High Fiber Breakfast Muffins

I'm sort of on a bit of a healthy food kick, or at least I'm trying to be (don't let all the dessert posts fool you).  The other day I decided to try making the high fiber breakfast muffins from the recipe book that comes with the Chalene Extreme workout program, to use up some ingredients I had around the house and to switch it up from the fiber bars I've been munching on for a week or so now.

First off, the recipe calls for a cup of buttermilk, which I never have on hand.  However, buttermilk is extremely easy to make.  All you need is milk and lemon juice.

Just put a tablespoon of lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup, fill it up to the 1-cup line with milk, and let it sit for about five minutes.

Definitely easier and cheaper than buttermilk, I think.

Anyway, next you combine 1 and 1/2 cups of wheat bran fiber and the buttermilk in a large mixing bowl.  Stir to combine.  It will sort of become a mushy, paste-like consistency, not unlike a "damp oatmeal", and that should sit for ten minutes.

Walk away, read a couple articles in a magazine, clean out the inside of your microwave.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together one egg, 1/3 of a cup of vegetable oil (the recipe says canola oil but I only had "regular" Crisco on hand), 2/3 of a cup of brown sugar, unpacked (which means spoon it in but don't press it down to measure), and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Stir this into the wheat bran mixture.

Next, sift together a cup of all purpose flour, a teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda, and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.  I also added about 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon, because I love the flavor and I thought it might need the extra kick.

Gently stir until everything is just combined.  Then fold in 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, then back for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserting in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove from the tin to cool. These are great warm with a little dab of butter or some kind of fruit preserves.  To store, wrap them individually in plastic wrap once they're cool and place them in a freezer bag.  They'll keep for up to a month.  Just unwrap and defrost at room temperature before enjoying them!