Easy bran muffins

The great feature of this recipe is that you make the mix in advance and leave it in the fridge where it will last for a week. It’s a wonderful stand-by food for a weekend if unexpected visitors arrive for lunch or coffee.

• 3 cups bran

• 1 cup boiling water

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• 2 cups buttermilk

• ½ cup salad oil or ½ cup melted butter

• 1 cup sultanas or raisins

• ½ cup finely chopped apricots

• ¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional) or nut mix

• 1 over-ripe banana, mashed

• 2½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ cup brown sugar

• 1½ cups flour

• 1 cup whole meal flour

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan bake and grease your muffin pans well.

2. In a large bowl, mix bran with boiling water. Set aside until cool, and then add eggs, buttermilk and salad oil/melted butter, sultanas/raisins, apricots, walnuts and banana.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together baking soda, salt, sugar and flours. Blend thoroughly and stir into bran/fruit mixture.

4. Either bake now or store mix in fridge for up to a week in a tightly covered container.

5. Fan bake for 15 minutes for immediate use.

Cook’s tip:If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use 1 cup of whole milk and 1 cup of fruit yoghurt. These are not overly sweet muffins – if you have a sweet tooth, increase the sugar slightly to 2/3 cup.