Sour Cream Bran Muffins

Because my favorite bran muffin is this one with its complex taste, chewy goodness, crunch of nuts, and added nutrition of grated carrots, I tend to not make them as often as I like. Because my favorite bran muffin, truth be told, is trouble. All of the things that make it extra good, require chopping, grating, and extensive measuring, the last thing I want to do when I first get up in the morning. So this morning, before even getting out of bed, I reached for my iPad and started trolling epicurious.com. I came up with a well-reviewed recipe (How did we ever manage to prepare anything with confidence before the availability of reviews?!) for Sour Cream Bran Muffins and made them. As I am wont to do, I tweaked them a bit by soaking the raisins in dark rum beforehand, and used plain old All-Bran instead of their suggested variety, but they turned out beautifully, and we were both quite happy with them, as surely dad will be as well, when I deliver a trio of them to him later in the week.

Sour Cream Bran Muffins

Slightly adapted from epicurious.com

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon dark rum
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 extra-large egg, beaten lightly
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup All-Bran

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Measure out raisins and place them in a small bowl. Pour rum over raisins, pressing down on raisins to cover, and set aside while you make the muffin batter.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, sour cream, and molasses, and stir in the raisin/rum mixture.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and bran. Add the dry mixture to the sour cream mixture, and stir the batter until it is just combined. (The batter may be lumpy.) Spoon the batter into 12 well-buttered 1/3-cup muffin tins (or use paper liners) and bake the muffins in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and springy to the touch. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and let them cool.

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Wake up Wednesday

Moonlight & Mason Jars

Dream, Create, Inspire

The Homemaking Party

Full Plate Thursday

Crafty & Delicious

Create It Thursday

Five Star Frou-Frou,

Foodie Friday & Everything Else