Every time I stay at my mom's she sends me home with a bag of these muffins. They're good Mom Food--tasty, nutritious, and unfussy. They're light but stick to your ribs, with no flour (naturally gluten-free, and--for those like me avoiding simple carbs--low on the glycemic index) so I started making them myself for the in-between-visits times.
Mom pulled the recipe off the back of the Quaker Oats oat bran box. Their bran is more finely milled than most, and when I tried making it with another brand it sat heavy in the muffin tin. So I put my bran in my food processor and milled it finer, and the recipe worked again. Then, I tried simply letting the batter sit in the mixing bowl a bit before portioning into muffin pans, and that worked just as well--the liquid had a little more time to soak into the bran, so it didn't matter whether it was as finely milled.
Oven 365.
2 cups oat bran
2 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed banana (when a banana gets a little brown I toss it in the freezer. It thaws quickly into the perfect consistency for cooking)
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbls oil
1/4 cup honey (I smear the oil residue left in the measuring spoon into the 1/4 cup measure, then pour the honey in--it'll slide right out into the batter)
Add-ins: raisins, mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dried cranberries (about 1/2 cup altogether, although I tend to overadd and never regret it)
Mix the bran, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, banana, orange juice, honey, and oil. Mix until incorporated, but don't overdo it. Even though you aren't worrying about developing gluten, you don't want to beat out the air bubbles you just mixed in with your liquids. Toss in whatever combo of add-ins and stir just enough to distribute.
Spoon into muffin tins or silicone cups. I use a silicone muffin pan that's a little wider and shallower than my metal tin and fill them pretty much to the top. These muffins have a nice light fine-crumb texture, but they aren't going to raise up fluffy with that traditional muffin top since there isn't any refined flour in them.
Bake at for about 15 minutes or so (it really depends on what kind of pan, size, etc.). Keep an eye on them, and when they're golden, test with a toothpick or cake tester. Remove from oven and turn out onto a cooling rack.
Store in a ziplock bag in the fridge. Heat your muffin in the microwave for about 20 seconds for a fresh tasty breakfast or snack anytime during the day!
