Oat Bran Doesn't Sound Very Tasty

Day 45.

Do you have a picky eater? I do. Boy, do I ever! This kid won't even eat popcorn chicken because it has the word popcorn in it. Keep broccoli away. It seems she's repelled by it. And if I ever mentioned the words oat and bran together, there's no way she'd try the recipe. It's rather shocking to have such a food-phobic kid in the house with me being a foodie and all, and I'm always trying to coax her into trying new things. We have a Three Bites Rule in our home. Just try it. Have three bites. If you don't like it, that's fine. There are always other things on the plate that you can eat instead.

Lately, I've turned to masking foods in order to get different things into her. Not long ago, I made some vegetable fritters. I minced the veggies so finely that you couldn't tell what was in them. Onions, broccoli, mushrooms, and more were all in those fritters. She loved them.

Today, I made oat bran muffins. My mother made oat bran muffins regularly when I was growing up. I loved them. I still do. I love the natural sweetness of the oat bran. My Picky Eater doesn't share my appreciation of simple oat bran. So I mask it. By calling these muffins Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins. Shhh. Don't tell her.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins (a.k.a. my own version of the recipe on the back of the Quaker Oat Bran box)

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of oat bran (uncooked)


• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp sea salt


• 1 cup milk (vanilla almond milk works great here)


• 2 eggs, lightly beaten


• 1/4 cup honey or pure maple syrup (the maple syrup is awesome)


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (not required if you use vanilla almond milk)


• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (try coconut oil - melted)


• 1 mashed banana


• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

How it's Done:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with liners.


2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine oat bran, sugar, salt, and baking powder.


3. In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs, honey, banana, and oil. Add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir to combine.


4. Fold in chocolate chips.


5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.