Savory Whole Grain Sunday Brunch Muffins

I have been making muffins bi-weekly for a few months now. After experimenting with several recipes, I discovered a great base formula that uses bran, flaxseed and whole wheat flour. The best part is that I can skip any fat or oils altogether and miraculously, they still come out moist! The trick is substitution, substitution, substitution!! A variety of healthier options, such as mashed ripe bananas, unsweetened applesauce, canned pumpkin, even shredded carrots or zucchinis, will add moisture to the batter. After trying out a slew of the more traditional muffin, banana nut, apple spice, blueberry, just to name a few, a light went off in my head while I was trying to conjure up more flavors. Who says muffins have to be sweet? That's right, I'm going to make a savory muffin. It should be similar to the frittatas that I baked in the past -- instead of the meat and veggies swimming in a egg mixture, they'll be boogying with bran 'n friends.


This being my first foray into the dark side of baking, I decided to keep it simple. My first consideration was to find something similar to apple sauce as my oil substitute. Well, that was easy, what's better than creamed corn? I add it to my favorite corn bread recipe for a super moist corn bread so it should be a shoo-in. Then I made a list of what I would like in an omelette, and chicken apple sausage immediately came to mind. After several wiggles of the nose, I added scallions, corn and tomatoes to the list. Well, here we go!!

Recipe
1 1/2 cup oat bran

1 1/2 cup flax seed

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground pepper

1 teaspoon ground thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 eggs

2 cups milk

1 can of creamed corn (15.25 oz)

1 can of drained whole corn kernels (15.25 oz)

1 package of chicken apple sausage wieners (1 pound, cut up around 2 1/2 cups)

6 scallions (cut up around 1 cup)

3 diced red chili peppers (cut up around 1/3 cup)

1 cup quartered grape tomatoes

1 cup ricotta cheese

cooking spray

First things first, preheat the oven to 375º. Soak the bran and flaxseed in the milk. Don't forget to stir the mixture a bit to ensure that the milk soak down to the dry ingredients at the bottom. Let sit for around 10 minutes. The resulting blend should be very thick, with all the milk absorbed into the bran and flax.

While the milk and bran/flax sit, cut up the sausage, scallions and tomatoes. Don't go crazy here, no need to fine dice everything, just have to cut them to around the size of your finger tips. You can also be creative here. Instead of chicken apple sausage, try ham, bacon or tofu for you vegetarians out there. You can add sun dried tomatoes, shredded zucchinis, onions... the possibilities are endless. I also added some minced hot peppers to add a bit of zing. What can I say, some like it hot.

Next up, I cracked the eggs and dumped the can of creamed corn in the stand mixer. With the paddle attachment (you can also use a handheld mixer), whisk the concoction on medium for around 30 seconds. The eggs and corn should be well combined and the mixture might foam a bit from the eggs. Add the milk and bran/flax brew to the bowl and stir using the lowest setting on the mixer. Be careful not to over-mix. In case you're wondering, recipes for cakes and muffins always caution against over-mixing because it will make the dough dense so it won't rise as much. Fluffy is good.

In a different bowl, combine the dry ingredients -- flour, salt, baking soda and powder, thyme, nutmeg and ground black pepper. Using a fork, stir until they're well mixed. Once again, this is where you can change up the spices. Maybe dried dill? Maybe curry powder? I highly encourage people to experiment with their own blends. Cooking is a lot like fashion -- always add your own special touch to make it yours. It's important to keep in mind when you make substitutions that the amount of sodium in the ingredients may vary, so adjust the salt that you incorporate with the dry ingredients accordingly. Working in three batches, stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, until just combined. The finished product will be fairly lumpy and a bit sticky.

Finally, add the remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl using the lowest setting of the stand mixer until just combined. I did it in three batches, first the corn, then the contents of the measuring cup and lastly, the ricotta. After I removed the mixing bowl from the stand mixer, using a spatula, I gave the final concoction another turn or two to ensure even distribution of the diced meat and veggies.

Grease the muffin pan well with cooking spray. There are several schools of thought on the best way to fill the cups. Some utilize an ice cream scoop, some measuring spoons, some even use specialized batter dispensers. With a batter as clumpy with various textured add-in's, it's pointless to painstakingly measure out the mixture so I would just eye ball it. I use the spatula to scoop out a heaping of the blend and with the help of a smaller spoon, scrap the bounty into the muffin cup. The process will be a bit messy so don't panic if a drop or three of the mix end up outside the cup, or god forbid, on the counter. Just use a clean towel to wipe the sides of the cupcake tray so the bits and pieces don't burn in the oven. You can sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top the if desired. 

Pop the suckers in the oven for 30 minutes. Insert a tooth pick into the center of a muffin and if it comes out clean, you're done! Keep in mind that cooking time varies with the size of the muffins. If you want to make smaller portions, I would cut the cooking time by 3-5 minutes. I made 17 muffins, but I was rather fearless with the amount that I piled into each muffin pan. You could easily make 24 muffins with the ingredients listed. 

Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before you even think about taking them out of the tin!! There's a 50-50 chance that the mounds will break apart if you immediate try to wrestle them lose from the pan right out of the oven. Once cooled, use a butter knife to gingerly pry the muffins lose. If they're stubborn, run the knife along the edge of the pan and the suckers should pop right out. Enjoy!

Reflections
I was a bit worried when I first tasted the muffins. I wasn't sure if the slight mushiness of the bran works in a savory setting. There really isn't anything that I could think of with this texture/taste combination. Thankfully, after the muffin cooled some more, the ingredients welded together to give it more body. Next time, I might do away with the ricotta as the batter was moist enough and the cheese didn't add much flavor.