Brenda's Bran Muffins

My lovely (soon to be) mother in law passed along this recipe. She and her girlfriends go to the beach each year and make a big batch of these. They truly are delicious, but be warned. This recipe makes a LOT of muffins!

3 c. All-Bran cereal
1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c. sugar (You can use Baking Splenda)
2 c. buttermilk (I used Original, unsweetened Almond Milk)
2 1/2 c. plain flour (I always use self-rising flour and don't have to add
 the baking soda and salt. Whole wheat flour works great!)
2 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
12 oz. apple butter
1 c. chopped nuts (I used almonds, but walnuts would be good)
2 c. raisins

Divide bran cereal in half. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 1/2 c. bran
cereal, add oil, mix, and let stand. Mix together beaten eggs, sugar,
buttermilk, flour, baking soda, salt, and apple butter. Next, add dry bran
cereal and bran cereal mixture. Add nuts and raisins last. Spoon into
greased muffin tins and bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

This muffin mixture can be kept in the fridge for a few days and cooked
whenever you want to bake a few at a time.