Ultimate Bran Muffins

Ultimate Bran Muffins

by | Recipes

Ultimate Bran Muffins Recipe

You want to eat more fiber, but why do high fiber bakes have to be so dry… and bland?

You want to eat something that’s good for you AND tastes great! I totally get that. And these ultimate bran muffins are the answer!

They’re super moist, flavourful and tender. And best of all, they’re LOADED with fiber!

My husband frequently struggles with… ehem… constipation. So I always make sure I have a stash of these Ultimate Bran muffins in our freezer.

 

Recipe Introduction

All photos by Alice Swan Photography

These ultimate bran muffins are SO MOIST AND FLUFFY!

You can serve them warm with some preserves and cheese, or eat them just as they are. Either way, they are sensational – even at room temperature. They make great lunchbox fillers as well.

What I love about these ultimate bran muffins is that they freeze incredibly well! I keep a batch in my freezer and just whip one out whenever I need a healthy, fiber filled breakfast or snack. It takes just 2 minutes to defrost them in the microwave.

I like adding raisins to my ultimate bran muffins, but you are welcome to sub cranberries, or add some nuts if you wish. If you place the nuts right on top of the batter before baking, they will toast in the oven and add a whole new depth of flavour 🙂

There is mashed banana in this recipe, but you really don’t taste it at all (if you are worried about that). It just adds a beautiful moistness and tenderness to the crumb. It also provides some natural sweetness which enables us to use less refined sugar.

The most important note I have for my ultimate bran muffins is to really just stir the mixture until combined.

A few lumps are TOTALLY okay! They will work themselves out during baking.

As soon as you add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, focus and be gentle. Stay away from that hand mixer!

If you would like to know how I make my pretty Muffin cases/liners, click here for a step by step tutorial post.

Bran muffin recipe | Bran muffins with molasses | Bran muffins healthy

5.0 from 1 reviews
Ultimate Bran Muffins
 
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Author:
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 125 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 60 g Granulated White Sugar
  • 60 g egg, beaten lightly
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 t Vanilla Extract
  • 90 g sweet molasses
  • 1 ripe banana (90 g flesh), mashed
  • 45 g raisins
  • 205 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp Cocoa Powder
  • ½ Tbsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup bran (47 g)
  • Oats, to sprinkle on top
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 180˚C/350˚F.
  2. Lightly spray the top surface of a muffin tin. Line 10 holes of the muffin tin with muffin liners/wrappers.
  3. In a medium sized bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the egg, buttermilk, vanilla, mashed banana and molasses. At this point the mixture might look a bit curdled and messy, it’s completely normal. Stir in the raisins.
  5. Get a separate, large bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder, spices and salt. Stir in the bran.
  6. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients. Pour the wet mixture into the well. Stir the batter with a metal spoon until it is just combined (the batter will be slightly lumpy.)
  7. Divide the batter evenly into the 10 lined muffin holes. Sprinkle with regular, rolled oats.
  8. Bake the muffins in the middle of the oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a skewer tests clean. Leave to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes.
  9. Place the muffins on a rack and let them cool further, or eat them 🙂

 

Looking for more muffin recipes? Here you go!

Cranberry & Coconut Muffins,
Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Muffins
Apple, Date & Pecan Muffins.

Thank you so much for reading! If you give this recipe a go, tag me on Facebook, twitter or Instagram #philosophyofyum because I would LOVE to see!

See you in 2 weeks AFTER the Good Food & Wine Show!

Aurelia 🙂

Hi! I’m Aurelia 🙂

I help home bakers create a Home Bakery Business with consistent orders so they never have to worry about a stable income.

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Got a question? Something to add? Let’s chat in the comments section down below! (I respond to every single comment)

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Apple, Date & Pecan Muffins

Apple, Date & Pecan Muffins

by | Recipes

Photos by Alice Swan

Grand Memories:

Freshly baked muffins always bring back nostalgic memories of my childhood. My mother has always loved baking for special occasions. She went through a lot of trouble to bake us a special birthday cake year after year! I’ll never forget the epic train she made me for my 5th birthday back in 1993…

There was one other day on which she would bake, muffins in particular, for us and that day was Youth Day. She always made us her famous (and super healthy, low GI) bran muffins. Probably because muffins are her favourite food – seriously!

She goes to Mugg & Bean every Wednesday morning for her giant Date & Nut muffin with a huge cappuccino. She never misses a week. To her it is just such a satisfying treat 🙂

apple-date-pecan-1

So before Youth Day she always mixed the batter for her special bran muffins and then left it in the fridge overnight. This helped the batter thicken up and gave time for flavours to meld together and deepen.

We would wake up to the smell of freshly baked muffins every year on 16 June. Bliss!

My mother would set beautiful, individual trays for both my sister and myself, complete with a fresh flower from our garden and a wineglass of fruit juice. She is just so adorable and loving! With memories as grand as these it’s no wonder that I love muffins! To me, muffins they are the epitome of home, care and my mother.

Recipe Introduction:

I love this particular recipe so much because I have a thing for toasted pecans. They are one of my top 5 yum high inducing ingredients. Fact. The pecans toast throughout the baking process, so there is no need to toast them beforehand.

muffins recipes | healthy muffins | apple muffins

Dried dates are recommended. Feel free to use Medjool dates if you wish – they are amazing! I mostly use standard pitted dates for this recipe as Medjool dates are not as consistently available in South Africa.

Do try to find Granny Smith Apples for this recipe. They maintain their structure superbly during baking/cooking, have a distinct tartness and a strong apple flavour. It’s my go to apple for cooking and baking.

These Apple, Date & Pecan Muffins are packed with apple goodness and carry notes of spice and caramel. Absolutely delicious!

Apple, Date & Pecan Muffins
 
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Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 230 g Cake Flour
  • 16 g Baking Powder
  • ¼ tsp Ground Ginger
  • ½ Tbsp Cinnamon
  • 1t Salt
  • 100 ml oil
  • ¾ cup (220 g) Buttermilk
  • 120 g Sugar
  • 1 Egg + 1 Yolk
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 200 g Fresh Granny Smith Apple, skin and core removed
  • 70 g Pecan Nuts
  • 70 g Pitted Dates
  • 1 Tbsp Smooth Apricot Jam
  • 1 Tbsp Water
Instructions
  1. Start by preparing the fruit. Chop the apples into approximately a 1,5cm dice (you may toss the apple in 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, diluted with 1 tablespoon of water, to stop it from browning.) Chop the pitted dates into approximately a ½ cm dice.
  2. Preheat oven to 180ᵒC (355ᵒF).
  3. Grease and line muffin tins with individual baking paper liners (remember the recipe makes 10 large muffins).
  4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a large mixing bowl. Mix all dry ingredients together thoroughly and make a well in the center.
  5. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Leave the wet mixture to stand for 30 seconds so that the sugar can dissolve. Beat wet mixture again till smooth. Pour the wet mix into the well you created in the dry ingredients. Don’t mix just yet!
  6. Add apple and dates into the well too and mix slowly with a metal spoon until just combined (over-mixing toughens the texture!). Scape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and lightly stir to combine.
  7. Divide the batter evenly between the 10 lined muffin holes in the muffin tin. Top with the pecan pieces.
  8. Bake on the lower rack of your oven for 15 minutes, turning after 10 minutes. Then bake on the higher rack for a further 15-20mins or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.
  9. Place apricot jam and water in a cup and microwave for 30 seconds. Brush the glaze all over the top of the muffins. Enjoy!
Notes
These muffins keep about 2-3 days in a sealed container in the fridge. Alternatively they also freeze exceptionally well! Just leave them to thaw at room temperature for 2 hours and then pop them in the oven for 5-10 minutes to warm through and crisp up a bit.

If you make these muffins, use #philosophyofyum because I would love to see!

Also check out my other muffin recipes that I have sold in thousands to Coffee Shops and Restaurants. Seriously AMAZING muffin recipes:

Ultimate Bran Muffins
Pear, Apple & Blueberry Muffins
Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Muffins
Cranberry & Coconut Muffins

I’m curious… what is YOUR favourite Muffin Recipe?

Chat soon!

Aurelia 🙂

Hi! I’m Aurelia 🙂

I help home bakers create a Home Bakery Business with consistent orders so they never have to worry about a stable income.

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