Muffins with good intentions

My lovely and talented friend, Jeffrie, recently introduced me to a muffin recipe that has finally ousted a long-time favorite from my heart (and almost from my recipe box).  I used to be a die-hard fan of the classic recipe for refrigerator raisin bran muffins from, oh, I think at least the 1980's.  You remember the recipe?  An entire box of raisin bran, plus a lot more sugar, plus 4 eggs, a cup of oil, buttermilk and a lot of white flour.  You'd mix it up and let it sit overnight to soften the bran flakes, then bake as many as needed at a time.  But the real reason the recipe was a favorite?  The batter keeps in your fridge for up to a month.  So you can repeat your trip into early renal failure daily until the batter is gone. 

In case you haven't guessed it, I was the kind of muffin-eater that tried to accomplish renal failure and cardiac arrest all in one shot by baking all the batter at one time and then eating as many muffins as possible in one sitting.  With lots of butter and cream cheese.

So just in case you want to have a gluten-fest with a lot of extra refined sugar--hey, nothing wrong with that, dude, it's a free country and I'm told you can now get decent health insurance no matter what you've done to yourself--you can find that recipe here.  I'd have to admit they're really tasty, mostly because of the sugar and fat content.  And let's face reality: FAT TASTES GOOD.  It tastes really good when combined with sugar and salt.  I'd have to say that fat, sugar and salt are, at times, my three basic favorite food groups.  I am not ashamed to admit that I like to stimulate my dopamine receptors via oral means.

But I've become more militant responsible about food and in my efforts to clean up some self-destructive eating habits, I think I've finally found a recipe that meets my needs for a muffin of substance and texture, one that tastes great and is wonderfully moist and is wholesome and reliably delicious.  A muffin with good intentions, if you buy into the whole concept of anthropomorphizing your food. 

Which I do.  Because in my world, everything (and everyone) has an agenda.

Months ago, my friend Jeffrie, who loves to cook and has turned me on to some really great recipes (remember the brownies???) introduced me to a muffin recipe that she and her new husband both adore.  I have to agree with them both, these muffins are great.  You will need a food processor or a good blender to mill the oats into flour, but other than that, no special equipment.  I love this recipe for its ability to be transformed by endless variation.  I think you will too.  Find it here, on the blog Honest Fare.

And, just a little hint: husbands love these muffins.  They don't really care about the good intentions.