Eat Healthy: Cran-Bran Muffins

If you read my other blog (my makeup blog), you may know that I'm on something of a health kick lately.  Over the past weekend, I wanted to bake something healthy and decided to whip up some Cran-Bran Muffins.

I like bran muffins.  I like the nutty flavor, the dense texture, and all that fiber.  These muffins came out sweet and flavorful.  Sure, they'd be awesome with a slathering of really good butter, but they're not bad as-is, either.  They're especially good warm, so eat them right out of the oven or toast them up a bit.

The only thing I didn't love about these muffins is that they cooked up rather small.  Maybe next time, I'll make fewer muffins and fill the tins a little higher.  I might also work on lightening up the batter (cake flour instead of regular flour?  I don't know!)

This recipe comes from Cooking Light.  The only change I made was to use Craisins instead of raisins.  Use what you want, and add any seasonings you might want.  This would be good with some grated orange (with the craisins) or with some nuts and spices.


Cran-Bran Muffins, Makes 12

1 cup All Bran cereal (the kind that looks like twigs)
3/4 cup fat free milk
1/2 cup craisins
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray muffin tins with cooking spray.
2. Combine cereal and milk in a bowl; let stand 5 minutes.  Add craisins, honey, oil and egg; stir well.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. 
4. Pour the flour into the cereal mixture and mix until just moist--but be sure not to over stir!
5. Fill muffin tins about 2/3 of the way up.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes (or until muffin springs back when touched lightly in the center).  Serve warm.

Vacation Food, Part 3

Though I made this dish while on vacation, it's more evocative of my childhood.  As a kid, my mom would make this onion-y/salty pull apart bread concoction that my sister and I could not get enough of.  Over the years, my mom stopped making the pull apart onion bread, but it has a place in my happy food memories.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, I was able to resurrect this yummy childhood favorite.  I made it for my husband prior to vacation and thought it was a bit too salty.  I adjusted the ingredients a bit and tried it again during vacation.  It was less salty but still yummy.  This is, by no means, a healthy dish.  It's got a ton of butter and way too much sodium, but if you enjoy it once or twice a year, you shouldn't do any long-term damage.

I served this with BBQ chicken and think the flavor combo was pretty darn good.  Give this a try--it's worth the calories.

Pull Apart Onion Rolls

1/2 c. butter (1 whole stick!)
2 tbsp. instant minced onion
1 tbsp. instant beef bouillon (I used 1 large bouillon from Knorr's)
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. onion powder
2 c. Bisquick baking mix
1/2 c. cold water

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix butter, onion, bouillon, parsley and onion powder in saucepan. Heat until butter is melted and bouillon is dissolved; cool slightly. (Or, if you're lazy like me: melt the butter in a microwave-proof container and then add all the other ingredients and stir like crazy!) Pour about half of the butter mixture into round layer pan, 9 x 1 x 1/2 inch. Spread onions evenly in pan. Mix baking mix and water until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Drop dough by teaspoonsful onto butter mixture in pan, drizzle with remaining butter mixture. Bake until golden brown about 12 minutes. Invert pan on heat proof serving plate. Leave pan over rolls a few minutes. About 2 dozen rolls.

Note: My mom thought she used Lipton's French Onion Soup mix to make this.  I think that would work--I'll have to try it at some point.

Another note: In my memory, I think there was chives in the bread.  Maybe I'm jumbled up, but again, I might have to try that addition to see how it changes things up.

Cornbread for Your Chili

Greta got me started on a chili kick with her recipe last week. If you make any of the leftover chili dishes I suggested on Tuesday--or if you're hankering for sweet, corny yumness that is made better with butter, here's a kick-ass Basic Cornbread recipe.

This recipe comes from the book Cooking Texas Style. My parents found this book at a used bookshop in Maine and bought it for me as a gift when I left the lovely Green Mountains of Vermont to chase after my true love who was trapped in Corpus Christi, Texas. That seems like a lifetime ago, and now that my husband and I live in rainy Washington State, the recipes in Cooking Texas Style are all we need to remind us of "the whole other country" that is Texas.

Anyway, here's the recipe. It's begging for additions like bacon, cheddar cheese, corn kernels, jalapenos, whatever. Though you can cook this in anything you'd like, I suggest using cast iron. Liberally grease cast iron corn bread sticks or a cast iron skillet with Crisco and pre-heat in the 425 degree oven while you're mixing your cornbread ingredients. When you pour the batter into the sticks or skillet it will fry up a bit, giving you a crunchy, satisfying crust.
BASIC CORNBREAD

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup bacon drippings or oil
1 1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
   
2. Shift cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together.
   
3. Combine egg, oil (or bacon drippings), and milk together and add to flour mixture.
4. Mix until smooth. This should resemble pancake batter--it will be thin and pour-able.
5. Pour into a greased 9-inch square pan, 10-inch skillet, or 12 muffin tins (or cornbread sticks as mentioned above).
6. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.