The Saturday Morning Alchemist

I am notorious for adapting recipes - moding them and tricking them out, to be healthier, tastier, or well, just more to my liking! This is the selfish side of baking and cooking that I enjoy! I admit, my experiments do at times run amuck (thank you MS for his patience with me in this!) but ultimately, it is the fun of inventing, discovering, of being a kitchen alchemist that keeps me coming back for more!

Case in point is the "basic" bran muffin recipe I found about four years ago, that I have been continuously tweaking and pimping out each time I bake them.

This Saturday, I took them on again, and have to say that, I may have reached a nearly perfect batch – they are not too wet, not to dry, and altogether packed with amazingness.

Obviously, it would be hypocritical of me to suggest following this recipe exactly (although I would not entirely discourage it!) I say, take this one, try it, and then make it your own!

Here’s how she goes:
In a medium bowl, stir together:
1 cup milk/soymilk (soured with 1.4 tsp vinegar)

1 cup natural wheat bran

Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix:

1/2 cup dark spelt flour

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of sea salt

cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger (to your tastes)

In a third bow, mix together:

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup black strap molasses

128 ml jar of organic baby food (I like using prune puree, but you can use a prune/pear blend; apple sauce or any other fruit sauce/puree you fancy)

1 banana mashed

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/4 cup cooked red quiona

And add 1-2 handfuls of any/all/a combination of the following:

Pumpkin seeds
Fresh berries (LOVE blueberries)

Chopped nuts (my favourite are walnuts)

Dried fruit (figs are always a hit)

Add this wet mixture to the bran, stir gently, and then stir all the wet ingredients into a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. The trick here is to not over-stir the mixture or else you run the risk of having tough muffins in the end, and really, who wants a tuff muff!

Measure out 1/3 cup or so of mix into muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. I usually check at the 22 minute mark with my trusty toothpick, again, to avoid the tuff muff scenario!

Serve them up alone, or with the nut butter/jam of your choice.

I paired them with a fresh fruit salad of mango, banana, blood orange, blueberries and plums on the weekend. Heaven in my mouth!