Sunday, May 26, 2013

Whole Wheat Raisin Bran Muffins

This recipe is from the cookbook Whole Grain Vegan Baking by Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes.


Recipe: see page 73 of Whole Grain Vegan Baking.
These are tasty muffins that also have plenty of fiber. I was pleasantly surprised they are so light and fluffy. Usually when I've tried making bran muffins they are dense and heavy, and these weren't like that at all.

They are sweetened with a little bit of applesauce and Sucanat. The applesauce helps to act as binder since there are no eggs used in vegan baking, and they also help to keep the muffins moist since there is little oil in this recipe.

I had never heard of Sucanat before this. It is short for Sugar Cane Natural. It is dried sugar cane juice, and processed differently than white or brown sugar, retaining more of its vitamins and nutrients. I had a difficult time finding it, finally ending up at Whole Foods and paying $5.50 for a 1 pound bag. The book notes you can also use muscovado sugar as a substitute.

Be sure to check out the other stops on the The Whole Grain Vegan Baking blog tour.

Ingredients: oat bran, whole wheat pastry flour, raisins, unsweetened applesauce, cinnamon, oil, vegan milk, lemon juice, Sucanat, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, salt.