Monday, February 25, 2008

Bran Muffins

Bran Muffin

These muffins were, if anything, confusing. They almost tasted like a lot of things: chocolate, ginger, molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. Somehow, the flavors didn't quite mesh. They had a fluffy, bran-ish texture straight from the oven, but by day two they were sticky and dense.

When it's a dreary grey afternoon, a plain bran muffin doesn't exactly put a smile on my face. I've always equated wheat bran with health food. If you put a bran muffin and any other kind of muffin in front of me, i'd probably choose the latter. You'd probably like these if you like bran muffins and dark gingerbread cakes. They aren't too sweet and they're good with a strong cup of coffee.

I used Carole Walter's "Too Good to be True Bran Muffins" recipe. It says it yields 12 muffins, but I got 12 muffins and 12 mini muffins out of it. I'm not going to post it- i've posted quite a bit out of this book already.

4 comments:

Cannelle Et Vanille said...

I love bran muffins so I think I might like these even though it seems like you hated them! I still love your photo though. That table... I want it!

Gretchen Noelle said...

I enjoy most muffins, especially with coffee! Yum!

Lisa, there is an award for you on my blog today! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Lisa, on your recent well-deserved award! Way to go, girl :)

The ingredients for the bran muffins sound like a mish-mash. Somehow I can't see how chocolate and bran can have a blissful marriage. I do admire you for having the courage to try the recipe, though. Is it the first recipe from Walter's book that didn't turn out that well? Would you say, in general, her recipes are robust? Maybe this one was an odd one...too bad :(

If you're looking for a good (read traditional) bran muffin, I'd recommend the one from Homebaking, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. It's a bare-bone recipe, which isn't too sweet but packs a lot of flavor from the molasses and brown sugar. I really like the book - the Taipei coconut buns are to die for (I'm addicted to those chinese sweet yeast buns).

Helene said...

I am lusting after your gnome mug...But the muffins look good too :)