August 18, 2009
Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins
I grew up in a household where le goûter is a cardinal ritual, and I can safely state that I've been eating an afternoon snack practically every day for the past thirty years.
It is so much a part of my food habits that I actually size my lunches to make sure I'll feel a bit hungry around 5 or 6, and in need of something to tide me over until dinner. It is also a welcome alibi to look up from whatever it is I'm working on, make myself a cup of tea (or, these days, iced coffee), sit by the open window, and relax.
Oftentimes, it'll just be a piece of fruit, and my go-to afternoon treat is an apple, chilled and sliced. But I buy my apples from an organic grower located in the Val de Loire, and that leaves me high and dry from June, when he sells the very last of his somewhat shrivelled but super sweet storage apples, until September, when he brings in the shiny, crisp new crop.
(The one exception to this rule is a wonder of nature I've only discovered this summer, called pommes de moisson ("harvest apples"), picked from trees that bear fruit briefly in August. This coincides with the traditional harvesting season for wheat in France, hence the name. My mother first bought pale green ones for me at the Gerardmer greenmarket earlier this month, and a week later I found larger, bright red ones at the Batignolles farmers market. Ever heard of anything similar?)
So then, from time to time, and more so during the apple-less months, I have to have cake, or some sort of baked good, for such is the spirit of le goûter: something homemade and unfussy, not overly sweet, and not too much of a nutritional black hole.
Cue in this blueberry oat bran muffin, which hits all four bases and, despite its good-for-you bran content, doesn't taste like a punishment devised by some misguided flower-child baker. (But then I really like oat bran.)
I should note -- and this is a curse inflicted upon all muffins, sorry Tim -- that these taste best on the day they're made, when the tops still bear their delicately crusty crown. But the flavor is still lovely on subsequent days, and if you wish to revive the memory of the fresh-from-the-oven texture, you can always pop them upside down over the toaster (I have a little rack for just that purpose), or for a minute or two in the toaster oven.
Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins
- 120 grams (1 cup) oat bran (prefereably organic; wheat bran may be substituted)
- 120 grams (4 1/4 ounces, about 1 cup) flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- a good pinch salt
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) unrefined cane sugar
- 120 grams (1 cup) blueberries (no need to thaw them if frozen)
- 240 ml (1 cup) plain yogurt (buttermilk can be substituted)
- 30 ml (2 tablespoons) vegetable oil (I use extra-virgin sunflower oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
Makes about 12 muffins.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F) and line a 12-muffin tray* with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the bran, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar, until no lump remains. Add the blueberries and toss gently to combine.
In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients, and fold it in gently with a spatula until no trace of flour remains. The mixture will be lumpy, but resist overmixing.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tray, filling each muffin mold by about three quarters (to minimize the mess, you can use a spring action ice cream scoop, as recommended to me after my twitter plea). Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until set and golden. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
* Each muffin mold is 7 cm (2 3/4 inches) in diameter and 3 cm (1 1/4 inches) deep.
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Cooking/baking time: 16 min
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Still chuckling over the "misguided flower-child" mention. I'm off to get some oat bran so I can give these a whirl!
These are absolutely fantastic-sounding. I grew up in the French part of Switzerland, so I can totally relate to the importance of le goûter.
Sound delicious! One question: Could you subsitute the muffin with cherries or apricots, etc. instead of blueberries?
Thanks!
Vive le goûter!
I love blueberries, and I've found blueberries occasionally at the markets here, but they've been prohibitively expensive -- do you have a good source for blueberries?
Sam - The muffin batter is a good base to build on, so you could substitute other berries/fruits. The baking time may differ a bit, though, depending on the water content of the fruit you use.
Ellise - Um, my best source is to pick them straight from the bushes in the Vosges. :) Failing that, and the occasional sale at the produce stall, Picard sells frozen blueberries that are pretty good. (It's just unfortunate they have to fly them in from Sweden.)
We seem to be in line with each other this summer, as we both made lemon verbena sorbet at the same time, and now here we are again with blueberry muffins! Your "flower child" version sounds like a delight that I'll have to try!
Reading about another's devotion to afternoon tea-time made me smile. And I personally believe that after a freshly-baked muffin, nothing beats the satisfaction of eating one split in half & toasted & eaten with some sort of delicious butter.
Blueberry muffins are so classic and wonderful. I will try this recipe soon. Thanks for sharing it!
Anything baked with blueberries is a winner to me. I love muffins. They are so cute and perfect!
These look so lovely. Admittedly, I am also a fan of le goûter (afternoon tea). Though for me it hits a little earlier. Maybe 3pm. At work you notice it ... people getting a little distracted around that time, needing a quick, sweet pick me up. These sounds like they were certainly hit the spot!
These look delish! Here's a silly question -- if you're snacking at 6pm, what time do you usually eat dinner?
Re the apples in August, when I lived in London I used to get a variety called Discovery from my farmer's market. They have a wonderful strawberry taste... I wonder if this was what you found at Batignolles?
Ooh I love a good muffin recipe, and this one sounds delish AND healthy. Do you think the recipe would work with agave nectar instead of sugar?
Thanks,
Caroline
Neat..I am going to try using Agave nectar tomorrow. I went to a website for the specific brand product I'll use, it says:....use as a 1 for 1 replacment for sugar, then adjust to your own personal taste. But, if the batter is "runny" you need to decrease other liquids by 30% and cook lower and slower. reduce your baking temp. by about 25 degrees and bake for a little longer".shew..hope this is worthwhile. I think cane sugar is "poison" for those trying to be in shape, and shed a few lbs. I use organic blue agave, and it tastes FABULOUS. good luck.
The joy of living along the Pacific NW coast of the USA ... organic blueberry patch just up the hill from us; you pick from a field of bushes groaning with huge sweet berries, then drop the $1/pound payment in a jar, take your berries home, and try not to eat them all before you can actually do something with them!
I live in northern Idaho, USA, and we have a variety of apple called "Yellow Transparent" which ripens in August. Actually, the ones we have should be ready to pick soon. They make very good applesauce because they cook down smooth without using a food mill or blender. They're OK for eating fresh, too, but are a little tart for my taste. They make a good bridge to the later apples.
Sounds great! These are the best baked treats - not terribly unhealthy but just sweet enough to tide you over!
Do you know the Muffin Man?
The Muffin Man?
The Muffin Man. Do you know the Muffin Man?
...who lives on Drury Lane?
I wonder if he sells these?!
Alix - We usually have dinner sometime between 8:30 and 9pm.
Rachel - The lady at the Batignolles market called hers reinettes des moissons but I couldn't find a reference to it as an actual variety -- I suspect it's more the name she gives them so people will know what sort of apple to expect.
Caroline - I've never tried it with agave syrup, but would love for you to report back if you do!
Dimple - Interesting comment about the applesauce: although we didn't try cooking them, the apples my mother bought seemed to have the sort of texture you describe.
These look delicious! A perfect way to use up the oat bran I bought that I have only used in homemade sandwich bread til now. Thanks for the tip about where to find blueberries (although myrtilles and blueberries are not quite the same thing: are the frozen ones from Picard myrtilles or actual blueberries?) One more question: I was surprised to see you use extra virgin sunflower oil. The bottle I have says it is for seasoning only and not suitable for cooking (it has a lower flash point than regular sunflower oil). Would they be wrong?
Aisha - I imagine you're referring to the difference between the small, wild blueberries, and the cultivated, larger blueberries? Both go by the common name myrtille in France, and people usually specify myrtilles sauvages (brimbelles in the Vosges region, Vaccinium myrtillus) vs. bluets for the cultivated ones (Vaccinium corymbosum). The ones Picard sells are wild blueberries from Sweden.
As for the oil, I don't use it for cooking, but I do use it for baking on occasion: the oil in the batter doesn't reach a very high temperature in the oven.
Early apples......just saw some at the local farmers market yesterday. They had some Early Macs and Jersey Macs, which are both more green than red and deliciously tart. I love the *snap* of biting into a first of the season apple!
Amicalement,
Adele
i love that the muffins are actually a 'serving' -- 2" in diameter. it's funny the amazon write up of the muffin pan seems to suggest this size is for kids, when it's actually the correct size for an adult! anyway, i'm inspired to make a batch of muffins.
Most muffins freeze quite well, so you don't have to eat the whole batch on the day you make them. But if you want to, I won't stop you.
It's been TOO hot here in NY to bake anything let alone turn the oven on! I printed the recipe for when it turns cooler again.
I may just have to do a midnight bake to try your Blueberry Yogurt cake as I have both in my frig! ;)
Thanks Clotilde!
I'm SeasLife on Twitter
Thank you very much for the answers Clotilde. That is exactly what I was referring to, so I'm glad you confirmed it (especially since I prefer bluets).
I'm so happy to know I can use my extra virgin sunflower oil in baked goods! I had been using it in salads only, and considering all the other "seasoning-only" oils I have, I was having a hard time finishing off the bottle. Off to make some gateau au yaourt a la poire. Ca tombe bien, je n'avais plus d'huile de tournesol normale! Merci (I checked your post just before adding the oil to my cake!)
Ginger Gold and Gravenstein are the August apples of New York State
The muffins sound like a perfect afternoon snack-I am a big fan of snacks!
I was happy to see unrefined cane sugar called for. I use it often and think it has a nice slightly different flavor than castor sugar.
My secret to making extra-special blueberry muffins is to add 50% more blueberries than the recipe calls for. This tip might not work for everyone, but I'm a blueberry fanatic!
J'ai ete eleve en France donc j'adore le fait que ce blog est aussi bilingue que moi! :) J'adore le gouter, je ne peux pas m'en passer! J'habite a Londres maintenant et j'essaie toujours d'expliquer aux Anglais ce que c'est! Je me souviens revenir de l'ecole et manger des biscuits genre Prince ou BNBN...yum! Thanks for the blueberry muffin idea for gouter though. I hadn't thought of that. and I LOVE MUFFINS!!! :)
Would it be possible to sweeten these with maple syrup, using the 180ml syrup: 180ml yoghurt ratio as in your apple maple yoghurt cake?
Wow my first c&z comment!
Josephine - I've never tried to make these with maple syrup, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. (When substituting, note that these muffins call for less sugar than the apple/maple yogurt cake.) Let us know how it turns out!
So I just made these - I used 100ml maple syrup and 180ml yogurt and baked them for the full 16 minutes - and they were light, delicious and such a beautiful pale golden colour.
I would say though that any 'mapleness' was very understated so when I make these again (and I will!) I would not use such an expensive ingredient for such a subtle result.
Well, that's interesting. I'll have to confront my French husband about the le gouter tradition. He has a fit if I eat even a piece of cheese in the afternoon, swearing that the French NEVER snack. I'm still learning the French ways so I don't have much amunition to shoot back with. ;-) I'm a recent American expat now living in the French Alps. I love your blog, your recipes and your life. Thanks for your lovely work and recipes.
mmmmmmmm....Sounds delicious!
Thank you for this one! Blueberries are second on my list of favourite berries, right after the scrumptiously tangy raspberries.I am going to try the recipe illico presto, or rather tomorrow...
Love from Toronto ;0)
Bought heaps of blueberries this weekend and have just enough left for these muffins - they look delish - thanks for the inspiration!
Strange, I posted Blueberry Bran Muffins this morning, great minds think alike! I totally eat them as snacks to, a great treat to have at work.
During my stays in both Paris and Niort, my families were wonderful enough to spoil me with a piece of brioche for le gouter. During Christmas, my friend's grandmere would always sneak me a few pieces of pain d'epices! I am definitely going to adapt this lovely muffin recipe to my vegan standards very soon.
Well I cook in my family but my wife bakes. She doesn't know it but she is whipping up a batch of these muffins this weekend. I am sure she will not mind once she sees the pictures :)
I always thought "bluet" meant "cornflower" in English...does it also mean "domestic blueberry"...
bluets from the Vosges are amazing indeed. just got 3 kilos for 17 euros from the Saales farmers' market (near St Dié)and I use them everyday in pancakes or cakes, looking forward to try this recipe!
they look amazing!!!!!
Merci Clotilde! I made these with wild blueberries last night, and they taste yummy AND wholesome. My boyfriend and I shared one after dinner. He's not big into sweets, but after he'd eaten his half he looked at me and said "More!".
I had to add an extra 50 ml or so of liquid (I just used water) because the batter was very stiff. I think that may be because the oat bran I used was quite coarse -- it looked like steel-cut oats to me!
This recipe made 9 muffins in what I think of as my 'standard-issue Canadian 12-muffin tin'.
I live over in Seattle and I am drowning in a sea of blueberries! Not a bad problem to have, if I do say so myself. The only change I made was to put the blueberries in the muffin tins first and then pour the batter over them - they were very ripe and I didn't want them to explode. I made them yesterday and have been eating them ever since! Merci bien!
Here in California we have (green/yellow) Gravenstein apples in August, and I've also seen an August apple called Red Astrachan.
Suzanne
Hi Clotilde. These look absolutely amazing - can't wait to try them. Thanks!
I have made these muffins twice now and I have really enjoyed them. The first time I cut the recipe in half (I only had one egg) and this went well, other than I though that they could use a little honey. The second time (yesterday) I add half again as many blueberries and a few tablespoons of honey and they are perfectly suited to my taste.
We are starting to get cooler weather in Montreal, so I made a batch of these last night. I had vanilla sugar left over from a cupcake extravaganza last week - I used it in place of regular sugar and omitted the vanilla extract. I also added a pinch of cinnamon.
Delicious! Thank you so much for your simple and tasty recipes Clotilde.
We're having a bit of a cooling spell here in Baltimore. The weather, along with your post inspired me to make muffins on Sunday. Banana pecan. Can't wait to have one with espresso after dinner tonight...
Made this with Splenda/erythritol/stevia and a gluten-free flour blend to cut carbs. They can be made dairy-free with coconut milk and a few drops of vinegar. Worked out to 110 calories (minus the pecans and berries). They were wonderful! Thanks so much for the brilliant recipe. They are great with pecans, too. :) Fabulous blog! Love your photography.
These muffins are delicious! I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon sugar on the tops before baking for my children! I also used Greek yogurt I had on hand. I will bake these again for sure!
They were a big hit...
These are so good that even I will forgive them for being best the day they are made. Super!
I just made these muffins today...they are WONDERFUL..very moist and tender, with the blueberries dotted all through evenly....very "more-ish" as they say here in New Zealand. I used non-fat yogurt, frozen blueberries (its just coming into spring here), extra virgin olive oil, and a little less than the half cup of sugar (I was eyeballing it in a cup measure) this recipe is a family keeper now..Thank you!!!
For the blueberry oat bran muffins--- 120 grams does not equal 1 cup.
Is this an error? can you clarify and post the correct measurements. 120 grams of wheat bran and 120 grams of flour seems to be too much.
Md - I can confirm that the measurements are correct.
I'm curious about the snacking habits of French kids, who, as we are often told, are far healthier than American kids. You said 5 or 6 p.m. for a snack. Six is about the time we usually have dinner. My kids usually eat a snack after school around 3. Do French kids eat after-school snacks? Normally just an apple or do they eat chips and other "junk food"? Just curious...
Stephanie - French kids will typically have an afternoon snack around 4pm (another name for le goûter is actually le quatre-heure) and eat dinner between 7 and 8pm. The nature of the snack varies widely -- fruit, yogurt, cookies and small cakes (often packaged), a croissant (from the bakery on their way home), some bread with chocolate or jam... -- but it is generally something sweet.
Do you know where you can buy baking soda/baking powder in Paris? (or what the French equivalent is?) And what is the French equivalent of oat bran?
Merci beaucoup!
Sincerely,
American Muffin-lover in Paris
Rebecca - Baking powder (= levure chimique) can be bought at the supermarket. Baking soda (= bicarbonate de soude) can be bought at the supermarket or the pharmacie. Oat bran (= son d'avoine) can be found at natural food stores. Happy muffin-making!
Rebecca,
I buy bicarbonate de soude from the cleaning products section of my local biocoop. It's cheap, and brilliant for cleaning stains like the inside of a teapot too.
do you have any recommendations for high-altitude baking? I live in Colorado, USA at nearly 5300 feet. Thank you!
These are the best blueberry muffins I have ever had. They have become my staple muffin! Thank you!
Thank you Rebecca, I'm delighted to hear it!
I was looking for a simple cake recipe to bake on a cold winter day like today when I found this one. Since I had all the ingredients in my pantry and fridge, it took me 10 minutes to put them in the oven. I am glad I made them as my fussy 8 year old daughter had two of these already, and normally she refuses to eat any muffins other than not so healthy chocolate ones. Thank you for the recipe. It will take its place in my special recipe holder.
Happy to hear it, Bec, thanks for writing!
Oh my god, I kept thinking about the blueberry yogurt cakes, didn't even bother to double check how much blueberries and threw in a whole bag of blueberries instead of a cup ]:
now it's all goey inside no matter how long I cook them and really not sweet enough.... ahhh... haha. SOS ! any ideas on what to do with them now ? >.
I would probably pull them apart, arrange the pieces in a baking pan, sprinkle the top with a little sugar, and put that back into the oven. You should get a sort of cobbler that may not look like much, but will be baked through and taste good. :)
I saw these on Allie's blog and they look delicious~~and i have to point out, I love your photos! ;)
I made the muffins last night. They tasted amazing. But did not bake through because the batter was really stiff. Maybe the bran i used absorbs too much liquid. What should I do? Add more liquid? Just soak the bran in hot water before using or more yogurt or some home made unsweetened applesauce? Thank you!! Love your website :-)
Did you measure the bran by weight or volume ? If it is the latter, it's possible that you simply used too much bran -- volume measurements are less accurate because every baker measures differently, and your bran can "settle" more or less than mine. I think it would be safer to use less bran in the future, rather than up the liquid content of the recipe, which would throw off the sugar content of the recipe. Happy baking!
Hi Clotilde! I've got two questions. Well, maybe three-ish. I'm not wild about blueberries, but I do love raspberries. I was also at a little b&b recently in Maine where the innkeeper served up homemade raspberry-ginger muffins. So I'm wondering...would replacing the blueberries with raspberries and adding some ginger - fresh or maybe candied - affect the baking time? Thank you!
Feel free to substitute raspberries here, and a touch of ginger. It should be delicious, and won't affect the baking time. Let us know how it turns out!
And here is your update! I replaced the blueberries with raspberries, added a tsp of ground ginger and, once the batter was in the little cups, grated a bit of fresh ginger over each one. They came out deliciously spicy. Of course, it might be too much for some people - but we happen to be ginger fanatics, so we loved it. Thanks for the advice!