Oh, the lowly bran muffin: it can be like eating a scrap of kraft paper, or it can make being semi-virtuous really easy and palatable. Adding more bran and using whole wheat pastry flour gave these a deeper, darker depth of flavor than the basic recipes I'm used to following. Put the batter together and store it covered in the fridge overnight; set out your muffin tin, liners, and ice cream scoop before you go to bed, and you can have these warm from the oven on a weekday with very little morningtime effort at all.
Vegan Bran Muffins
1 1/2 cups bran
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (sifted)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup vegan cane sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2/3 cup golden raisins
Topping (optional):
1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy margarine
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine soy milk and bran and let mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. Add vanilla, canola oil, and molasses and stir. In a separate bowl, sift flours, salt, sugars, and baking soda. Combine wet and dry mixtures; add raisins. Stir until just mixed. Use an ice-cream scoop to portion out batter into muffin cups; they can be filled almost to level because they won't rise much. If you want a crunchier top, sprinkle with brown sugar and salt and add a thin slice of margarine to the middle of each muffin before baking. Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into a tester muffin comes out clean with few crumbs.
Mine! Looking forward to this one--will make tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteReena, you rock! -A
ReplyDeleteThese trump other bran muffins I have made. I was worried when I tasted the batter because it was really sweet but the final outcome was tasty and just the right amount of sweetness. Recipe is simple to follow and accurate measurements--the only thing that I found is when I filled the tins to almost the brim, the muffins did rise quite a bit and they overhung the muffin tins, but not so much that they spilled over. Just more than I expected. Remember, I am baking at 5,300 feet elevation and altitude can make baking more challenging I hear.
ReplyDeleteAmelia already ate two of the muffins so they are most definitely kid friendly because they taste good and because of the fiber content (don't make me explain that one).
Will be making this recipe and freezing the muffins for easy to reheat after school snacks!
Oh, and one more detail--I really liked the dark color of the cooked muffins--a rich brown from the molasses. They looked less bran muffin lighter brown that I am used to.
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