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Mocha-Infused Bran Muffins

Picture this: it’s a Monday morning. You wake up and lazily gaze at the clock – “Oh no!!” you think to yourself, “I completely overslept!” Jumping out of bed and rushing through your morning routine, you come to the sad realization that you won’t have time to make both coffee and breakfast – you’ll have to choose. Caffeination or nutrition. This is an impossible situation that I hope none of you, dear readers, ever need to face.

Luckily, I’ve got your back. Today’s recipe will ensure that this never happens to you. The solution? Putting the coffee inside the breakfast, of course! These are everything you would expect from a classic bran muffin, but they also include 2 packets of instant coffee and some cocoa powder for a delicious mocha flavor and a caffeine kick to boot. Mocha-Infused Bran Muffins – a whole new way to enjoy coffee and breakfast.

BranMuffins

Makes 10-12 muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup non-dairy milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
  • 1 tablespoon flax
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup apple sauce
  • 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 packest Starbucks Via instant coffee
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3-4 tablespoons walnuts (or other throw in)

Preheat the oven to 375º F

Step One

Start by preparing a cup of non-dairy milk with half a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to create instant vegan buttermilk. Let this sit for 2-3 minutes, then add the wheat bran right into the buttermilk so that it absorbs most of the liquid and softens. Let this sit for 5-10 minutes.

Also, add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed to a small dish with 2 tablespoons of water to make a flax “egg”. Let this sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

Step Two

In a mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients: coconut oil, apple sauce, turbinado sugar, flax egg, and vanilla. Soften this in the microwave (or a saucepan) for about 20-30 seconds and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.

Note: These muffins are only mildly sweet. If you’d prefer them to be sweeter, add 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 1/3 cup.

Step Three

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, Starbucks Via, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk or sift this together.

Step Four

Finally, combine everything in this order: 1) Add the bran/buttermilk mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until smooth. 2) Add these wet ingredients into the dry and *gently* combine (overmixing will make the muffins tough). 3) Add in some walnuts or other throw-ins like chocolate chips (you didn’t hear that from me…).

Step Five

Transfer evenly between 10-12 cupcake papers lining a muffin pan and bake at 375º F until a toothpick comes out clean (about 15-20 minutes). Optionally dust the tops with sifted cocoa powder for fun, and serve.

BranMuffinTop

BranMuffinsCooling

10 Comments

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  1. Hi Andrew,
    Wow, I’ve never seen a muffin recipe like this before! I must admit I’ve never liked coffee (shocking, I know), but I DO love tiramisu and other chocolatey coffeey things, so this sounds pretty brilliant. Thanks!

  2. Wow I think I’ll try making these today! Do you think wheat germ would work as well as bran?
    Thanks for so many great recipes!

    • Hi Caroline! I honestly don’t have a ton of experience with wheat germ and how it differs from bran, but a quick Google search said that bran is typically better for bran muffins and I’d recommend that unless you specifically have experience interchanging the two in baking.

    • I don’t know? Again, I’m not extremely well-versed in the various forms of bran/germ but if you’ve had experience using oat bran in place of wheat bran, or feel daring enough to experiment, go for it! 🙂

      • thanks andrew – i might give it a go because they are quite a similar texture, whereas wheatgerm i think is different…(but i cd be wrong!)

  3. In that scenario, I would totally choose the caffeine. Sorry body. I do love mocha anything tho, so this muffin would be pretty choice WITH coffee. Eeeek! Caffeine overload?

    • I like that idea! 🙂 Well, each packet of via has 150 mg of caffeine, times two, divided by 12 muffins… or about 25 MG per muffin, which isn’t too bad.

    • Don’t ask me! Just kidding. 🙂 Add them into the wet ingredients in step two. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect this… thanks for pointing it out.

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