Raisin Bran Muffins

After I had Leila, my sister in law Sue made the BEST raisin bran muffins and brought them to me.  I am passing on the recipe to you.  I added the raw sugar, it gives it a bakery muffin feel.  You can also make them without the raisins by using regular bran flakes cereal and omitting the raisins.

Raisin Bran Muffins

1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk (see alternative below)
15 oz cereal - raisin bran
5 cup flour
3 cup sugar
5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts - chopped (optional)
raw sugar

Mix together oil, eggs, buttermilk, and raisin bran (about 7.5 cups). Set aside. Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour oil mixture over flour mixture and stir until combined. Add raisins and walnuts. Let batter sit for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Spoon into muffin cups and bake at 400° for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with raw sugar. For jumbo muffins, bake for 30 minutes.  For mini muffins, bake for 15 minutes.

Buttermilk Alternative for Baking
(replaces 1 cup buttermilk)

1 T vinegar
milk

Add vinegar to a measuring cup and then add milk until there is a total of 1 cup of liquid.  For the recipe above, you need 1/4 cup vinegar and enough milk for 4 cups.