Muffins

Blueberry Cranberry Bran Muffins

~ Lynn ~ 9 Comments

I figured I would give you a break from all the pear recipes (don’t worry, I’ve got a couple more coming)  and share muffin recipe with you. I’ve mentioned my like of obsession with Starbucks muffins before, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried to actually duplicate them before.

My favourite kind is blueberry cranberry bran. I know, bran sounds like healthy grown up food. The first time I bought one I thought it was chocolate (I believe the good people at Starbucks are putting molasses in their muffins to give them a deceptively dark colour. Sneaky, very sneaky). With my first bite I experienced disappointment that there was no chocolate in the muffin. With my second bite I realized that bran is delicious. It has a flavour that I want to call nutty, but I’m not quite sure that’s the right word. Whatever the flavour is, I’m hooked.

I decided to make my own bran muffins, based on a recipe from The Joy of Baking (love that site, by the way). The recipe calls for molasses which I didn’t have on hand. After a quick check with Janice, I decided to replace it with wildflower honey. I also used a combination of coconut sugar and brown sugar. The muffins were moist and flavourful, with just the right amount of sweet to balance the tart of the cranberries.

Blueberry Cranberry Bran Muffins

Adapted from The Joy of Baking

  • 1 cup  all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup (50 grams) whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 cup (40 grams) wheat bran
  • 1/4 cup  light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsps coconut sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tbsp wildflower honey
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and cranberries (if using frozen berries, do not thaw)
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, honey, vanilla, butter, and buttermilk.
  4. Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in. Stir until there is no visible flour. Try not to overmix.
  5. Stir in blueberries and cranberries.
  6. Divide batter into a lined muffin tin (makes 12 regular or 6 large muffins)
  7. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Do you know the Muffin Man?

~ Lynn ~ Leave a comment

The Muffin Man? Who lives on Dury Lane?

I love that scene from Shrek.

I finally got my hands on some coconut sugar (thanks Frank & Bi!). The sugar is pretty sweet, with an interesting flavour, almost maple like. Because it’s not as sweet as regular sugar, I decided the first time I use it would be in something that doesn’t need to be too sweet. You got it; muffins! Specifically banana muffins.

I have had incidents where I forgot to add sugar to banana muffins. The texture was way too chewy and the tops were kind of soft, but since the banana’s are very sweet the taste was still good. So when it came to my coconut sugar muffins, I figured 1/4 a cup of sugar would be plenty. The muffins came out perfect. They were just sweet enough, they had a lovely fluffy texture inside, and a nice crispy top. Just how I like them!

Banana Muffins

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup oatmeal
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tbsp melted butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, eggs, butter and vanilla.
  3. Make a hole in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients in.
  4. Fold together. The batter will be a little clumpy looking. Do not beat, or you’ll end up with tough muffins.
  5. Pour into greased muffin tin and bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Enjoy!