What do you do when you wake up and find seven inches of snow on the ground? You make muffins, of course.

That’s what I did this morning after seeing that yesterday’s snow storm had left plenty of fluffy white stuff all over the ground. On days like this, only a comfort-food muffin will do. And for me that is a bran muffin. I’ve tried a variety of bran muffin recipes and my favorite quick and easy one is from All Bran.

What’s great about this recipe is that it is a basic dough that you can a little extra ingredient to it if you want. Raisins are a common choice. This morning, I had a hankering for apricots so I chopped up about half a cup of dried apricots and plopped them into the dough. I’ve also added the zest of a medium sized orange for a light citrus addition to the flavor.

Another plus is that the ingredients are very portable. When we visit my in-laws, I like to make a meal or bake a little something to help my mother-in-law a little. I can pack up all the ingredients and quickly whip up the muffins with no fuss or muss.