Most Excellent Blueberry and Bran Muffins
12 muffins
Makes 12 muffins.
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (Just under 1 ½ cups milk, plus 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled (use canola instead if there's not coconut around)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 2 cups bran
- 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon butter, to grease the pan
- 1 cup pecan or walnut halves, optional (for the tops)
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, salt, baking soda, vanilla essence, lemon zest and sugar. Stir in the bran and both flours and mix well until thoroughly combined. The batter should be pretty stiff at this point. Carefully fold in the blueberries (if you do this too vigorously the mixture turns kind of grey).
Butter 12 standard-size muffin cups liberally. Fill each to the very top with batter. Scatter the tops of the muffins with the pecan or walnut pieces, if desired. Bake for 35 minutes or until the tops are firm and slightly brown. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing muffins from tins. Serve warm or cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.