In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been around these here parts too much lately. I've been traveling to and from San Francisco every week for work. I'm there four days a week and pretty much have no energy left-over for baking + blogging when I get home. Not to mention, it's pretty impossible to keep fresh food around when I can't be in one place long enough to consume it. Which is why this recipe is so perfect for me. This recipe you make overnight and can keep (covered *real* tight) in the fridge for up to six weeks. You can just cook a few at a time and voila! Fresh bran muffins. Plus, when it's just me, the fact that this makes 48 muffins works great, cause I won't run out of that very quickly. In case the germ-freaks are totally grossed out about the length of time you can keep these, just cool out. There are a ton of recipes like this online and it's super legit science and stuff. (Recipe sent to me by my Momz, and found originally by my eldest sister. I do not know the original source—sorry about that!)
5 cups flour
3 cups sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
7 1/2 cups (20-ounce box) Post Healthy Classics Raisin Bran (you could add more raisins if this doesn't provide enough, it would be yums to add golden raisins to the mix)
4 cups (1 quart) buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, beaten
Melted butter for brushing the tops of the muffin batter
Ground cinnamon and sugar mixed
1. In a very large bowl, combine the flour 3 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the cereal, add the buttermilk, oil, and eggs, and blend until moistened. DO NOT STIR AGAIN. Place the mixture into a NON-METALLIC (very important science here, don't think you can be sneaky and get around this - Farrah, I'm talking to you!) container, seal tightly, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 6 weeks.
2. When ready to bake - preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Fill each cup 3/4 full with batter. Brush the top of the batter in each cup with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to taste. Bake 15-20 minutes. (I actually haven't done that the past few batches to make them a little more healthy and they are still super delish!)
**Here's a tip: if you are cooking less than 12 muffins, you can pour about an inch of water in each leftover muffin cup before you throw them in the oven so that the pan cooks everything evenly.