Blueberry Chocolate Bran Muffins

Outrageously rich, hearty muffins. Serve with butter, and a steaming mug of coffee (hot chocolate for the kids). These are the perfect start for a cold day. Don't tell the kids they are healthy.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Yield: 14-16 muffins

Wet ingredients:

1 cup water

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt

1 cup milk

½ cup honey

¼ cup canola oil

Dry ingredients:

3 cups wheat bran

2 cups whole wheat flour

¼ cup flax meal

¼ cup almond meal

2 tsp baking soda

1tsp salt

1 cup blueberries

¼ cup 60% cacao chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Boil the water (I heat it in a glass cup measure in the microwave) and then add 1 cup of the bran. Set aside to soak.

In a bowl mix the eggs, yogurt, milk, honey and oil.

In another bowl mix the remaining 2 cups of bran and the flour, flax meal, almond meal, baking soda and salt.

Stir the liquids into the dry ingredients until just blended. Then stir in the blueberries and chocolate chips. Spoon muffin batter into a muffin pan (I use two small rubber spatulas, and line the muffin pan with paper muffin cups for easy cleanup). Bake for 18 minutes, or until firm.

Variation: These can be made without sugar - to do this omit the honey, and use plain yogurt instead of vanilla, and use a little less flour (about 1/4 cup less, experiment for consistency). Add 1 tsp vanilla, and for sweetness use one of the growing number of accepted calorie free sugar substitutes. I use Stevia a lot these days.