WHEAT AND OAT BRAN MUFFINS
The name doesn’t sound very exciting but these little sliders have become our family’s favorites. In the past week I’ve shared them with friends visiting from out of state and my visiting teachers. Both have asked for the recipe, so here you go.
Fresh Ingredients
8 egg whites
2 cups Greek yogurt
4 carrots, grated
Storage Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups oat bran
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons basking soda
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups brown sugar
1 can pumpkin (15 oz.)
1 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup oil
25 dates (pitted!)
2 cups walnuts, chopped
Not exactly my typical recipe, with only 4-6 ingredients, but certainly worth the extra effort.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray or oil muffin tins.
2. Whisk together the wheat flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, instant yeast, and cinnamon.
3. Process the carrots and 25 pitted dates, adding the 2 cups of walnuts at the very end.
4. Add the cup of applesauce to the can of pumpkin…
adding the egg whites, oil, vanilla, brown sugar, and carrot/date/nut mixture, and beat until well combined.
5. Using an extra large mixing bowl, just barely stir together the wet and dry ingredients. Duh, I always forget how much this recipe makes and end up doing a little mixing bowl switch-o change-o before this final step.
6. Fill muffin tins full to slightly mounded. This recipe yields 4 dozen, more or less, depending on how you…mound. They don’t really rise during cooking so you can be aggressive.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. If your muffins are this large you may have to leave them in for another five minutes.
Besides the wonderful carrot cake flavor and super healthy ingredients, these pups freeze really well. It takes time to prepare and cook all four batches, but I love having plenty on hand. Always ready to zap in the microwave, they make an excellent breakfast on the run or nutritious dessert after lunch. Lizzie says that her friends are “obsessed” with them. (You know 15 yr. old girls;)
*If you prefer banana nut bread to carrot cake, try substituting four ripe bananas for the can of pumpkin. Super good!
February 27th, 2012 at 9:31 am
That is a lot of muffins!!! They do sound deliscious and I am glad to hear that they freeze well. I freeze mine all the time when I make a big batch and then pull them out for a quick side to go with eggs or salad or soup.
My only problem with this recipe is the 8 egg yolks that are left over. Do egg yolks freeze well? xo
February 27th, 2012 at 10:46 pm
I don’t know what to tell you on the yolks. I’m okay to use only the whites because of Mike’s health issues. Tossing the yolks is way less than the meds they’ve threatened him with:)
February 27th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
Kris, you could also just use 4 whole eggs instead of the 8 egg whites. Right?
February 28th, 2012 at 9:32 am
Thanks
I have a hard time just tossing the yolks but I totally understand the cost of meds vs the food. xo
February 28th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Egg yolks can be frozen, but you need to add a bit of salt or sugar so the texture doesn’t get wonky. http://www.incredibleegg.org/egg-facts/eggcyclopedia/f/freezing-eggs
February 29th, 2012 at 12:33 am
Thank you Elizabeth! What do you do with extra egg yolks?
February 29th, 2012 at 9:14 am
Extra egg yolks? Why, I would make lemon pie for sure!!!!! (I would have to make several pies in order to use that many yolks, that is why I wondered if they would freeze well)
Thank you Elizabeth for the info
xo
February 29th, 2012 at 9:26 am
I know! Lemon pies and lemon bars and lemon tarts. That’s exactly what I was thinking…not that I ever make any of those, but I’m a “huge” fan:I
Are there any other uses, maybe even healthier uses, for extra yolks?
February 29th, 2012 at 11:37 am
Homemade noodles!
Eggwash to make bread shiny
Tempera paint
baby food
February 29th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
See? I knew YOU would know! Thanks E
February 29th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
I can’t wait to try these bad boys! If you make 48 muffins they will each be 5 Weight Watchers Point Plus.
February 29th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Very helpful information Kathy! Thanks for sharing.
March 25th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Liesa! Egg yolks are great to get a good shine on your hair.
Just have to make sure you rinse with cold water, or you’ll have Archie eating bits of egg out of your pretty hair!
Is Mike avoiding yolks because of cholesterol? Organic, Free-Range eggs have less cholesterol and contrary to what we have been told in the past there is no proof that dietary cholesterol causes a raise in cholesterol in our bodies.
Maybe a yolk every once in awhile… I know I couldn’t give up my poached or soft boiled eggs!
These muffins are delicious, and incredibly healthy! I made some last week, replaced the vegetable oil with coconut oil and they were even better. I’d like to try again and replace the brown sugar with date/coconut/palm sugar and see if it adds a little something else!
Thank you for sharing!
Marie
March 25th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Also found this!
http://www.nigella.com/kitchen-queries/view/2775
March 27th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Love hearing your thoughts Marie!
Thanks for clueing us in on those details:) All good stuff~