Happy
New Year! I hope everyone had a beautiful holiday season. As is wont to happen,
my Christmas and New Year included much over indulging (SO. MANY. COOKIES.),
and I limped away from the celebrations filled with self-loathing and bursting
with resolutions (that I will most likely break).
That
is how these Blueberry Bran Muffins came about—they are, without a doubt, the
healthiest things I ever have or ever will bake.
These are muffins
in the idealistic sense of the word, as the majority of muffins are really
socially acceptable breakfast cupcakes sans icing. But honestly, I’ve never
needed a cover up to eat cake for breakfast.
Although filled
with wheat bran, oatmeal, yogurt, and fresh blueberries, these muffins feel
indulgent enough that I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing or depriving myself of anything
while eating them. They are tender despite their slightly rustic coarseness and
stained ink blue at the centers. The blueberries also lend the muffins a
satisfying pop of natural sweetness while the demerara sugar adds a pleasant
crunch and demure sparkle.
It is entirely
plausible, however, that my waxing poetic on the delights of bran muffins is
due to the frame of mind I was in while baking them. (I am a big believer in
the concept of cooking your feelings into food.) The day was bright, the view
outside my kitchen window was lush and green, and I had The Light in the Piazza playing in the background.
Suffice it to say,
I was thoroughly enjoying whisking and measuring and pouring while listening to
a young, attractive George Hamilton say things like, “You’re mamma, she does not like me,” in an
exaggerated Italian accent and a middle-aged, attractive Rossano Brazzi steal
kisses from Olivia de Havilland in an ancient Florentine alleyway.
It could also be
the fact that after experimenting with about four different bran muffin recipes
and always finding them somehow lacking, I have finally found success by
adapting this Smitten Kitchen
recipe. Or it could be the fact that I’ve just received a full tuition
scholarship to law school. Or it could just be life. Life is good.
Here’s to a happy
and indulgent 2015.
Blueberry Bran Muffins (Yield: 12)
1 c. wheat bran
1/2 c. old-fashioned oatmeal
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. plain, whole milk yogurt
1/3 c. + 4 tbsp. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 c. fresh blueberries
2 tbsp. demerara sugar
- Preheat the oven to 425º F and line a muffin pan with 12 paper or foil baking cups.
- Place the bran, oatmeal, and sugar in a food processor and process until the oatmeal and bran have both become fine and roughly similar in size.
- Pour the bran mixture into a large bowl and whisk it together with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the yogurt, milk, oil, egg, and extracts together in a measuring cup until smooth. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and fold them gently together with a rubber spatula. It doesn’t take long for the batter to come together.
- Spoon out a heaping tablespoon of the batter into each muffin well, making sure to cover the bottom of the tin—you should use about half of the batter. Next, distribute the blueberries between each of the muffins and sprinkle a little bit of the demerara sugar over the fruit, dividing 1 tablespoon amongst them.
- Spread the remaining batter over the berries, making sure it blankets the berries and reaches the edges of the muffin liner. Scatter the last tablespoon of sugar over the tops of each muffin.
- Bake the bran muffins for 14 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out mostly clean, since you don’t want to over bake them. Let cool.
Enjoy the bran muffins with butter or jam. Or both…I
guess these could have been healthier.
