High Fiber Bran Muffins (8 gr dietary fiber)

[newcook]

On the Healthy Living board, the question was asked if we get enough fiber. I had to answer I don't know, I should find out.

It made me realize that I don't get enough fiber, so I started a quest for high fiber muffins.

These are the highest ones I found so far. I made them this morning except that I used All-bran instead of wheat bran (because I didn't have any and dates instead of prunes for the same reason.). Those changes are not the best because it increased calories and lowered the fiber, but it still was high fiber.

The muffins were huge compared to any of the others I've made so far, even a little bigger than the BBB muffins. The taste was a little bland (maybe because of the changes I made), could use something maybe vanilla. But for the nutritional value I would definitely make these again but using the original ingredients.

High Fiber Bran Muffins

Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 1/2 cups orange juice -- calcium fortified
6 dried prunes -- for prune butter
1/3 cup water -- for prune butter
2 egg whites
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons wheat germ

Preheat Oven to 400º Spray Muffin Pan with quick spray of Pam or use muffin paper liners. Puree prunes and water in blender to make prune butter. Add orange juice and blend briefly so that it will be easy to pour prune butter out of blender container. In a large mixing bowl, combine wheat bran with orange juice/prune mixture, egg whites, sugar, and raisins. Let stand for 10 minutes or so. In a separate bowl, combine Flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon and wheat germ. Stir the dry ingredients into bran/orange juice mixture. Blend until all dry ingredients are moist. Fill 12 muffin tins with batter. Tins will be very full. Bake at 400º for 15 minutes. Description:\par "Low calorie, low fat, high fiber and calcium rich!"

Description:
"2 Points Per Serving"


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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 153 Calories; 1g Fat (4.9% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 149mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : This recipe is great and so filling! I love eating these muffins with a little Dannon Light Vanilla Yogurt spooned onto each bite. They are great!

Per serving: 154 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (4% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 149mg Sodium

Food Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates

Daniele

[Terrytx]

thanks for posting. I'll try this soon.

[sunberst]

i like bran muffins. cant wait to make these.

glad you are trying to get more fiber into your diet!

kashi makes a cereal called "go lean" that has an insane amount of fiber in it. :) also veggies are a great source.

[newcook]

I just went out and bought 2 boxes of Kashi Go Lean cereal. Thanks Sunberst for that information.

I also found a recipe called Sherm's Megamuffins. The list of ingredients is huge. Has anyone tried them? I think I might give it a shot if I can find all of the ingredients.

Daniele

[newcook]

I just made these muffins again but without the changes I had made the last time. This time they turned out terrific. They were large, moist and tasty.

I don't know if that was a legal move to post on my own thread but I'm quite sure people will really like these so I wanted to comment on the recipe without the changes.

Daniele

[britneyelise]

These look great, I am not a big fan of raisins, but I do love dried cherries. Do you think they would work here? Or would it totally mess up the flavor. Maybe add some almond extract instead of adding cinnamon? I might just try that......

[KristinK]

Hey Daniele! I actually made this - well, sort of. I didn't post a review because I made two pretty big changes, and one small one. First, I baked it in a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Second - and this is the biggie - I completely omitted the prune butter and used 1 cup mashed bananas instead. And the third small change was that I used egg replacer for the egg whites to make it vegan. (I picked this recipe from my files because I wanted to make something for my vegan brother without having to run to the store for soy milk or yogurt, which a lot of my other recipes needed.)

But let me tell you, it still turned out really good. Not a typical banana bread, but very moist and flavorful. Even better toasted. I'll try it again if I ever remember to pick up some prunes - but then again, it WAS really good with the bananas :)

Shannon - I think dried cherries (or cranberries) would compliment the slight orange flavor well. I don't care for almond extract, so I would suggest adding some orange zest to brighten the orange flavor instead.

[HeatherTx]

Thanks for the recipe! Is wheat bran a flour type item or is it a cereal?

[KristinK]

Originally posted by HeatherTx
Is wheat bran a flour type item or is it a cereal?
Neither, really - although I usually find it with the flour. Tiny, light(weight) flakes packed with fiber.

[HeatherTx]

Hmmm...never have seen it. Thanks for the tip. I would have been running all over the store. :)

[Gracie]

I want to take time to do a side-by-side comparison of this recipe with the Pineapple Bran Muffins from Sandra Woodruff posted by Terrytx. Those seem to be very high in fiber and are also huge. I make them even huger by omitting the pineapple and substituting blueberries.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Pineapple Bran Muffins

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread Breakfast


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/4 cups skim milk
1 1/2 cups whest bran
1/2 cup date sugar or brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flourmor unbleached
flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple packed in juice,
undrained
2 egg whites
1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Combine the milk, wheat bran, and date or brown sugar, and set aside for 15 minutes.

Combine the flour and baking powder, and stir to mix well. Add the bran mixture, the pineapple with its juice, and the egg whites, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the pecans, if desired.

Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray, and fill 3/4 full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes, or just until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove muffins tin from the oven, and allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing the muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

per muffin: 106 cal, 0.6g fat, 4.8g pro, 0mg chol, 105mg sod, 4.7g fiber, 60mg calc, 1.4mh iron

Source:
"Secrets of FF Baking"

Wow - they only (only!) have 4.7 g of fiber.

Comparing - they both have wheat bran and wheat flour. There's only 2 T of wheat germ in the HFBM that's not in the PBM. Could the prunes and orange juice in the HFBM have enough fiber in them to make that much difference (doubling the fiber)?

Loren

[PoppyJ]

Is oat bran a good substitute for wheat bran? I have oat bran in the cupboard and I was hoping to be able to use it. Will it make a difference?

[KristinK]

Loren - I'm not sure of the exact amounts, but the prunes do contribute a large amount of fiber. That's one of the reasons I said using bananas was such a big change - I knew they made for a lower fiber count.

And I have a question for you: when you use blueberries instead of pineapple in that muffin recipe, does the lack of pineapple juice make any difference? I never have canned pineapple, but I always have blueberries, and I've been wanting to try this recipe!

PoppyJ - yes, you can definitely sub oat bran. It will yield a slightly different texture, maybe a bit more dense, but it will still taste great. I'm not sure of the amounts, but I think it might have less fiber than wheat bran too.

[Gracie]

Originally posted by KristinK
And I have a question for you: when you use blueberries instead of pineapple in that muffin recipe, does the lack of pineapple juice make any difference? I never have canned pineapple, but I always have blueberries, and I've been wanting to try this recipe!

It doesn't make a bit of difference. They are plenty moist and the blueberries give them some added flavor. I honestly didn't taste the pineapple at all when I made them the first time. Try them - I think it's an awesome recipe!

Loren

[KristinK]

Good to know :) Thanks, Loren!

[doggerham]

Is there any reason you couldn't substitute baby food prunes or Lighter Bake in the same amount as if you pureed the prunes? I wouldn't think so, but always value your collective input.

Amy

[KristinK]

Amy, I can't think of any reason.

But that brings the question: how much prune butter does 6 prunes + 1/3 cup water yield?

[doggerham]

Picky, Picky! I would just *guess* at maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup and see how it looks. I'll try and make these this weekend and report back.

[PoppyJ]

I made these today to go along with my salad for lunch. I usually have homemade wheat bread with my lunch so this was a nice change. I like the muffins. They are moist, big, and filling. I am not big on orange flavoring so I was a little hesitant because of the orange juice, but it was not too strong. Do you think I can sub milk or yogurt for the orange juice next time?

[KristinK]

Poppy, I would try soy milk before yogurt because the bran needs to absorb the liquid. I have tried other recipes that soak the bran in milk, and the recipe Loren posted does too. I would probably add some vanilla to make up for the slight flavor lost with the orange juice.

Just curious, did end up using oat bran?

[PoppyJ]

Originally posted by KristinK
Just curious, did end up using oat bran?

No, I ended up finding some wheat bran in my cabinet. Thanks for the advice. Next time I am going to try milk.

[Terrytx]

These are excellent-thanks for posting. I did use oat bran because that is what I had and it worked just fine. I couldn't fit all the batter into 12 cups; mine made 18 very generous size muffins. These will go on my top ten list :D