Whole Grain Honey Bran Muffins

A crustless muffin with the light sweetness of honey and the delicious combination of wholemeal bran and wholemeal wheat flour.

We’ve been eating these muffins left and right, up and down, up and down (ok, I’m done) for months now and they are amazing.

We love muffins all around, so we may be biased, but they’ve won us over as a new favorite for breakfast and snacks and everything in between.

Batch makes so much that after they’re cooked and cooled, I put them in a gallon-sized ziploc bag for easy freezer storage for a quick, healthy, delicious breakfast (usually with one of our go-to smoothies and often hard-boiled eggs, too, which I also make in advance, peel and put in the fridge).

If I run out of food ideas, these muffins will do the trick too. (I just calculated it the other day, and by the time my five kids graduate from elementary school, the kids and I will have packed about 5,400 meals, give or take a few sick days here and there; heaven help me.)

Sometimes I even get all the mom of the year out of them, split the muffins in half and top them with a bit of peanut butter before putting them back together.

Call me simple, but these muffins make me very happy.

Whole grain honey bran muffins

Yield: 30 -36 muffins

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups of wheat
• 1 cup of wheat
• 2 cups boiling water
• ¾ cup melted coconut oil or butter
• ¼ cup (53 g) sugar, optional if you want something sweeter
• ½ cup (170 g) molasses
• ½ cup (170 g) butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 ¼ cups (462 g) whole wheat flour (see note)
• 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ⅔ cup milk
• 1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine wheat bran and buckwheat. Pour in the boiling water and stir. The mixture may look slimy, it’s okay if it doesn’t seem wet. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add coconut oil (or butter), sugar (if using), molasses, honey, eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Whisk in milk and buttermilk.
3. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the muffin batter and mix until combined. Stir in 1/2 of the milk mixture. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, stirring until combined. Add the last half of the milk and stir. Add the last of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don’t over mix or the muffins will be too dense).
4. Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes if you have time. It’s not absolutely necessary, but I think it makes the muffins rise higher than baking them straight away. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Fill lightly greased muffin tins approx. 2/3 up and bake for 18-22 minutes until the top springs back together.Do not overcook; we don’t like dry muffins here.
6. Cooled muffins can be stored covered at room temperature for 2-3 days or frozen.

Note

Flour: I just made them with 100% whole wheat flour, but I think all-purpose ingredients would be fine. I grind my own wheat flour which is usually a softer flour; If using store-bought flour, be sure to use a light hand when measuring (don’t pour the flour into the measuring cup).
Measuring: also, for measuring, I always measure on the light side of things – fluffing the ingredients, scooping the cup and leveling, rather than scooping and shaking to level, which will get more into the cup.