Muffins that wait for you to bake them

With our strained economy, there are many people who are working more than one job in order to stay financially afloat. This means long work days and not always much time to cook and eat at home. Fast food is a common solution for most workers, yet we know it can get expensive and it's not always the healthiest food, either.

More often than not, many dual-employed people don't take time to eat breakfast, simply because there's little time in the morning. This is also the case with families with children who rush in the morning in order to get everyone up and out the door for school. Of course, we've all been taught the importance of that first meal of the day!

Here's a solution for the overworked and undernourished! "Six-Week Bran Muffins" is a quick bread in which you make the batter, keep it refrigerated and whenever you need to bake some muffins, the batter's ready! This is also a healthy bread, since of course it contains bran and raisins, which are good sources of fiber and food value.

Like the titleThe real advantage to this recipe is that the batter will keep for six weeks in the refrigerator. However, if you have a small family or feel you won't be able to use all the batter within the six weeks, the proportions of the recipe can be divided in half. Another option is you can bake all the batter at once, wrap and freeze the muffins.

This batter is very easy to make and it waits for you to put it to use. You could make this batter up and bake the number of muffins you need for a quick breakfast or to pack to take to have later in the day. Once baked, keep them well-wrapped to have ready when you need them. If you find that the baked muffins aren't all eaten within two days, I would advise wrapping them and placing them in the refrigerator. For long-term storage, they freeze great. Then, by placing the number needed in a paper towel and microwaving them for about 20-30 seconds, they'll be hot and ready to be enjoyed. The muffins are very good to serve plain, with butter or softened cream cheese. Add a glass of juice and/or milk and you have a virtual instant breakfast.

The recipe calls for Bran Buds or All-Bran, which can be found easily in the cereal section of the grocery store. The All-Bran is usually easier to find that the Bran Buds, but either of them work fine in this recipe.

Sometime back, I shared another bran muffin that's almost as good as this one, called "The World's Best Bran Muffin". This would also be good for those harried mornings. Here's the link to it, just in case you missed it before:

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-world-s-best-bran-muffins

Enjoy this good and easy quick bread that will wait for you....up to six weeks!

SIX WEEK BRAN MUFFINS

• 3-1/2 cups (about 9 ounces) Bran Buds cereal or All-Bran cereal
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins (about 1/2 large box) (optional)

In a large bowl, place the Bran Buds and pour the boiling water over them. Set aside. In another large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and buttermilk, mixing well. Combine the dry ingredients along with the raisins. Add all at once to the buttermilk mixture and mix only enough to dampen the dry ingredients. Add the Bran Bud mixture and stir only enough to mix well. Cover and chill. When ready to bake, spoon the batter into the desired number of muffin cups that have been greased or sprayed, filling about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until muffins test done in the center. Remove from cups immediately and let cool.