each jumbo muffin with 1 teaspoon honey, or each standard muffin with 1/2 tsp. honey. Bake at 375'F for 18 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Refrigerate any leftovers.