On this grey Sunday morning, ever so slightly the worse for wear after a fun Sat night out on the town I want something filling but healthy - and sweet, definitely sweet.

Bran muffins it is then, NY style bran muffins have been a favourite since I first tasted them (what feels like) a hundred years ago in the old Big Apple and there is nothing quite like the smell of baking to warm a house right through.

These muffins are by Allegra McEvedy, Leon founder, they have them in the restaurant and in the excellent recipe book. These bran type muffins are a real delight, a great balance of goodness (bran, apple, banana) and naughtiness (syrup and sugar).

Baking, I’m told, is an exact science - however, muffins, I have found, are not. You can really mix and match as you need to with muffin recipes - as you’ll see that I have below, so long as you get the proportions right you’re good to go.

Ingredients

2 eggs
90ml sunflower oil (I used groundnut)
3 heaped teaspoons apple sauce or stewed apple (I chopped up an apple finely)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, mashed with a fork
4 tablespoons maple syrup (I used golden syrup)
200g wholewheat flour
6 tablespoons soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons bran
A big handful of chopped pecans
Scattering of oats, pumpkin or sunflower seeds for the tops

Makes 8 big muffins (I made 12 smaller ones and reduced cooking time by 10 mins)

1 Heat the oven to 180 C.
2 Whisk eggs in a bowl, beat in oil, apple, vanilla, banana and syrup
3 In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and bran.
4 Mix dry bowl into the wet one, stir in pecans
5 Spoon into muffin cases (I only had fairy cake ones, hence making 12 instead of 8), sprinkle with oats, pumpkin or sunflower seeds
6 Bake for 30 mins (20 mins if making small ones - you can test if they are ready by inserting a skewer/fork, it should come out clean)

Allegra says that they should create proper muffin tops, mine just made tidy domes but were none the worse for it. She also says you can pour extra maple syrup on them for a teatime treat. I say bake them with the kids, they’ll love it!

Tags: bran muffins, easy baking

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 1:20 pm by urban foodie and is filed under Kid Friendly, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.