Hop On The Bran Wagon - Duncan Hines All-Bran Muffin Mix - Brief Article

Nutrition Action Healthletter, Dec, 2000

Doughnuts, croissants, and danish are bad. Muffins are good.

Well, sort of.

Muffins are indeed better than those other sweets, because they're so much lower in artery-clogging fat. Still, most muffins are basically little more than white flour and sugar. And an average four-ouncer can pack 400 calories and 20 grams of fat.

Pick up a box of Duncan Hines All-Bran Muffin Mix and you'll end up with anything but your average muffin. It's made with Kellogg's All-Bran--one of the highest-octane cereals you can buy.

If you use the box to make 12 muffins, each Apple Cinnamon or Blueberry muffin will give you just 140 calories, five grams of fat (only one of them saturated), and four or five grams of fiber (a fifth of your total for the day). You can add to that the vitamins and phytochemicals brought by the bran.

The fruit -- apple or blueberries -- is cooked in corn syrup and sealed in a small pouch. That means that at least some of the muffins' sweetness comes .from real fruit. And the bran gives the muffins a satisfying, toothsome texture that's missing from the soft, crumbly, white-flour variety. Pair one with a glass of orange juice or low-fat milk for a quick breakfast or snack.

Now that's a muffin that lives up to its healthier reputation.

Duncan Hines: (800) 562-3062.