What’s cooking Sunday: Orange Flax Seed Bran Muffins

Back in my South Beach Diet days, I collected many high fiber, flavor-filled recipes. This one is a hit in our house. All of the ingredients are available at Whole Foods. Just a note about ground flax seed: be sure to store it in the freezer. Once the seeds are ground, they go rancid VERY quickly!

Orange Flax Seed Bran Muffins
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Makes 22-24 muffins

1 C oat bran
1 C flour (I use ½ C each of all purpose and whole wheat flours)
1 C ground flax seed
1 C wheat bran
1 T baking powder
½ tsp salt

Combine the above ingredients in a large bowl.

2 whole navel oranges, rinsed and cut into pieces (with peel!)
1 C brown sugar
1 C buttermilk (or 1 C milk + 1¾ tsp cream of tartar. Combine and let sit for 5 min before using)
½ C canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda

Place orange pieces in a blender and grind them up first, then add the rest of this group of ingredients to the blender and whiz together. Add orange mixture to the dry ingredients and blend well. Add 1½ C dried fruit (raisins or cranberries are fantastic in this).

Fill paper-lined muffin cups nearly to the top (the muffins don’t rise much at all). Bake 1-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (They will be very moist muffins when baked.) Cool in tins for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Yields about 22-24 muffins, depending on how full you make the tins before baking. Guaranteed they won’t last long!