I recently took a trip to my natural foods store and found myself stuck in the bulk foods section for about an hour. I tend to get caught up in stores like those, looking at labels, admiring packaging, and doing mental price comparisons to what I’ve seen online. I started filling little plastic bags with a few of each item: 10 macadamia nuts here, 15 hazelnuts there, 3 dried mangos…and so on. As I was measuring I decided to make a tropical fruit and nut mix when I got home. I also got inspired by the couscous and the quinoa and have been making lunch salads with them ever since. And then…the flours and brans. I remembered all the recipes I’ve been wanting to make but can’t because I don’t want to buy a year’s supply of wheat bran or oat bran just to try a recipe. So I scooped a bit of each into some bags, and hurried home to start playing with all of my bulk goodies!
I’ve decided to make muffins using an assortment of brans and flours and mix-ins, while using bananas and applesauce as the base. These muffins are light and fluffy while being hearty and so satisfying!
