Bran Muffins with Pumpkin Filling

 Last week the inside of my kitchen looked a Hostess bakery blew up inside of it. Every where I looked there was some butter and sugar delight: Mylo Xyloto cookies, Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, donuts, pie and gobs of Halloween candy.

Very tasty indeed, but not so tasty for the waistline. I absolutely love to bake though and go kind of coo coo if I don't do it at least once a week. But the sugar bomb madness needs to stop.

That's where these muffins come in. Bran screams healthy, in a supersonic, shake the window panes way. I personally love the taste of bran and I've never come across a muffin I didn't like.

These muffins are a nutrition powerhouse because they have both wheat and oat bran. Wheat bran is high in insoluble fiber which keeps your intestines nice and happy if you know what I mean. Oat bran is high in soluble fiber which gives the one two punch to heart disease. They're both super cheap too and make an awesome breakfast. I start off most days with some oat bran with a little wheat bran sprinkled on top.

I mean, isn't that what you have for breakfast...

No?

The original recipe for these muffins called for a jam filling, but it being October (and Halloween at that!) pumpkin seemed much more appropriate. I added some brown sugar, ginger and cinnamon to pumpkin I had left over and added a small spoonful to each muffin.

I have tried my hand at making filled muffins before, but I was seriously disappointed when I cut into them and discovered the filling had just spread through the muffins. This time I was thrilled to see the filling had stayed in place.

These would be fantastic for breakfast or a nice dessert if you're like me and suffering from sweets overload. Its also a great introduction to bran if you've been shying away from it all these years. Fiber is your friend, give it some love!

Bran Muffins with Pumpkin Filling 
Adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking

2 eggs
1 cup of oat bran
1 cup of wheat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 t. baking powder
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1.25 cups milk
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1 T. brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425. Sift together flour, baking powder, 1 t. cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add brans and 1/2 cup brown sugar and mix lightly to combine.
2. Mix eggs, milk and oil together in a medium bowl. Add to dry mixture and mix gently until just combined.
3. Spray or line a muffin tin. Fill the cups 1/3-1/2 the way full. Mix together pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and brown sugar in a small bowl. Spoon a heaping teaspoon onto each muffin. Top with the remaining muffin batter.
4. Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes until tops are slightly browned. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Turn out and enjoy!
**These muffins go splendidly with my Portobello and Greens Soup!

 Happy Halloween!!

What I'm Listening to Today-->Still MX but I thought I'd share some of my other favorite Coldplay songs :D

Politik-->this song was written on 9/11
Til Kingdom Come-->Chris Martin was supposed to sing this with Johnny Cash, but he died before it could be recorded. Still one of my favorite Coldplay songs
The Scientist-->this song was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark where a scientist abandons his true love for his work. The video is pretty cool.