Healthy Carrot Bran Muffins
Over the years, I’ve been on the hunt for the best bran muffin recipe, but I’ve come up empty-handed, time and time again. Some of my trial batches were too sweet, and others were overpowered by molasses, so I started experimenting myself. I discovered the key to this recipe was steeping the All-Bran in English breakfast tea to soften the bran and using coconut oil to enhance the moisture of the bran muffin. It’s become a staple in my household, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups All-Bran Original cereal, not Buds
- ½ cup English Breakfast tea, steeped
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup finely grated carrots
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil
- 1 egg, beaten
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- ½ t. salt
Directions
- Step 1 Begin by heating ¾ cup water in the microwave for 2 minutes, until boiling. Immerse a bag of English breakfast tea in the water, steeping for 2-3 minutes, or until concentrated. Set aside ½ cup of tea, reserving the last ¼ cup if needed. Next, measure out the All-Bran, brown sugar, and raisins in a small mixing bowl. Then, pour in the ½ cup of tea and gently mix with the cereal, raisins, and sugar. Cover the mixing bowl and steep for 30 minutes. Tip: soaking the raisins and All-Bran in the tea plumps the raisins and softens the cereal, improving the overall consistency of the muffins.
- Step 2 Then, while the All-Bran is steeping, grate the carrots in a separate mixing bowl and add the beaten egg, buttermilk, and melted coconut oil. Set aside.
- Step 3 Next, mix the dry ingredients (the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in a third mixing bowl.
- Step 4 Then, you can work ahead and grease a 12-cup muffin pan with butter, pre-heating the oven to 375° F.
- Step 5 Now, when the 30 minutes of steeping your tea is up, fold in the bran/tea mixture under step 1 with the carrot/buttermilk mixture under step 2 and blend until incorporated. Then, fold in the dry ingredients (the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in with the other ingredients (the bran, buttermilk, carrot, coconut milk, egg, raisins, tea, and sugar). Be sure to not overmix or the muffins will turn out dry. Photo above is an example of the dough’s consistency.
- Step 6 Lastly, pre-heat the oven to 375° F and grease a 12-cup muffin pan if you haven’t already done so. Then, scoop out a spoonful of the dough and fill each of the 12 wells to the rim with batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. I bake mine for 18 minutes.
I’ve always loved a good bran muffin, but after trying endless recipes in cookbooks, I grew frustrated after tossing them in the garbage and decided to experiment myself. The outcome was a brainchild, an infusion of tea and coconut oil that makes these muffins unforgettable.
Nutritional Information: serving size: 1 muffin, calories: 224, total fat: 16.6 g., saturated fat: 15.2 g., cholesterol: 14 mg., sodium: 221 mg., total carbohydrate: 19 g., dietary fiber: 1.9 g., total sugars: 6.4 g., protein: 1.9 g., vitamin D: 1 mcg., calcium: 37 mg., iron: 1 mg., and potassium: 158 mg.