Glen cooks an old recipe from the Laura Secord Canadian Cookbook – the recipe apparently dates to the 1957 tour of Queen Elizabeth across Canada. The story is that these were made for the tour and a few had to be set aside each day for the queen to enjoy. In the end this is a solid recipe for a raisin bran muffin.

When I was a child, we often traveled to Ontario to visit my ‘step’ grandparents (my mother’s first husband’s parents). Grandma Ruby had two things on the table at every meal – biscuits and bran muffins. I developed a love for them then.

NOTE: This recipe calls for wheat germ, which I have in my refrigerator. In the past, I have always made bran muffins using All Bran cereal. I look forward to trying this. I have no idea how Grandma made hers!

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 375ºF

Grease thoroughly 16 medium sized muffin cups (or use paper liners).

Sift or blend together:
1 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Cream 5/8 cup butter

Gradually blend in:

½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
Beat until light and fluffy.

Add dry ingredients alternately with 1 ¼ cups milk. Make 3 dry and 2 liquid additions, combining lightly after each.

Stir in ¾ cup wheat germ and 1 cup raisins cut in half.

Fill prepared muffin cups ⅔ full.

Bake in 375º oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I found another recipe for Queen’s Muffins – for Queen Victoria. It contains more flavoring agents, currants and lots of butter, but no bran in sight! If you are interested, here’s a link to the recipe:

The English Kitchen Queen’s Muffins