BRAN MUFFINS

MOST ANY MUFFIN CAN BE MADE AS A variation on our recipe for basic muffins. Bran muffins, however, require a different formula. While most muffins have a buttery, delicate yellow crumb, bran muffins should be dark, rich, hearty, and moist.

There are two basic types of bran muffins—so-called refrigerator muffins and muffins based on a classic batter. The batter for refrigerator muffins, which contains bran cereal, is simply mixed and then stored in the refrigerator until the cereal softens and becomes part of the batter. The "classic" batter muffins can be made by combining ingredients according to the creaming method or the quick bread method (both explained on Techniques). Wheat bran, rather than cereal, is the most common source of bran in classic bran muffin recipes.

We conducted a bake-off, and the inferiority of the cereal-based refrigerator muffins was immediately obvious. They had a muddy look, a somewhat rubbery texture, and an oddly chewy quality. The bran flavor was dull and muted, and they lacked the all-around depth we expected from a bran muffin. By contrast, the classic bran muffins tasted deeply of bran and had a better (although still far from perfect) texture. Of the two approaches to making classic muffins, we preferred the creaming method (just as we did in our recipe for basic muffins) for its ability to create a fuller, more tender muffin.

With the mixing method decided, we moved on to the ingredients. A standard muffin batter is composed of flour, sugar, leavening, eggs, flavorings, milk, and fat. The batter's volume is built on a higher proportion of flour relative to fat and liquid. But when you reduce a portion of the flour to accommodate the bran, you disrupt the balance of liquid and dry ingredients, because wheat bran isn't actually absorbed into the batter the way flour is. This means that you need to rework the proportion of liquid and dry ingredients.

To understand this dynamic, it is important to know a bit about bran. Bran, the exterior covering of wheat kernels, is milled into flakes. These flakes, known as wheat bran, are high in insoluble fiber. As a result, they are actually suspended in the batter, making a denser muffin. The bran flakes also tend to dry out and "break up" the batter, in much the same way that chocolate chips or nuts break up the batter in cookies.

When we started baking the muffins, we used a whopping two cups of bran. You can probably imagine the result: dry, crumbly muffins that tasted (and acted) just like sawdust. After much fine-tuning, we found that we could achieve a fuller, more tempered flavor and a more pleasing texture by replacing a little of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. This allowed us to cut the bran down to 1¹/₂ cups without sacrificing the flavor we wanted.

Finally, we noticed that bran muffins tend to overbake in a flash. A tray of muffins are baked through when they retract ever so slightly from the sides of the cups and the tops spring back very gently on being touched. Don't look for an active spring. The muffins will be baked through even if a wooden pick withdrawn from the centers has a few moist crumbs clinging to it.