Many bran muffins that I’ve had are dense, heavy, and … I don’t know how else to say it but scratchy in texture. These, however, were light and tender, their delicacy enhanced by the merest hint of meyer lemon zest.
They made an excellent breakfast with some piping hot coffee. And, there are still six sitting on the kitchen counter, ready for snacking.
If you buy muffins instead of making your own, please reconsider. It took me about 15 minutes to mix these up (and believe me, I wasn’t moving too fast this morning). Twenty to twenty-five minutes in the oven, and voila, they’re ready to eat as soon as they’re cool enough to touch. And, I know exactly what went into them. In fact, I adapted the recipe to accommodate allergies.
Many muffins are really cake in the guise of something healthy, laden with sugar and oil. The virtues of homemade include: quick, healthy, the satisfaction of making your own, and I dare say more economical. The last muffins I bought at the local coffee shop were $1.65 each (not a problem if you’re there for a coffee and a treat, but that’s $19.80 a dozen!). I haven’t priced mine out, but at a quick quess I’d say it cost me no more than $3 to make my dozen (not counting the fancy-schmancy tulipy muffin cups that I splurged on recently). One of these days, I’ll work out the math, and let you know.
In the meantime, let’s not worry about math. Let’s just eat muffins and have a nice Saturday.
Get Up and Go Bran Muffins
Adapted from the “Oat Bran Raisin Muffins” in Anne’s Lindsay’s Lighthearted Everyday Cooking. My Culinary Enthusiast doesn’t eat oats, so I substituted wheat bran for oat bran.
Pre-heat oven to 400°
- 1 cup wheat bran
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1-1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses (you could also use honey)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp finely chopped orange or lemon zest (I used meyer lemon)
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, along with the raisins, and stir to combine. Add the milk, molasses, oil and zest. Stir until just combined.
Spoon the mixture into paper-lined muffin tins (roughly 1/4 cup in each), and bake at 400° for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. I left mine in for 24 minutes today.
Remove from the muffin tin and cool on a rack until you just can’t wait any longer to eat them.
Enjoy as breakfast or a snack any time during the day. Here’s to your good health!
