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
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.
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