Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Lemon Coconut Ginger Bran Muffin (low sugar and almost fat free!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine in a large mixing bowl, I use an extra large tupperware "thats-a-bowl" (tm):
4 1/2 C raw wheat bran
1 C unsweet coconut shredded (toasted or add a little coconut extract)
1/3 C finely minced ginger root
3/4 C unrefined sugar
1/2 C kokobits (vegan bits) or other mini choclate chip of choice
1 C pure lemon juice concentrate
2 tsp KAL brand stevia extract powder
5 1/2 C water (cold so your chips don't melt)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
 
Blend a 12.3 oz box of mori-nu silken lite firm tofu in the blender until creamy and stir into bran mix.
 
Combine dry ingredients together and mix into wet bran mix just enough to combine:
3 C whole wheat pastry flour ( or barley flour if you choose)
3 C organic all purpose unbleached wheat flour (or spelt if you prefer)
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp aluminum free baking powder
 
I scoop 1/2 C batter into each muffin cup, yes it's overfilled a bit (see picture on thebakehouse blog).
I bake these for 25 minutes at 350 degrees in my convection oven.  Cool on a rack.
 
** You could save the dough in the frig for a few days and bake on demand.
Also I was thinking about the next time I made these I may include ground cardamon.... 1 tbsp?
I would also probably use currants next time instead of the kokobits.... 1 1/2 C of the fruit = 632 calories, 1/2 C of the chocolate = 560 calories.

7 comments:

spiceislandvegan said...

I only have toasted wheat bran. Would that work, Dori?

SIV

Anonymous said...

Dori, I am wanting to try this recipe. We have fresh lemons. Can you tell me how much fresh squeezed lemons to use, instead of the concentrate to use? Thanks for the help. :)

Dori said...

I am not positive, but I think that the juice of one lemon equals 1/3 Cup. Another gal commented that she would add lemon zest because the lemon flavor seems to disappate during the baking process.

Dori said...

I just realized that I mentioned that "another gal commented", but it wasn't on this blog that she did this. I was thinking that this recipe was good, but needed something flavor wise. The ginger comes through well, but the lemon flavor seems to disappear. 2 Tbsp lemon zest may help this considerably (in addition to the lemon juice). I also considered adding 1 Tbsp cardamom and thought this would be very good because I made a cardamom spread to put on my muffin and it was very good.

Also, remember that this makes a HUGE batch! To start with you may want to cut the recipe in 1/4 to make sure you like the flavor. I found that the cardamom spiced spread made these muffins go down very easily.

P.S. I made this recipe on a whim to satisfy a fancy, I have never sold these to anyone... so I can't say they have won any popularity contests.

P.S.S. The stevia extract powder is very important. 1 tsp of it is the equivalent sweetening power of 1 cup sugar.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your help Dori. You stated you used concentrated lemon juice in your recipe. Isn't that more "tangy" than fresh? So, do you think 1 cup of fresh will work instead of 1 cup of concentrate? Never mind, I am just going to try it with fresh lemon juice, the lemon zest, and cardamon. (lol)

I have Stevia, just not the brand KAL.

Another couple of questions.
1. What is raw wheat bran? I have some, but I don't know if it is raw.

2. How many cupcakes does this make? I know it is over 48. :D

Dori said...

I looked at my lemon juice bottle and it says from concentrate, so the fresh lemon juice would be equal to the juice I used.

Raw wheat bran is simply wheat bran (not the commercial cereal).

I have a commerical baking pan (deeper and wider cups) and I stuff the muffin cups, so this recipe makes 24 BIG BAKERY style muffins for me (a little less than 1/2 cup batter per cup). I really heaped my cups (which then they get the bit of muffin top spread, so you'll want to make sure your pan has room if doing this).

Otherwise I think that this would make 36 good size regular muffins (fill muffin cup to the top, not heaping). The baking time would probably be a bit less (I said I baked for 25 minutes, maybe 18-20 for smaller ones).

48 muffins are possible, if you wanted a little smaller muffin (perfect for kid size). A little less time (maybe 16 minutes?).

Anonymous said...

Thanks Dori! I just need to get more ginger root; 1/3 cup is a lot. I also need to get more wheat bran, I don't have enough to make a half batch. I'll get back to you later this week with the results. :D Thanks again for all your help.