All content copyright Katrina Hall 2008 through 2025

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

my favorite muffin and spicy chai





This is my favorite muffin ever - and that's saying a lot! I must make ten or twelve muffins on a fairly regular basis, but this buttermilk bran muffin is the first on the list.
It's an old southern recipe I got from a friend eons ago and it has all the greatness you want in a bran muffin ( besides the fiber): a little sweetness, plump raisins, a hint of cinnamon, and a perfectly moist crumb. I make up a batch of 5 Texas size muffins and eat them through the week - or you can make regular size muffins ( it makes 10) and freeze some. They freeze very well.
And to celebrate two mornings in a row below 40 degrees, I mixed up a batch of spicy, warming chai. What a way to start the day!

Buttermilk Bran Muffins
Preheat oven to 340F
Grease a Texas size muffin tin .
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups King Arthur all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
2 small eggs or one extra large egg
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup raisins
Divide the bran. In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup bran, the canola oil, the raisins, and the boiling water. Stir and set aside.
In a mixer bowl , place the rest of the bran, the flour, salt, soda, sugar, cinnamon. Add the buttermilk and eggs and mix, then add the wet bran mix. Mix briefly.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out two scoops of batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until muffin tops are firm when gently touched with a finger.
Cool and enjoy!

8 comments:

Barb said...

Oh, these muffins look good too - Yum! Guess I'll have to give chai tea a try sometime. Sounds delicious on a cool, fall morning.

It was 77 degrees on Sunday, but only going to about 64 today. Very crazy weather, indeed!

katrina said...

September and October usually are up and down, down and up, don't you think, Barb? I love it! Now, if we could just stay that way all year - with the random snowstorm once in a while:)

Glad you liked my breakfast - thanks!

Anonymous said...

Those look delicious. I've been making my mother-in-laws bran muffin recipe for years. It's very close to yours.

katrina said...

Hi Donna - then you know just how amazing this muffin is! Love it, love it. Too bad the words "bran muffin" bring instant horror to all and sundry:)

kellypea said...

I always need another muffin recipe to try -- you'd think they wouldn't be all that different, but I've learned they are. Love the small amount of oil in this, and the buttermilk. YUM.

katrina said...

Hey, Kelly! I thank that unknown Southern cook who came up with this recipe, because it's amazing. I never get tired of these muffins. And everytime I give away a few, the folks come back with big smiles. It's our secret that "bran muffins" can be astonishing.

Daphne DeLaurier said...

oh, yeah!

katrina said...

You said it, Daphne! Yummers.