I love bran muffins. It’s something that I easily forget when I’m busy stuffing chocolate chips into every recipe I make, but a trip to Virginia last weekend (Virginia has nothing to do with bran muffins, per se, except that I was there when I remembered how delicious bran muffins are) reminded me that the moist, plump raisin, molasses-y taste of a well-made bran muffin can’t be beat.

And I should emphasize the well-made part.

I used to work at a bakery that made an awesome raisin bran muffin, and while I can’t quite remember the recipe, I do remember the ingredients and what the batter looked like, so when trying to find a recipe template, I had some land marks to follow.

There are a few stages to making a bran muffin batter, but don’t be worried. You just need to have a few different bowls going, and then eventually you condense them, bowl by bowl, until you have a lovely muffin batter. Note that this batter keeps really well in the fridge, so if you wanted to double it and bake half later in the week, go for it. In fact, part of me almost thinks the batter is even nicer AFTER sitting in the fridge a bit, but I have no scientific evidence to back that up.

These muffins bake up really nicely with a beautiful round dome top (important for me in a muffin – what’s with those gluten-free muffins that sometimes look like they’ve been frightened and are jumping in different directions out of the muffin tin?). They are extra delicious with some coconut oil or vegan butter.

Bran muffin luxury!

Moist Raisin Molasses Oat Bran Muffins – v, gf

• Author: Emily Joldersma R.H.N., inspired by Mom’s Bran Muffins original recipe at The Moveable Feasts blog
• Recipe Notes: vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oat bran (not sure if you can’t find certified gluten-free, but that will be necessary to make these strictly gluten-free)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds + an additional 4 tablespoons almond milk (your chia egg)
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/3 cup fancy molasses (or go hard with blackstrap, though I haven’t tested this – apparently fancy molasses is difficult to find organic and non-GMO)
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill; if you like, you could also substitute a nice kamut or spelt flour too)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon xantham gum, optional but recommended
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt/Himalayan pink salt
• 1 1/4 cups raisins, plumped

Instructions:

1. Plump raisins by putting them in a small bowl and covering them with warm/boiling water. Easy peezy. Before adding them to the batter, you’ll just drain off the water.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Let stand for 5 minutes, then add the baking soda, chia, additional almond milk, and oat bran.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the melted coconut oil, molasses, maple syrup, and vanilla.
5. In a medium bowl, sift together gluten-free flour, baking powder, cinnamon, xantham gum, and salt.
6. Now we start the combining:
   1. Add the milk/bran mix to the oil/molasses mix and whisk well.
   2. Add the flour mix to the liquid mix and stir until combined.
   3. Add raisins to the batter.
7. Scoop batter into a prepared muffin tin (either lined with paper cups or lightly greased with oil).
8. Bake for 18-24 minutes, or until tops spring back when gently pressed.
9. Let cool and then try a few! They freeze really nicely and will keep on the counter for 2 to 3 days, I would think. But freezing is probably best.

© Eat Well, Live Vibrantly