Much ado about muffins!

"Dad, if you didn't want me to eat all these muffins, then don't put them so close!"

You never know where inspiration is going to come from. This muffin craving started in a hospital bed as I was recovering from some surgery a couple of weeks ago. With the "room service" offered by the hospital, one of the breakfast sides was a muffin. Now I don't expect much from hospital food, which in the listage of service food ranks about equal to the "meals" offered by the airline industry. This sad breakfast was no different, but what stuck in my head was how awful the muffin was. Way too sweet, like they were ignoring their own advice to diabetic patients, gummy textured, and just about big enough to satisfy no one. I didn't know it then, but this incident would cause me to lose sleep upon my return home.

So it was that the night I came home I woke up about 3am and thought "man, what would I give for a really good muffin right now." Oddly enough it wasn't just any muffin, but a perfectly done bran muffin that I wanted. Since I knew I wouldn't sleep anyway with such important thoughts running through my head, I grabbed my iPhone, tapped open the epicurious app, and started searching. And there it was, jumping out at me through the dozens of offerings. Blueberry Bran Sunflower Muffins. Such an obvious answer to my cravings. Such ease of production. Such high approval ratings (100% "make it again", btw). The next morning was Sunday, and I fell blissfully back asleep knowing just how it would start......
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Blueberry Bran Sunflower Muffins
from epicurious

ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup miller's bran*
3/4 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds,* toasted lightly
1 1/2 cups blueberries, picked over (I used huckleberries, since I'm lucky enough to have some leftover from last season in my freezer!- bb)

*available at natural foods stores, specialty foods shops, and some supermarkets

method:
In a bowl stir together the butter, the milk, and the eggs. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the salt, the bran, and the sunflower seeds. Add the butter mixture, stir the batter until it is just combined, and fold in the blueberries. (The batter will be thick and lumpy.) Divide the batter among 12 well-buttered 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the muffins in a preheated 425°F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are golden. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and let them cool.