Banana Bran Berry Nut Muffins

I love to bake first thing in the morning on cool or rainy days. I've been baking these muffins or some facsimile there of for about 30 years. These are easy enough to make on a school day with a little pre-planning. I prefer to butter the muffin tin over using muffin papers because the muffins always seems to stick the the paper, but do what's easier for you. In any case, your child can help with this step.
The interesting thing about muffins is they are stirred the old fashioned way, mixing the wet ingredients with the dry until just combined. If you overstir or beat the batter you will end up holes or tunnelling as it's called, noticable when you break it apart. Not good in a muffin.
I have adapted this recipe from the Nabisco recipe on on the Bran Cereal box but I actually prefer Kellogg's Bran Cereal.
Preheat oven to 400. Prepare the muffin tin with papers or butter each cup. In a 4 Cup Measuring Cup measure 1 Cup Milk and add to it 1 1/4 Cup Bran Cereal. Let sit for 5 minutes until soft. Meanwhile in bowl measure 1 1/4 Cup Flour, 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, 2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Soda, 1/2 tsp Salt, 1/2 Cup Chopped Nuts, 3/4 Cup Frozen Cranberries or Blueberries and give a stir. Set aside. To the wet ingredients add 1 Egg and 1/4 Cup Canola Oil. Break 1 large or 2 small Bananas into pieces and add to the wet ingredients. Using a fork, rough mash the banana against the side of the cup. Give wet ingredients a stir to combine. Add the wet to the dry and stir until just combined. If batter is too thin, add additional flour. Divide among 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tin. Serve with butter.