muffins: cracker barrel style

I remember going to cracker barrel for breakfast quite a bit as a kid.  There was one close to our house at the time and for some reason I just loved going there.  Whether it be the little triangle golf-tee game at each table, playing checkers by their fire place or getting my own pot of hot chocolate “coffee”, there was nothing else quite like it.

I would typically gravitate toward one of their sweeter breakfasts (i.e. wild maine blueberry pancakes), but Kinley always stayed with one particular meal.  A trio of breakfast items featuring a bran muffin, hashbrown casserole and cinnamon apples.  We don’t go to cracker barrel so much anymore, as I don’t believe down-home cooking is that healthy…  But I was able to recreate a bran muffin which she says competes with theirs, albeit a much less greasy version.  I used this recipe as a base, but made quite a few changes to it based on what we were looking for.

These were perfect served next to a bowl of cooked oat bran, and with an additional topping of apple butter or honey apple butter :).

Apple Bran Muffins

• 1/2 c oat bran
• 1/2 c graham flour
• 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 c ground flaxseed (I ground up 1/4 cup whole flaxseed, and it made more than enough for this and the flax egg)
• 1t baking soda
• 1 1/2t baking powder
• 1t cinnamon
• 1t nutmeg
• 1 flax egg (1T ground flax + 2T warm water, let sit for 5 minutes and whisk)
• 1/4 c apple butter
• 1/3 c applesauce
• 1T molasses
• 3/4 c water

1. Whisk all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl.

3. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix until everything is incorporated.  The original recipe didn’t call for any water – but the batter was super dry so I added it last minute.

4. Scoop into 9 prepared muffin tins and top with a sprinkle of old-fashioned rolled oats.  Bake for 20-25 in a preheated 350* oven.