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Jessie Keys' Date Bran Muffins

by:
February 18, 2017
4.5
2 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes 14 to 18
Author Notes

My husband and his siblings are fond of sharing the many stories about "Aunt Jessie," a close friend of the family. Although Jessie never had children of her own, she doted on those of her friends and family. This very afternoon, my sister-in-law related the tale of being 8 years old and hiding in the bedroom closet to dodge Auntie's generous hugs and moist kisses... only to discover her brother was already there, hiding as well!

I had the privilege of meeting Jessie many years ago, and despite our age difference, it was as if we had always been friends. I will always admire her love of life and her gift for making friends, even into her nineties. Her warmth was all the more remarkable given the hardships and losses she had experienced in her life.

Jessie ends her recipe with, "These are light tasty muffins every time." She's right! —Windischgirl

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Ingredients
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1/2 cup corn oil or other neutral oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup oat bran (Jessie specified Quaker "cooking bran")
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons wheat germ
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 to 1 cups pitted dates
  • 1 cup buttermilk
Directions
  1. Heat the oven to 425° F. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, salt, sugar, oil, and vanilla.
  2. In a second bowl mix the bran, flour, wheat germ, and baking soda.
  3. Prepare the dates by cutting them into bite-size pieces. If they are hard, cover them with simmering water, let soak for 20 to 30 minutes, and drain well. Cut when cool. Add to the flour mixture and toss to coat.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Blend together being careful not to over-mix. The batter will be runny.
  5. Jessie would lightly grease her muffin tin with margarine and then line with paper muffin cups. I used paper liners lightly greased with cooking spray. Fill about 3/4 full; for my tin, this was about 1/4 cup of batter, and I used a ladle to fill the cups. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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A Date-Bran Muffin as Sweet & Timeless as the Woman Who Made Them

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3 Reviews

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Gal May 12, 2017
BTW, I lined my muffin tin with silicone baking cups and no greasing was necessary. Muffins just popped out.
Gal May 12, 2017
One word: WOW!
Two words: delicious and surprising!
I was really happy to see "2 tablespoons wheat germ". (Wheat germ is super healthy and I try to add it everywhere I can). I didn't have buttermilk, easy to Substitute with milk and lemon juice (Substitute for Buttermilk: 1 cup milk,
1 tablespoon lemon juice. Combine ingredients and let stand 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, mix together well and use as buttermilk in any recipe!)
I used sunflower seed oil instead of corn oil.
I also made a version with old fashioned rolled oats instead of oat bran, and this too came out great.
This is such a FANTASTIC recipe!!! Thank you to Aunt Jessie and to Windischgirl for bringing it to all of us.
Windischgirl May 13, 2017
Gal, thanks for your comments! I will have to try the variation with old fashioned oats. And I bet the sunflower oil added a nice nutty accent. I,m glad you enjoyed this recipe!