Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Apricot Cranberry All-Bran Muffins





Call me nostalgic or a sucker for advertising - I ca't help but look at 'back of the box' recipes and cookbooks put out by big brands like Jell-O or Philadelphia Cream Cheese or Hershey's. It's all a strategy to get you to buy more of their product by producing recipes that call for it as an ingredient.

Some are so obviously product plugs that it's comical, like the dessert that calls for Jell-O powder, Cool-Whip and a pre-made graham crust. Hmm... could this be Kraft Foods? Cheeeeeeezy. Puh-leaze. Reminds me of those soap pumps that say "Only refill with Brand X" as if it wouldn't work if you used a different brand. lol.

Other brands like Kellogg's actually have a lot of great muffins, breads and biscuits that can be made using its cereals as a base. It's done subtly and the recipes taste good!



All-Bran Apricot Cranberry Muffins
Makes 12 | adapted from kelloggs.com

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 cups All-Bran/Bran Flakes/Raisin Bran dry cereal
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or use regular milk and sub 1 tbsp baking powder for the baking soda)
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin tins - grease or line.

2. Stir together flour, the 1/2 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, combine cereal and milk. Let stand 2 minutes or until cereal softens slightly. Add egg, oil and dried fruit. Beat well. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined. Portion into prepared tins.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

7 comments:

megan said...

I love those cookbooks too! Thanks for the info on Kelloges.com. I'm off to check it out. Your muffins look delicious!

megan said...

I love those cookbooks too! Thanks for the info on Kelloges.com. I'm off to check it out. Your muffins look delicious!

Michelle and Gabby said...

man those look delicious! the pictures are great :)

Natalie said...

dang I JUST finished a box of bran flakes the other day...looks like I now have an excuse to buy more! :) Or I could use cornflakes, though that wouldn't be as healthy...

Great recipe!

Unknown said...

Honestly, I tend to overlook the back of the box recipes... seeing how yummy your stuff looks, I might have to try some!

La Bella Cooks said...

Some of those back-of-the-box recipes are awesome! These looks like a piece of heaven.

RamblingTart said...

Tia, I just wanted you to know that I featured your Flourless Peanut Butter cookies on my blog today. :-) I'm a huge fan of those cookies!!