Very strong coffee, bran cereal, molasses, raisins (figs or dates are good too), apple and wheat flour are baked into these tender muffins. They will really wake you up and get you moving. You see where I’m going here, right? All puns and infantile jokes aside, these are really tasty muffins and better for you than a regular berry muffin with a mountain of streusel on top.
This recipe makes 24 muffins. You could cut it in half, but why would you? Wrap and freeze them for a quick on-the-go meal.
| Wake Up and Get Moving Muffins | Print |
- ¾ cup very strong hot coffee (I bring ½ cup freshly ground coffee and 1¼ cups water to a boil, let it simmer for a few minutes, and then put it through a fine strainer.)
- ½ cup coconut oil (or butter, if you prefer)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups All-Bran original cereal
- 1½ cups all purpose white flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon dark unsweetened cocoa (Optional. Mostly for color.)
- 1 cup raisins (or chopped dates or figs)
- 1 medium apple, grated (leave the skin on, but stop grating before you get to the core!)
- butter and sparkling sugar if desired to add to the tops of warm muffins
- Heat oven to 400 F.
- Prepare muffin pans by lining them with paper liners.
- Stir coconut oil (or butter, chunked into small pieces) into hot coffee until melted.
- Stir in buttermilk and molasses.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat until completely combined.
- Add bran cereal and let it soak while you prepare the dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, combine white flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa. Add raisins (or chopped dates or figs) and grated apple, and toss to coat.
- Pour liquid ingredients into bowl and fold or stir gently just until it is mostly incorporated. A few wisps of flour showing is fine. Do NOT overbeat.
- Spoon into prepared muffin liners, almost to the top. If you are using tall tulip-type liners, fill a little higher than the level of the pan.
- Bake standard size for approximately 16-18 minutes, or tall size for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin.
- Move the pan of muffins onto a cooling rack and, if desired, brush with soft butter and sprinkle with sparkling sugar or cinnamon sugar. Then remove from pan and set muffins on a rack to cool completely.
Ingredients. (The cocoa is mostly for color, so it’s optional.)
Make very strong coffee. I boil freshly ground beans and water, then put it through a fine sieve.
Combine all the liquids, add cereal, and let it soak for a few minutes.
Grate the apple, skin and all. (No core or seeds, of course.)
Toss raisins and apples in the dry ingredients
Stir gently until there are just a few wisps of flour in batter
Fill ’em up!
Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar if desired. (You can see that I skipped the cocoa in this batch.)
Seriously, how can you resist this??
Love you, but gotta go now. Next up: green stuff for St. Paddy’s Day.
Lorinda
Ooo, yum! I’m gonna, er, run to the kitchen and make these now!
Gettin’ with the spirit of the thing, huh? Way to GO, Mary Rose!
The spirit is moving me to make these yummy muffins! Thanks, Rowdy 🙂
Hahaha – gotta listen to the spirit! You won’t be sorry. And . . . they’re almost healthy!