These healthy, sweet, moist and fluffy muffins (yes a fluffy bran muffin does exist!) are a perfect way to start the day. Filled with plump raisins, rich dark treacle and coconut sugar they are not overly sweet and are in fact, good for you. A combo blend of unbleached white flour and whole wheat flour boost nutrients.The moisture comes from eggs, unsalted butter and creamy plain yogurt. The resulting muffin texture is divine; not coarse or crumbly as what one might expect from a bran muffin made without added oil. Rather than adding unnecessary extra fats the trick is to grind 1/2 of the bran cereal before adding it to the batter. This provides such incredible lightness in the finished product.
A bit of cinnamon which is highlighted by the dark treacle really makes these come alive. Have no fear, if treacle is not in your pantry opt for a dark molasses instead.
These muffins transport very well, can be frozen after baking or kept at room temperature in a sealed container for several days. Make a batch up on Sunday night and enjoy a healthy muffin for breaky or snack each day of the week.
Ready? let's get at it !
RECIPE: Treacle Raisin Bran Muffins
WHAT YOU NEED
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups all bran cereal (Original variety)
1 1/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
2/3 cup coconut sugar (darker variety works well)
3 tablespoons dark treacle
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 stick ( 6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups plain whole-fat yogurt
MAKE IT
IN SMALL BOWL, combine raisins and boiling water. Let stand for 5 minutes then transfer raisins to plate lined with paper towel to drain
IN FOOD PROCESSOR, grind 1/2 of the all brain cereal into a fine crumb. Set aside
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk eggs for approx 20 seconds
WHISK in coconut sugar until well blended
ADD yogurt, vanilla and melted butter to egg mixture
STIR in ground and whole all bran cereal. Let mixture stand 5 minutes to thicken
FOLD wet mixture into dry mixture, do not overmix
FOLD in raisins just until combined
FILL muffin cups 3/4 full with batter
BAKE 16-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do NOT overbake
ENJOY!
also linked here:
I can't remember when I had a bran muffin last. Don't know why as I love them. Yours look very hearty and have me wanting to go and find some treacle and get baking a batch.
ReplyDeleteYummy! These sound good, but I have a question - what is dark treacle? I've never heard of that.
ReplyDeleteI'm a baker too :)
I came here from Tales of a Ranting Ginger - great guest post!
Hi Multi-Testing Mommy :) Dark Treacle can be compared to a dark molasses. Treacle is very popular in the UK but can be found quite easily here in Canada in the baking aisle or the aisle where molasses is sold. In my opinion, nothing beats Tate and Lyle's Black Treacle
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Tate-Lyle-Black-Treacle-454g/dp/B000BTEHRC
Bran muffin for me is not that appealing, I always associate it to a rough texture, that is good for me, such that I eat it. But this recipe is a different story, looks really moist and yummy! Thanks. Gonna try this!
ReplyDeleteThese muffins sound delicious and all the better for being a bit healthy too. As for Tate and Lyle's treacle, all I can say is yummmmm :-))
ReplyDeleteHi Linda
ReplyDeleteThese looks super yummy... My question: What's coconut sugar ?! How does it look like ? In asia we have a brown sugar call gula melaka... is this the sugar that you used ?!
Look forward to hearing from you
Regards
Chris
Great choice using coconut sugar. You could also try with agave syrup as sweetener. It works well! Just don´t forget to add some more flour or bran, to balance wet and dry ingredients.
ReplyDelete