Honey-Oat-Bran Muffins for My Honey

Ingredients

• 6
  
  tablespoons butter, room temperature
  
• 2
  
  eggs, room temperature
  
• 1/2
  
  cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 3
  
  tablespoons mild honey
  
• 1
  
  teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1 3/4
  
  cups plain whole milk yogurt (not greek)
  
• 2
  
  cups All Bran Cereal
  
• 1
  
  cup unbleached all purpose flour
  
• 3/4
  
  cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1
  
  tablespoon Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
  
• 2
  
  teaspoons baking soda
  
• 1/2
  
  teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1
  
  tablespoon wheat germ
  
• 1/2
  
  cup old fashioned oats
  
• 1
  
  teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1/4
  
  cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  
• 1
  
  cup golden raisins
  
• 1
  
  cup toasted walnuts (or other nut as preferred), optional (I toasted pumpkin seeds and sprinkled them over the tops of the muffins.)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, melt butter in microwave by heating it on the lowest setting for about a minute, just till melted. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs till well-combined. Add sugar, honey, vanilla and whisk to combine. Whisk in butter and then yogurt. (You can spoon it into the same measuring cup you used to melt the butter.) Stir in All Bran cereal, and set aside while you prepare dry ingredients. (You want the cereal to soften as it absorbs the liquid. This can take 5-10 minutes.)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cocoa, wheat germ and oatmeal. Toast nuts if desired. (Place on a cookie sheet in the pre-heating oven till lightly toasted.)
4. When cereal has softened, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently fold with rubber spatula until batter is combined and evenly moistened. Gently fold raisins, nuts and orange juice into batter.

5. Using a 1/3 cup measure, drop batter into muffin cups forming soft mounds. Don’t level surface. Bake 16-20 minutes, until muffins are dark golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached.

6. These freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave or toaster oven.