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Best Bran Muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 cups bran I generally use wheat bran - you can find it in the bulk section of your local food co-op. I use oat bran when I'm making a gluten free version but, honestly, I like the wheat bran better. And it's cheaper!
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup canola oil Or any neutral-tasting oil
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 1/2 cup buttermilk No buttermilk in the house? Add a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice to regular milk, wait about a minute, and voila!
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup dried currants
  • raw or granulated sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. NOTE: This mix is made the day before you want the muffins. You can bake them sooner, but the overnight time in the fridge gives the bran time to soften and thicken. So make the mix the day before and in the morning all you have to do is bake. (Another secret of the innkeeping game...!)

  2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and bran.

  3. In another bowl, mash up the banana. Add the eggs, oil, brown sugar and molasses. Whisk the mixture until the ingredients are emulsified. (They all come together into a thick-ish liquid.) Then mix in the buttermilk and vanilla.

  4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix only until everything is combined. Add the currants and stir to distribute.

  5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

  6. When you are ready to bake - preheat the oven to 375F. Grease or line about 16 muffins cups. (The original recipe says it makes 12 standard muffins - I always end up with 16.) Fill the muffin cups and sprinkle with the raw sugar.

  7. Bake for about 24 minutes.