baby bran muffins.

The theme today is brown.

The dry mixture is brown, the wet mixture is brown, and by the transitive property (or not), the combined mixture is obviously brown.

These are actually really good. They have a large amount of yogurt and healthy stuff, and a relatively minuscule amount of fat. Oh I just used spell check to correct minuscule . . . that u is quite random, no? Interesting.

But yes, these muffins, due to the yogurt, remain moist for a very long time, despite the very little butter or oil. Due to their capabilities to remain moist, they must also be eaten fairly quickly to prevent them from going bad. The dried fruit speckled throughout the muffins provide extra sweetness and a change in texture from the heartiness of the bran. Toasted walnuts are heaven in this type of muffin. Please, please do not neglect to add them. Unless you are allergic, in which case ... I'd stay away.

Go make these and eat them already, gosh.

Bran Muffins
slightly adapted from this recipe, from 101cookbooks.com.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
• 3/4 tspn salt
• 1 1/4 tspn baking soda
• 2 cups yogurt (or a combination of light sour cream, the flavored yogurt that comes in cups, and regular, low-fat yogurt)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sweeteners (I used a combination of brown sugar, honey, and molasses)
• 2 Tb ghee (or melted butter)
• 3/4 cup chopped dried fruit
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped, toasted walnuts

1. Combine the dry ingredients together: flours, bran, salt, and baking soda.

2. Combine the yogurt, egg, sweeteners, and ghee.

3. Add the dry mix into the wet mix. Stir until just combined.
4. Fold in dried fruit and nuts.
5. Bake in greased mini muffin molds, mini loaf pans, or any other pan your heart desires. The baking time is directly related to the size of the pan; in other non-mathematical words, the smaller the pan, the less time it will take for the muffins to bake.

6. Store in a container with a paper napkin to absorb extra moisture and prevent the muffins from going bad. Refrigerate the muffins after three days, if there are any left.