Makes 12

When I was a kid my mother made bran muffins, beautiful, pebbly, moist and delectable muffins.  As an adult they were never the same.  Other people’s bran muffins were dry and never had the same texture.  The difference I learned was in the bran.  You can’t get the same wonderful texture unless you use the packaged breakfast cereal labeled “All-Bran.”  Health food store bulk bran won’t do.  It will make very good other kinds of muffins, but not original, old fashion All-Bran muffins.  The only difference between this recipe and the original on the cereal box is that my mother used honey in all her baking, and she used buttermilk since we had a cow and she made butter and there was almost always buttermilk around, so I guess these should actually be called, “Not Quite Original All-Bran Muffins.”

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 cups packaged all-bran

¼ cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup honey

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400°.  Mix flour, baking powder and all-bran together in a large bowl.  Add the oil, honey *, eggs and butter milk, mix gently and sparingly and allow to sit for about five minutes before using putting into muffin pans.  Spray your pans with non stick spray, and fill ¾ full.  Bake in the center of your oven for about 20 minutes or until a slim skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.  Serve warm with butter and honey.

* If you measure the oil first, then use the same implement to measure the honey, the honey will slide out easily without leaving a sticky mess.