Breakfast
Bran Muffins
10.31.2023, recipes
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On a trip to Mill Valley a few years back, I picked up on a cookbook treasure at the public library: Morning Food by Cafe Beaujolais’s owner-chef Margaret S. Fox. The muffin chapter caught my particular attention. Raw wheat germ, oat bran, wheat bran, All-Bran cereal…cups of coffee, orange juice in muffins!? It’s exactly what I want a muffin chapter to be.
Inspired by the array of Morning Food’s muffins, I made my own from what I had available — I couldn’t find raw wheat germ in Madrid on a Sunday morning, or a Saturday afternoon for that matter. And I wanted these soon. Raw wheat germ aside, these muffins are forgiving: cornmeal can swap for almond meal, flax meal or all-purpose flour. Standard rule though is whole wheat flour will always need a little more liquid in it than white flour. Adjust as needed.
Inspired by the array of Morning Food’s muffins, I made my own from what I had available — I couldn’t find raw wheat germ in Madrid on a Sunday morning, or a Saturday afternoon for that matter. And I wanted these soon. Raw wheat germ aside, these muffins are forgiving: cornmeal can swap for almond meal, flax meal or all-purpose flour. Standard rule though is whole wheat flour will always need a little more liquid in it than white flour. Adjust as needed.
Instead of studding these muffins with raisins or nuts, I opted for a plain batter where the different grains are the protagonists. They’re only slightly sweet (a small amount of molasses and honey are the only sweetening agents) and can lean savory when it comes to pairing with add-ons. I suggest slicing halfway horizontally, toasting for a few minutes in the oven (just until the crumb starts to crisp) and smothering with butter and apricot jam. Try butter and ham. Or for the purists, a standalone muffin is perfect. The only thing I would change next time is baking them in tall muffin liners and in a jumbo muffin pan.*
Makes 12 muffins
40g oat bran
42g wheat bran
80g cornmeal
60g whole wheat flour
120g white flour
1tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
57g molasses
1tbsp honey
368g full fat Greek yogurt
70g butter, melted
40g oat bran
42g wheat bran
80g cornmeal
60g whole wheat flour
120g white flour
1tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
57g molasses
1tbsp honey
368g full fat Greek yogurt
70g butter, melted
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Add the liquid to the dry and stir together just to combine. Do not over mix and do not get rid of lumps.
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Fill a lined (or greased) muffin pan with the batter. I filled mine almost to the top since these don’t rise much in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes.
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Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Add the liquid to the dry and stir together just to combine. Do not over mix and do not get rid of lumps.
Fill a lined (or greased) muffin pan with the batter. I filled mine almost to the top since these don’t rise much in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes.
*Editor’s Note: I tried this recipe again filling each crevice with double the batter and dolloping a mix of melted butter + sugar over the tops before baking. The crackly crusts were iressistble! To reheat, toast muffin halves in the oven then spread with salted butter.
