Adventures In Muffin Madness

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I don’t dislike muffins, exactly…I just don’t love them.  They fall in between all the bread-y things I like.  I really like sweet rolls of all types: my lemon glazed sweet rolls, cinnamon rolls, cheese danishes, chocolate filled croissants, scones…that’s just the short list.  And then there are things that are a bit more savory…buttered bread, buttered toast, garlic bread, cheesy toast.  Biscuits.  Glorious biscuits.  I love them so…And I like cake and cupcakes too…that light texture and sweet taste (and of course, the frosting).  But muffins aren’t any of those things.  They’re too cake-y to be pastry or bread, but too heavy to be cake.  They are usually a bit sweet but sometimes not very (bran muffins, for example).  They’re just sort of not quite anything that I like.

This is particularly surprising because my parents’ restaurant (owned in the 80’s and 90’s) was particularly famous for its muffins.  And while I worked there, I baked the muffins.  And even though I’m not really a muffin fan, these were the best muffins I’ve ever tasted.  Still haven’t had better…

My mother likes muffins more than I do and recently invented a recipe for some rather spectacular bran muffins.  Even I like them. She initially was trying to adapt several different recipes into something that she really liked and ended up just making a completely new recipe.  Clever lady, my mother.  The general flavor profile of these muffins leans toward carrot cake, only with the heavier muffin texture, and less sweet.  (No cream cheese frosting, I’m afraid…)

One of the big selling points of this muffin recipe is that you don’t have to bake all the batter at once.  You can keep the batter in an air-tight container in the fridge for a couple weeks and just bake up fresh muffins whenever you need them.  Handy.  Or you could bake all of the muffins at once, and freeze what you don’t need right away.

As usual, the method, followed by the recipe:  Combine your dry ingredients first and set aside.  Prepare all the ingredients that you will need to fold in later (chop your nuts, grate your carrots, etc) and set those aside.  Mix together your sugar, room temperature eggs, and melted butter.  Then add your liquids, the buttermilk, vanilla, water, and pineapple juice.  Whisk in the dry ingredients just until combined.  Fold in all the remaining ingredients and then let the batter sit for at least an hour, while the liquid is absorbed into the bran cereal.

The key to this recipe is to make sure there is enough liquid, so avoid doing things that dry out your ingredients.  Don’t buy pre-grated carrots at the store…they will be too dry; grate the carrots right before you’re going to make the batter.  When you’re draining your can of crushed pineapple, only press gently to take out the juice…don’t try to squeeze out every drop or your pineapple will be too dry.  You get the idea…

Also, the recipe calls for wheat bran cereal and the quantity is given by weight, rather than volume.  This is because different types of cereal by volume will give you different actual quantities of bran, and this makes it tricky to get the moisture level in the muffins right.  Add the bran cereal by weight, and it will work, no matter whether you use flakes, shreds, or buds.  My mother swears by Original All-Bran.

Once your batter is ready to go, put some muffin liners in a cupcake pan and grease them with cooking spray.  Because you need to grease the liners generously, using foil-lined baking liners will give you a better result, but it’s not essential.  Then put 1/4 cup of batter into each cup (I like to use my 1/4 cup cookie scoop for this) and bake until they are done.  Generally, just touching the muffin top in the center will let you know if it’s done.  It should be a little springy, not soft and squishy.  Let the muffins sit in their pan for 5 minutes before removing them to a rack to cool.  If they won’t be eaten right away, store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to three days.  This recipe makes 36 muffins, although you will have to scrape everything out of the bowl to get your last one.

This recipe does take a little time to prep the long list of ingredients, but once you’ve done that, it comes together quickly and easily.  In addition to being reasonably healthy, these muffins are delicious.  And helpful hint, they taste best warm, with a little pat of butter. Enjoy!

Mom’s Glorious Morning Muffins

Click here for printable PDF of recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 3/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking soda

2 eggs (at room temperature)

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 cup melted butter

2 cups buttermilk

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup pineapple juice (drained from the can)

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 cup freshly-shredded carrot (packed)*

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1/2 cup golden raisins

8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained (retain the juice)**

210 grams wheat cereal***

DIRECTIONS

Recipe makes 36 muffins.

Whisk together the cinnamon, salt, flour, and baking soda and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, and melted butter. Then whisk in the buttermilk, water, pineapple juice, and vanilla. The mixture may look curdled at this point, but have faith and press on. Whisk in the flour mixture until just combined. Then gently fold in all remaining ingredients: carrot, nuts, coconut, raisins, pineapple, and wheat bran cereal.

This mixture needs to stand for at least 60 minutes before baking, to let the bran absorb the liquid properly and dissolve into the batter.

Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare a muffin pan with as many paper muffin liners as you wish to bake.**** Spray the muffin liners generously with cooking spray. Place 1/4 cup batter into each muffin liner and bake 20 minutes, or until the top/center of the muffin feels springy. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Baked muffins can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to three days. Enjoy!

NOTES

*the carrots need to be freshly shredded; if you shortcut by purchasing pre-shredded carrots from the store, they will be too dry and your muffins will be dry and you will be so sad
**drain the juice but do not press the pineapple to remove all juice or the pineapple will be too dry and then your muffins will be dry and you will be so sad
***if you are using shredded cereal like Original All Bran, this will be about 3 cups; if you are using bran flakes or bran buds, the quantity will be different, so just go by weight
****this batter stores well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks; just make sure that the container is tightly covered.