Vegan Banana Bran Muffins

Since David was home today for the MLK holiday, I made muffins while he worked on figuring out this blogging/picture thing.

For some reason, I was having a craving for old-school bran muffins. I checked some of my newer vegan cookbooks, and then decided what I wanted was more likely to be found in an old-fashioned omni cookbook. I pulled out the old favorite, The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (that red and white checked one your mom and grandmom used) and found a banana bran muffin recipe. I veganized it, and here it is. It works great, but I think next time I’m changing the sugar to Sucanat, and doubling it. I really wanted them to be sweeter.

Vegan Banana Bran Muffins

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Recipe By: LTB (adapted from BH&G)
Serves 12

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup wheat bran

2 tablespoons flax seed

4 tablespoons water

1 cup ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup soy milk

2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare 12-cup muffin tin by spraying with pan spray or lining with paper liners.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in bran.

Grind flax seeds in dry blender jar or spice grinder. Add remaining ingredients to blender, blend ’til smooth, and then add to dry ingredients.

Mix just until moistened (don’t overmix). Fill muffin tins almost full.

Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.

When the muffins are ready, let them cool for just a few minutes in the pan before turning them out. If you leave them in the pan to cool, the crusts will steam and get soggy.

If you want to keep your muffins warm for just a few extra minutes during breakfast, you can turn them halfway out of their cups, leaving them on their sides in the pan. That way, the steam can evaporate but the residual heat from the tin will keep them from getting cold too quickly.

Drink at least one extra glass of water with every muffin, or they’ll do the exact opposite of what you expect from a bran muffin.  And don’t overdo it if you aren’t used to a high fiber diet.  Freeze the leftovers and eat them one or two at a time.