The Best Bran Muffins.. ever!

I have recently been getting into a good routine where I roll out of bed (luckily I have this), put on the most casual and publicly acceptable clothes (I wouldn't even go as far as calling this an outfit), grab the dog (literally or she will run away if she sees her collar and leash) and take her for a walk in Central Park before 9am (off-leash hours). I usually gulp down my tea (the only way I can get out of bed) and thats it. Lately, however, I have found myself wishing I could eat something on-the-go because usually I only get home a couple of hours later and then it's already time for brunch.. So for the time being, I have solved this problem by stumbling upon the most awesome bran muffin recipe ever. I very rarely choose a bran/"healthy" muffin over a cupcake with chocolate chips, but these are delish. Even my husband commented, saying that these (the muffins) were some of my finest work. Just saying.

A friend recommended the King Arthur Flour website for good recipes and coincidentally whilst googling "bran muffins", I found a recipe on their site. These muffins are versatile in that you can freeze them or keep the batter in the fridge for a week, and add or subtract ingredients as you see fit. I usually like to make a recipe bog-standard the first time around and then start making alterations. In the mixture below you'll see I've mostly stayed true to King Arthur's recommended recipe. In future, I would like to substitute some of the sugar with molasses, stevia or agave nectar but for the moment, I used the ingredients I already had. What I also love about King Arthur's recipes is that you have the option to display the recipe in volume (cups and spoons), ounces (US) or grams (the rest of the world..), making it accessible for all :).

Here is the King Arthur Flour Recipe (and listed below)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup bran cereal (not flakes, preferably a wheat bran)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup raisins (I didn't have any so I left them out)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups bran cereal (not flakes)
 

Method: 

1. In a small mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the half cup of cereal. When cooled, mix in the vegetable oil and egg. 
2. While the water/bran mixture cools, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the raisins.
3. In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and brown sugar, and stir into the dry ingredients. Stir in remaining cereal, then the softened bran mixture. Cover the batter and refrigerate it overnight (I was too impatient, and hungry, to wait a day to bake them but perhaps one should?).
4. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F for 15 minutes. Line a muffin tin with papers, and spray the insides of the papers. Or just grease the muffin cups themselves, if you like a crustier muffin edge.
5. Stir the batter once or twice, then scoop a heaping 1/4-cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup.  
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven, cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.  

Every modern baker has to bake from her iPad in the kitchen. I mean, come on. 

This recipe calls for buttermilk. I was excited about this because I recently purchased this powder buttermilk and was waiting to try it. For some reason in the States, the fresh buttermilk always comes in such large containers.. In reality you probably don't need more than a cup for each recipe and how often do you actually use buttermilk anyway? Having it in powder form and adding water, allows you to always have it on hand without fearing it's imminent expiration.

I used Red Mill Organic High Fiber Oat Bran Hot Cereal for this recipe but in the previous batch I used red wheat bran and both batches turned out great. As long as you don't use bran flakes (which I imagine would turn into a soggy mess), you can probably use whatever bran product you have in your pantry. 

Another star of the show is this baking spray that comes with flour. How bizarre, but how brilliant. Perfect lift-off every time. In addition, if you don't want to bake all your muffins at once, you can just fill the empty wells with water so that they don't warp during baking.  

The mixture is very runny but don't be scared because after 20 minutes in the oven you get this..! Magic!

 

Although highly unnecessary, the warm muffins taste insane with some almond butter (a new discovery for me). Plus Justin's Nut Butters come in little sachet packs so in theory you could take your muffin and your nut butter on the go. Perfection.