Irish Whiskey Bran Muffins

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You may have noticed lately that I have been a little bit obsessed with St. Patrick’s Day. Well, there are worse obsessions, so I’m just going to go with this one. St. Patrick’s Day has always meant the beginning of spring, and I don’t know about you, but I am so eager for spring to arrive. I’m also looking forward to my traditional corned beef dinner. Despite the plethora of recipes for St. Patrick’s Day dinner, little is said about what one should enjoy for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day. I, for one, do have a cup of Irish coffee, but was thinking the other day that I really should pair that with something appropriate, considering I’m going to spend a good bit of time cooking and potentially wielding knives. As a consequence, I came up with this recipe. I figured I’d add a little bit of Saint Patrick in the Irish whiskey-soaked raisins, and a healthy dose of bran for a sensible breakfast. It works for me, and it just might work for you too.

Irish Whiskey Bran Muffins

 

¼ c. Irish whiskey

½ c. golden raisins

1½ c. raisin bran cereal

1 c. buttermilk

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 large egg

2/3 c. brown sugar

½ t. vanilla extract

¼ t. cinnamon

1 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

½ c. chopped pecans

Soak golden raisins in whiskey while you prepare the muffins. Ideally, soak them overnight to allow all of the wonderful whiskey to be absorbed into the raisins.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray muffin cups with Baker’s Joy, or line with paper muffin liners.

 In a large mixing bowl, combine raisin bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.

 In a medium mixing bowl, beat together oil, egg, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon; add to buttermilk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in raisin/whiskey mixture, and spoon* batter into prepared muffin tins.

 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. You have my permission to enjoy these with a cup of Irish coffee, I don’t judge.

Yields: 12 regular sized muffins

6 jumbo muffins**

 

*I use an ice cream scoop for this, it makes it quick, easy, and far less messy.

 **If you choose to make these in a jumbo muffin pan, bake for 30 minutes.