Della's Health Muffin

You might be asking, "Who's Della''?

As far as I can tell, she's an elderly lady who lives (or has died) in Creston, B.C. and has (or had?) a restaurant there.

My extremely amiable mother-in-law met her one day and brought me her cookbook.

It's a charming cookbook with simple, homey recipes.

I know that doesn't really explain who Della is.... but if you must know, you'll have to make up your own colorful story. Maybe something about an old granny who laboured day and night trying to sort out the perfect recipe for a healthy muffin.

Ok, that wasn't a very good story. I'm sure you can make up something much better than that.

Anyhow, I'm not really sure that I would regard any type of muffin as healthy but this is definitely a healthier muffin option. An ample amount of molasses makes it dark, dense and rich in iron, the wholewheat fiber gives it a great fiber boost and the lack of sugar makes it a not too sweet treat. It's also a great way to use up that box of All Bran cereal in your cupboard that you had good intentions of using but now can no longer stomach it's sawdust like qualities.... I may or may not be speaking from experience.

Enjoy!

Della's Health Muffins

Yields: 12

Source: Della's Favorite's

1 cup blackstrap molasses (or substitute 1 1/2 cups brown sugar and 1/4 cup regular molasses)

4 eggs

1 cup oil

1 tsp salt

2 cups millk or yogurt

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup wheat germ

2 cups All Bran cereal

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups white flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

1 cup your choice of seasonal fruit (berries, bananas, rubarb, stone fruit etc..)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups. In a small bowl whisk together molasses, eggs, oil and milk.  In a large bowl mix together all other ingredients. Add the wet mixture to the dry and gently stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 25 - 30 muffins or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Serve with a bit of honey.