OK, so humor me.
I’ve got this cute new little camera (Nikon CoolPix) that I love, but I’m still learning how to use it. (I need to take Frank Tona up on my free lesson at Crown Camera, which is where we bought my CoolPix. In the meantime I should re-read the directions.)
Anyway, trust me, these bran muffins were way more appealing than they appear in these photos. But I wanted close-ups so you could see how the muffins are packed with delicious ingredients like raisins, cranberries, orange zest, a variety of nuts, even mini chocolate (dark, they’re good for us) chips.
Hey, if you think these photos are bad, you should see the rejects.
Even my little rooster in the background seems dubious about my muffins.
Truly, they’re pretty in person. But more than looks, they’re delicious. Promise.
Below is my standard buttermilk bran muffin recipe, which I adapted a million years ago from the Farm Journal Cookbook (a classic).
Basically I should call these muffins the Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Bran Muffins.
Seriously. Orange rind, dates, pecans, almonds, cranberries, raisins, flax seed, ginger, oatmeal, and oh yeah, bran (and flour and all that stuff).
Oh and (I’ve always wanted to say this): If you’re the person who actually counted the ingredients and then wrote a letter to the editor of some paper (can’t recall name at moment) and complained because my bran muffin recipe had too many ingredients, well, I have a message for you:
Don’t make them. Or leave out all the flavorful stuff.
Better yet, use this recipe as a guide. Do everwhat you want.
Enjoy. (Your body will enjoy them, too, if you know what I mean.)
As an added benefit, make a ton of this batter, keep it in the refrigerator and have it handy for fresh bran muffins in the morning. (Confession: I’ve quadrupled this recipe and frozen the batter. It works fine.)
And if your bran muffins – or anything you’ve made – turn out prettier than mine, feel free to send me photos (with recipes). I’ll post them.
Doni’s Refrigerator Bran Muffins
1 cup boiling water 1 cup boiling orange juice 2 cups whole bran cereal 2 tablespoons grated orange or lemon rind (no bitter white pith, please) 5 cups sifted flour (half whole wheat works well) 5 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 cups chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts and pecans work well) 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup molasses 4 eggs, well beaten 1 quart buttermilk 4 cups whole bran cereal buds 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 cup raisins or currents (Options: 1 cup: coconut or dried cranberries or blueberries, raspberries or cranberries. btw, if using fresh berries, fold them into the batter just before baking. Perishables like berries or grated carrot will spoil during a 6-week batter soaking.)Pour boiling liquids over the 2 cups whole bran cereal (not the bran buds) and grated orange or lemon rind. Set aside to soak.
In your biggest bowl, combine and mix the dry ingredients, including nuts (dusting nuts with flour prevents the nuts from sinking).
Set that bowl aside.
In a big mixing bowl, cream together the sugars, shortening and molasses until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and beat well. Blend in the buttermilk, the 4 cups of bran buds, the soaked bran cereal mixture, vanilla and raisins. Now’s the time to add any optional ingredients from the list above, or whatever sounds good to you. Feel free to dream up your own. Go bran muffin crazy.
Introduce the wet mixture to the dry ingredients.
Blend well to incorporate all ingredients. Do not over mix.
Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator. Batter will keep up to 6 weeks. (Amazing, huh?)
To make the muffins, fill greased muffin-pan cups two-thirds of the way full.
Bake in a 400-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen muffins.
(Tip: You can freeze batches of the batter, too.)
