BAKING – Bran Muffins

A friend asked me to provide tips for baking bran muffins; so, Scott, this one is for you! The key to baking muffins is to make sure that they do not come out dry because no one likes a dry muffin. To prevent this pitfall, do not leave the muffins in the oven for too long and stick with the proportions of the recipe. Bran has a lot of natural oil in it, so it retains a certain degree of moisture.

I find it best to use cereal as the primary bran ingredient instead of unprocessed wheat bran. In doing this, you remove a few ingredients and have less room for error. I am a firm believer that simple is always better. Kellogg’s All-Bran cereal is the tastiest option.

When you bake the muffins, you can either use baking cups or grease the cups of the muffin pan with cooking spray. Baking cups are a good option because it is often difficult to get muffins out of the pan without breaking them. Also, sometimes the cooking spray can burn, causing a nasty burnt-spray taste.

In order to prevent burning and promote even baking, place the muffin pan on the middle shelf of your oven.

1/4 cups all-purpose flour1/2 cup granulated sugar1 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt2 cups Kellogg’s All-Bran cereal1 1/4 cup milk (fat-free or regular)1 egg (or 2 egg whites)