"Bran"d New Muffins and Blog

First, a quick update. Last Tuesday, the tornado that hit Union University destroyed many dorms and damaged others. Through the past week there has been much clean-up going on. Rooms were "bagged and tagged," arrangements for student housing has been made, and classes have been rearranged. On Monday classes will start again...there's already been a basketball game! Of all the students involved, none passed away and only 5 remain in the hospital, with serious but non-life threatening injuries! What a great God we serve! He is Sovereign and full of mercy towards us! Now a yummy and healthy muffin. A few weeks ago, I found a new site called A Cookie a Day. There are so many good looking recipes on there...lemon and caper tilapia, lasagna rolls, lentil soup...but what caught my eye that day were some fantastic looking muffins. Add to that that they were healthy, a winner! On top of the changes already made, I made a few of my own changes. I decided to remove 1/2 cup of flour and replace it with 1/2 cup wheat bran. I also only used 1/4 cup margarine instead of 5 T. And because I ran out, I used about 3/4 cups of brown sugar; I think it could even be decreased to 1/2 cup. Even with the small amount of fat in these muffins, there were SO tender. The spices give them a fantastic flavor and they just smelled fantastic. I am definitely making these again! Here is the original recipe...if you want something healthy and fantastic for breakfast or even a snack, try these muffins.
1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wheat bran

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (4 T) margarine, melted

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup pecans or walnuts (3 1/2 oz), coarsely chopped

Directions
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Grease muffin pan.
Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well, then add butter, a little at a time, whisking until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in nuts and divide batter among muffin cups