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My favorite muffins are chocolate chip, and I especially love the chocolate chip muffins at Tim Horton’s. They’re moist, soft, and cakey with just the right amount of chocolate and a crunchy, sugar top. Sadly, my favorite Tim Horton’s chocolate chip muffins have a whopping 430 calories each, not to mention 40 grams of sugar and only 2 grams of fiber (you can get their full nutritional profile here).
I can’t say that my Black Forest Bran Muffins are as cakey and delicious as the muffins at Tim Horton’s, but then again cake under the guise of a muffin probably shouldn’t be part of breakfast anyway. These muffins are moist and delicious in a different way. A healthy way…and when paired with low-fat cottage cheese and an apple, it’s a filling, nourishing breakfast that fuels me for at least four hours.
Baking with Honey: I do a lot of my baking with honey instead of sugar, because honey is natural and unprocessed, and contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that sugar lacks. Honey also helps keep baked goods fresher (because its enzymes fight mold) and moister (because it is hydroscopic, meaning it draws moisture to itself) for longer periods of time. When I develop a recipe with honey or experiment with substituting honey in a recipe, here are some helpful tips I keep in mind:
· Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you can use less.
· Honey is a liquid, so you can reduce the amounts of other liquids in the recipe.
· Honey is slightly acidic, so you can balance this with a little baking soda.
· Honey causes baked goods to brown faster, so to counterbalance this you can turn your oven down a bit (approximately 25 degrees Fahrenheit should do the trick).
You can read more about baking with honey at Glory Bee Honey or eHow.
Honey’s Medicinal Qualities: Honey is completely marvelous in so many ways. In addition to its delicious taste and nutrition, raw honey has many medicinal uses. According to Dancing Bee Gardens, “Honey has a long history of medicinal use dating back thousands of years. While the health and healing properties of honey are wide and varied, it is raw honey’s antibacterial and antifungal properties that make it ideal for use on wounds, burns and infections. With its low pH and high sugar content, honey inhibits the growth of pathogens in much the same way that sugar is used to preserve jams and jellies. The hygroscopic nature of honey allow it to draw the moisture out of any bacteria or mold that are unfortunate enough to find themselves in contact with it. In this way, the bacteria found in infectious wounds are dehydrated and killed off by the application of honey. As if that was not enough, honey contains the enzyme glucose oxidase that upon contact with the skin, breaks down and slowly releases hydrogen peroxide in the process. Thus, honey provides a degree of antiseptic action that is unparalleled in the world of medicine.”
Black Forest Bran Muffins
(Yield: 12 muffins)
2 large eggs
1/3 c canola oil
1/2 c honey
3/4 c reduced-fat milk (I used 1%)
2 tsp almond extract (or pure vanilla extract)
1 c wheat bran
1 c plus 1 TB whole wheat flour, divided
1 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c dark chocolate chips
1/2 c dried cherries
1/2 c chopped pecans or any nuts you like (optional)
3 tsp turbinado sugar
Cooking spray
Muffin tray
12 paper liners (if using)
Preheat the oven to 375F. Beat together the eggs, oil, honey, milk, and almond/vanilla extract. In a separate bowl mix together the bran, 1 c flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the chocolate chips, cherries, and nuts with the remaining 1 TB flour and stir to coat. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet, then stir in the chips/cherries/nuts until just mixed (be careful not to overmix or your chips/cherries/nuts will lose their flour coating and sink to the bottom of your muffins). Fill the muffin tray and sprinkle 1/4 tsp turbinado sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly moist with just a few crumbs (careful not to overcook so they won’t be dry).
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
Free Bonus
I am in charge of bringing treats for this week’s breakfast meeting. I am so happy that I will have a healthy option (along with a not so healthy option.) You can’t force people to eat healthy; you can only show them that healthy can taste good. I think these muffins will do just that!
Thanks!
These look and sound sooo amazing! healthy to boot, love that!
Faith, these muffins sound so awesome! Straight out of the oven is how I would like mine. I bet your home smells awesome when you whip up a batch of these. I knew honey was a great replacement for sugar, but WOW it is a Superfood! Got leftovers??
That was some really helpful information about honey! Thanks! These muffins look amazing by the way. I LOVE muffins, and I’ll take any chance to have some chocolate for breakfast.
I really like that muffin recipe Faith! I will make it and I promise you they will be gone in a matter of minutes.
I think you have ESP, I want to make everything you post!
I really want to make these, but can’t eat chocolate. What could I sub in?
Blond Duck, You could use any other flavored chips you like (such as pb or butterscotch) or you could use raisins or any other dried fruit…or feel free to leave out the chocolate chips altogether. If you make these, let me know how you like them! :)
Faith, these muffins look absolutely yummie, love the idea of black forest muffins :-)
Muffins is one thing I haven’t tried yet. I’ve only recently gotten into baking in general (at 30, yes, I am a late bloomer!). But these sound delicious, maybe it will motivate me to make my first muffins soon! =)
These look wonderful – making a muffin just that little bit healthier means, surely, second helpings? Happy days! Love the Black Forest idea – delicious :)
Yummy muffins. We are a muffin family and these look particularly inviting.
Thanks for adding a link to this on Meatless Mondays on my blog. People will be glad to give up a day of meat for a muffin like this.
well now, i had no idea honey was so magical! i’ll certainly be incorporating it into more of my baked goods now–thanks for the info!
meanwhile, these muffins look stellar, and not just because of the raw sugar on top. they’re hearty yet undoubtedly tasty–nicely done, faith!
The Tim Horton’s muffins sound delicious but I think the guilt I would feel from eating them would preclude me from actually enjoying them.
Yours on the other hand sound and look amazing…and GUILT FREE. Thanks for all of the tips about honey. I would really love to bake with it more!
Faith, thanks for all the useful tips about using honey and also the health benefits. Love this muffins. Looks very healthy and delicious.
Thank you very much for these interesting information about honey! The muffins look delicious, I definitely have to try this receipt!
I really try to keep the breakfast foods healthy. So it nice to have recipies that use whole wheat, bran, nuts and fruits. Delicious muffins.
Mimi
Oh goodie, another muffin recipe! I’m still enjoying the carrot cake ones (they freeze well, BTW–I just pop one in the microwave for about 30 seconds on busy mornings and it’s soft, warm and wonderful) but would like to make these next. I love the idea of the chocolate and cherries–great idea. Thanks for the tips on baking with honey. I tried to come up with a quick bread using honey for the state fair (they had a special honey category) but I don’t feel I ever quite got it right. I thought it was impossible to get a good texture on baked goods made with honey until I tried your muffins! Armed with your tips, maybe I’ll have a good one by next fall. I liked the info on the healthfulness of it too. Did you know eating local raw honey can help with allergies? Pretty cool stuff!
These look excellent Faith! And I love the combo of chocolate, cherries, and pecans! I bake a lot with honey too. Lately I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers kind of dissing honey – saying it is still a sugar, etc. And while that may be true – in addition to all the great things you mentioned -unlike sugar raw honey doesn’t go through all that processing – that’s one of the main reasons I like it.
This looks wonderful Faith! I always like the addition of dried or fresh cherries to any recipe. I had no idea honey was so beneficial in baking too! :D
Those muffins look fabulous! I prefer to bake with honey myself…
Delicious delicious delicious!!! I swear you make the best breakfast items. I should make these because then maybe I would actually eat breakfast! Yum :)
Thanks for the tips on how to bake with honey! I would love to bake less with sugar but I am too lazy to read stuff on how to substitute sugar in baking. That is why, when I see a baking recipe with honey instead of sugar, I am happy. The job is already done :)
I agree with you on Tim Horton’s muffins. They are like small cakes.
By the way, you muffins look great! And I also do love the turbinado sugar in them.
They look fabulous! I love that sugar topping!
Cheers,
Rosa
I loved reading all of the facts about honey. I use honey a lot in my baking as well, I love the nice flavor it adds. Your muffins look scrumptious! I haven’t tried this combination of ingredients yet…can’t wait! :D
great muffin recipe… adding turbinado sugar sounds really good! :)
These look wonderful, Faith. And healthy. Everyone thinks chocolate chips are bad but they aren’t. Especially the dark kind. And they’re very nice with dried cherries. (My favorite candy when I was a kid were those chocolate covered cherries. Haven’t had one in years!)
Kudos for this super recipe that I won’t feel guuilty eating.
Hi Faith, I have a request. Please, please, please open a bakery (near me of course) so that I can get your beautiful, healthy baked goods. I would be a regular! Another masterpiece! Oh, and I definitely need to use honey more often – great information!
those look wonderful! i’ve marked them to put them in my ‘baking queue’ (ha). i’ll probably sub raisins for the chips b/c i actually don’t love chocolate in muffins (even though i LOVE it at other times) but they otherwise look like a perfect breakfast option!