Bran Muffins

I've never been a huge fan of bran muffins, but this recipe is versatile and very tasty. It was shared in a lesson with my favorite yoga teacher, Sadie Nardini. What a pleasant surprise! The original recipe called for 2/3 c brown sugar, but after making it once this way, I immediately cut that amount in half. Now they are perfect :)

This is a great recipe to substitute ingredients if you so desire. In the past I've used 1 c applesauce (no egg), 2 eggs (no applesauce), chopped apple (instead of blueberries), almond extract (instead of vanilla), oatmeal (instead of flax), and added cinnamon. You can also omit blueberries, or add 1/2 c nuts.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c wheat or oat bran
1/4 c ground flaxseed
1 c nonfat milk--I used almond milk, see previous post
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/3 c brown sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 c flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c blueberries

This makes 12 muffins.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease muffin tins or use liners. The first few times I made this I simply mixed together the wet ingredients, then added the dry ingredients and mixed until combined (do not overmix). Here are the directions provided by Sadie, which I followed today:

Mix bran with milk and let sit 10 mins. While sitting, combine applesauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add this to the bran mixture. Sift together remaining dry ingredients and stir into the mix. Fold in blueberries or other fruit/nuts if using. Scoop into muffin tin and bake 15-20 mins until a toothpick comes out clean. Today they took 15.

I do think letting the bran sit with the milk is an important step. In the past the muffins had come out a bit more grainy, which I did not mind. Today they came out with a much more consistent texture.