Date Oat Bran and Flax Breakfast Muffins

I like dates, oats, oat bran and flax meal so decided to roll them all into a breakfast muffin. I could not find any recipe on the Internet that offered me the option to use all the ingredients, so I made my own recipe! These are very moist (almost wet because of the juicy dates), sweet with a hint of Cardamom which goes well with dates. They will need the full 25 minutes in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

1/2 cup sliced Medjool dates

½ cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup boiling water

¾ cup oat bran

¾ cup flax meal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1 Lemon

1/2 teaspoon of Ground Cardamom

½ teaspoon Allspice

½ cup brown sugar lightly packed

1 egg beaten

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup half and half

½ cup no fat plain Greek style unsweetened yogurt

1. Preheat the oven to 375℉ . Position rack to middle.
2. Paper line 12 muffin cups.
3. Combine the dates, cranberries and boiling water in a small bowl. Let the dried fruit soften and plump up. Set mixture aside to cool. When cool, puree about half of the dates and cranberries to a paste then add back to the liquid mixture.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, oat bran, flax meal, flour, baking soda, spices, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Whisk together. Set aside.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, oil, yogurt and half and half. When it has thickened slightly and got a bit paler in color, add the lemon juice and the date mixture.
6. Add the dry ingredients (including the date/cranberry mixture) to the liquid ingredients. Stir with wooden spoon until just moistened.
7. Fill muffin liners 3/4 full.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.