Gluten-free apple and rice bran muffins recipe

I haven't baked in months, but for some reason the excitement of being back in my kitchen motivated me to do some baking.  It probably had something to do with the fact that I received the brand new Moosewood cookbook, Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health, for Christmas.  It has lots of great recipes, including baked goods that feature whole grains and very little sugar (and some are already gluten-free!).  I'm really excited about a lot of the recipes in the book, so it's going to be January's cookbook of the month.

These muffins have large chunks of apples interspersed in the bran base.  I really liked the large pieces of apple, and the muffins were delicious.  I had to modify this recipe to eliminate the gluten, but it turned out very well.  They were dense, but reminded me of the whole wheat muffins that I made back in the day.  Honestly, I think I prefer a dense muffin.  I'm submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is organized by Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once, who is also hosting this week.

Gluten-free apple and rice bran muffins (adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health)
(Printable version)

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp honey
1 large apple (I used a pink lady), chopped
3/4 cup chopped dates
1 cup rice bran (or oat bran)
1/2 cup gluten-free baking mix (or wheat flour, if you can eat gluten)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats
2 Tbsp flax meal
1/2 cup water (if needed)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and honey in a large bowl.  Stir in the apple, dates, and rice bran.  In a separate small bowl, combine the baking mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, oats, and flax meal.  Stir this into the large bowl and combine well.  If the batter is extremely thick, add water as needed (it should still be thick, not runny).  Place muffin liners in a muffin tin, or lightly oil tin, and evenly divide batter between the cups (the cups will be about 2/3 full).  Sprinkle walnuts on top, if desired.  Bake at 375 for about 20 min, until a knife inserted in the center of one of the middle muffins comes out clean.  Let cool before storing.  Makes 12 muffins.