AUNT EDNA’S BRAN MUFFINS
I’ve spent the summer rediscovering the glory of a good bran muffin. I seem to remember eating a lot of them in my childhood, then they went out of fashion. But I thoroughly recommend making these again. They freeze well for kids’ lunchboxes and I take one out of the freezer every morning for my lunch. The bran is great added fibre but you must also serve them with lashings of butter! I can thank Kiwi chef Al Brown for my summer of bran muffins as I found this recipe in his new book Eat Up New Zealand.
MAKES 12
1 cup plain flour
2 cups bran
½ cup sugar
¾ cup sultanas
1 egg
1 cup milk
½ cup golden syrup
2 tbsp butter, plus extra
for greasing and serving
1 tsp baking soda
1 Preheat oven to 210°C. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin with butter.
2 In a suitably sized bowl, put in the flour, bran, sugar and sultanas. Break in the egg, but don’t mix it yet.
3 Grab a small saucepan and add the milk, golden syrup and butter. Place on a medium-low heat. Stir until the syrup has incorporated into the milk and the butter is melted. Remove from the stove and immediately mix through the baking soda.
4 Pour this warm mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Divide between the greased holes in the muffin tin and place in the oven to bake for 10 minutes. Check with a toothpick or skewer – if it comes out clean, you know the deal!
5 Remove from the oven and let the muffins sit for 15 minutes before carefully extracting from the tin. Serve with generous licks of butter.