These muffins. These muffins! The fact that they are so healthy and good for you makes no sense with how delicious they taste. And I took a risk with these, changing the recipe mid-process, on a whim. A crazy, carrot- bran whim! I never knew there was such a thing.
Once the carrots were grated, the rest was a breeze. Grating carrots sure is messy, though.
There were little pieces of carrot everywhere.
Once that was done, I got the dry ingredients together: whole wheat white flour, wheat bran, brown sugar, cinnamon (I used two teaspoons), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I threw in a little nutmeg too, maybe about a quarter teaspoon or so. I whisked
Then, as is traditional in muffin-making, I used a separate bowl for the liquid ingredients. Eggs, buttermilk, yogurt, molasses, and canola oil. The recipe called for half a cup of canola oil but I decided that a quarter cup was as much as I was willing to put in. So after I’d added in the quarter cup of Greek yogurt specified, I threw some more in to make up for the missing oil. It was close to a quarter cup, but not a full one. The formula for swapping out oil is not as straightforward as butter, so I had to wing it a little.
That looked pretty revolting until I whisked it all together.
I poured that into the flour mixture. (By the way, I read in some article about recipes that you’re not supposed to call it “the flour mixture” just because its dominant ingredient is flour. You’re supposed to call it “the dry ingredients”. Blah blah. I’ll call it what I like. I much prefer George Carlin’s irritation with the term “pre-heating”, which I have stopped using because he was hilariously correct.)
Once those were well incorporated (but not overmixed! oh no!) I folded in the carrots.
I scooped the batter into muffins cups and sprinkled just a bit of turbinado sugar on top, because it’s sparkly and tastes good.
While they were in the oven, I wandered into the playroom and found this interesting Lego creation. Nathaniel says it’s a garbage tower. I think. It lives in outer space.
I baked for about 20 minutes. I think. It has been days since I made these now so I don’t remember, but it was in the 20-25 minutes range. They looked and smelled great, emerging from the oven with nice big puffy tops. The muffin cups were a gift from my friend Jana, and they made the muffins look even nicer.
And they looked even prettier by the window.
Best of all, they taste fantastic. Texture is ideal, moist and as fluffy as a muffin can be that’s full of bran and carrots. Flavors are strong, spiced and sweet. You feel better for having eaten one, I swear. (Sometimes you feel better for having eaten two.)
The next time I made them I threw in some pumpkin pie spice, which added a nice punch to the flavor.
CARROT BRAN MUFFINS RECIPE (original)
My version of Carrot Bran Muffins (adapted from Ingredients, Inc.)
ingredients:
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup (scant) packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/2 cup (scant) nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. You’ll reduce the temperature later when you put the muffins in. Prepare a 12-muffin pan with spray or liners.
Combine the flour, wheat bran, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, yogurt, oil, and molasses.
Add the second bowl to the first and mix just enough to incorporate. Fold in the carrots.
Spoon batter into muffin cups and sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top of each one.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for 5, then remove.
Eat as many as you like. They’re good for you!
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