My fruit and nut bran muffins are a lighter, fluffier take on the classic fiber rich muffins from the 70s. Customize them with your favorite dried fruits and crunchy nuts of choice.
Remember the plump, jewel toned dried fruit I found at our farmer’s market a few weeks ago? The Summer Fruit Granola I made with it was the best ever, so I made sure to get more of it. This time it’s sweetening up my basic buttermilk bran muffins.
Ever since I tasted premium dried fruit I can’t imagine going back to dusty old raisins in my muffins. Even if you can’t find fresh dried fruit at one of the stands at your farmer’s market, look for it your local stores. They are coming out with more varieties and better quality these days. Look for plump juicy fruit, Trader Joe’s has a pretty good selection. This mix has peaches, both yellow and white, nectarines, plums and pluots of all colors, apricots, and really fat raisins, both purple and green.
I use a mix of oat and wheat bran in these muffins, and stuffed them full of fruit and nuts. There’s nothing sorrier than a flat topped bran muffin, so make sure to fill your muffin cups full, even if it means leaving one empty.
an easy one bowl recipe
I’ve been working on streamlining my recipes lately. I think that there are lots of extra steps in most recipes that can easily be cut out without harm. A lot of it is just not necessary, or it makes such a miniscule difference that it’s not worth the extra effort. I found that even the process for these simple morning muffins that I’ve been making for years can be tweaked to result in less steps, less bowls, less trouble.
more bran muffins
- Blackberry Walnut Bran Muffins
- Zucchini Walnut Bran Muffins
- Cherry Almond Bran Muffins
- Date Nut Bran Muffins
- Buttermilk Bran Muffins
- Orange Walnut Bran Muffins
Fruit and Nut Buttermilk Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup wheat bran
- 3/4 cup oat bran
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts
- 1/2 cup (heaping) mixed dried fruit, chopped if necessary
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF.
- Spray a 12-cup muffin pan, or fill with paper liners.
- Whisk together the brans, buttermilk, oil, egg, sugar, and extract in a mixing bowl, making sure that the egg gets beaten as you whisk. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Fold the fruit and nuts into the mixture, then hold a sieve or mesh strainer over the bowl and sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the batter. Mix well.
- Fill muffin cups nice and full. You may only get 10 muffins if you fill them full.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out without batter clinging to it. Don’t over bake.
- Cool slightly then remove the muffins from the tin and cool on a rack. They can be frozen after they’ve cooled, if you want, just wrap them individually, and well.
I modified this recipe with corn free baking powder my daughter makes for me. The muffins came out with a soft crumb. I used pineapple, currants and golden raisins. Tasty!
What an amazing daughter! I’m so glad you loved these bran muffins, I need to make a batch soon, it’s been too long for me.