Bran Muffin Recipe Rehab

Did you know that most bakery muffins have almost as much sugar as a can of soda?!? Those healthy-looking bran muffins are no different than their blueberry cousins. Most bakery muffins are simply made from a cake recipe baked into the shape of a muffin.

If this doesn’t make you feel cheated, then I don’t know what does. We expect this from pastries, but not muffins—especially not bran muffins!

By the way, that chocolate croissant you passed up for an apple bran muffin the last time you were in Starbucks—it had less than 1/3 the sugar of the muffin!

Before you throw up your hands in defeat and start gobbling chocolate croissants for breakfast everyday, try this rehabilitated bran muffin recipe. Each muffin has 75% less sugar than average bakery muffins and no oil. Don’t worry, they’re still delicious…especially when topped with cinnamon sugar before putting them in the oven.

Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour (can substitute all-purpose flour instead)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 3/4 tsp baking powder*

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 c milk (dairy milk or unsweetened non-dairy milk)

1/2 c unsweetened applesauce

1 egg (or flax “egg”**)

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons molasses

2 cups bran cereal (like All Bran)

Cinnamon sugar, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.
3. If using flax “egg”, mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed together with 2 tablespoons of hot water and let sit for a couple minutes to thicken. Stir again before using.
4. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together milk, applesauce, egg (or flax “egg”) brown sugar, and molasses.
5. Add flour mixture and bran cereal to liquid mixture and fold together until just combined.
6. Place 12 muffin cups in a regular (1/2 cup) sized muffin tin; spray muffin cups with non-stick spray. Use a ½ cup scoop to portion batter into muffin cups. The batter should come up nearly to the top of the cups (which will make ~10 muffins) or slightly less than full (which will make 12 muffins). If desired, sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon sugar.
7. Place muffin tin into the oven and lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake for 20 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin; it will come out clean or with crumbs (no liquid batter) when done.
8. Remove muffins from tin within a couple minutes of removing from the oven and cook them on a rack or serve.

Bran Muffin Recipe Rehab--Now Healthy, Still Delicious

Makes 10-12 muffins.

Serve alone or with butter and jam.

*If using all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour, use only 1-1/2 tsp of baking powder.

**To replace 1 egg in a recipe, mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed together with 2 tablespoons of hot water and let sit for a couple minutes to thicken. Stir again before using.

Time-saving tip: After muffins cool on the rack, transfer them to a gallon-sized ziplock bag or other airtight container and freeze. For a quick breakfast, heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to warm through.

Other flavor options:

• Add ½ cup golden raisins or currants, or 1 cup diced apples tossed in ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, to the flour mixture in step #2.
• For a bit of extra spice, you can add ¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom or ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice with the cinnamon in step 2.

Flax Muffin Recipe

(imported post from "A Chef in Med School" 7/11/2009)

Flax Muffins

This recipe is a great way to get more flax – and therefore omega-3’s – into your diet. Store extras in the freezer for a quick breakfast on-the-go.

Ingredients

2/3 cup raisins (soaked in ¼ cup boiling water)

1-1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup flaxseed meal or nut meal (buy pre-ground or see directions, below)

1/2 cup quick oats

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Dash of cloves (and/or nutmeg), optional

2 eggs (or egg substitute, see below)

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 Tablespoon vinegar mixed with enough

soy or other milk to make 1 cup)

4 tbsp honey

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Pour boiling water over raisins in a small dish, cover and set aside. Line muffin tins with muffin cups and spray cups with non-stick spray. Whisk together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In as separate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredient. Drain raisin liquid into wet ingredients. Stir drained raisins into dry ingredients to coat well with flour. Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once, making sure to just mix until just barely moistened (over-mixing makes muffins tough); it is ok to have lumps. Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full. Bake at 400F for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place pan on cooling rack for a couple of minutes. Remove muffins from pan and place directly on cooling rack when the muffins are cool enough to touch with your fingers. Serve with jam and or nut butter.

Checking for Doneness with a Toothpick

To Store: cool muffins completely and then place into a gallon ziplock bag or airtight container. Good for 3-4 days at room temperature or 1-3 months frozen. To thaw, leave at room temperature, or microwave for 30 seconds, or toast in a toaster oven.

Makes approximately 13-14 muffins.

Nutrition Summary -- Per muffing (vegan variation): 131 calories, 3 g total fat, 4 g protein, 24 g carbohydrates, 4 g of fiber, 9 g sugar, 93mg sodium. Estimated Glycemic Load=12 (medium). (Note: using eggs will add about 30mg each cholesterol and sodium as well as a small amount of saturated fat to each muffin.)

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Vegan Variation -- Use one of the options below to replace eggs. Use soymilk + vinegar instead of buttermilk. Use Agave, corn syrup or other liquid sweetener besides honey.

Egg Replacer for 2 eggs --

Option 1 -- Increase flaxseed meal by 2 Tablespoons and add ½ teaspoon baking powder to the dry ingredients. Drain raisin liquid into a measuring cup and add water to the ½ cup mark; mix with other liquid ingredients.

Option 2 -- In a liquid measuring cup, measure 2 tablespoons powdered Egg Replacer. Add raisin liquid. Add water to the ½ cup mark. Mix with other liquid ingredients.

Making Flax or Nut Meal --

Flax meal: Grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder until seeds until seeds turn to a gritty powder. To prevent giving them a coffee taste (or vise versa), either use a grinder dedicated to spices or clean the grinder before and after use by grinding a tablespoon of dried rice and discarding.

Nut meal (or nut butter): Nuts can be ground with just about any grinding implement, the main thing to remember is that you want a coarsely ground flour. If you grind too long, you end up with Nut Butter. Some options for grinding include placing in a ziplock bag and pounding with a rolling pin (or other heavy object), food processor, coffee grinder, mortar & pestle, etc.