Blueberry Whole Wheat Muffins

Just when I thought I was starting to get the hang of residency and felt like I knew some things, we started radiobiology lectures. I’ve been sending the baked goods to work with Kevin, but decided to keep these very organic whole wheat breakfast champions for my own co-residents. 

The original recipe was for Blueberry Bran Muffins, but there was no bran in the recipe… What is bran?? The only thing I REALLY know about bran is that it was the muffin I never wanted growing up. Wheat kernels are made up of 3 components: endosperm, bran, and germ. The endosperm composes most of the kernel and becomes white flour following the milling process. Bran is the hard outer layer of the seed, which is removed during the milling process of white flour. Bran is included in whole wheat flour and is a great source of B vitamins and insoluble fiber. Germ is the part of the kernel that will sprout and grow. It is also a good source of B vitamins and included in whole wheat flour, but is frequently separated during the milling process because the natural oils in the germ limit the shelf-life of flour. It is worth noting that this also limits the shelf-life of germ on its own, so should not be bought in bulk. Bran and wheat germ can be substituted for each other by volume, not weight. Anyway, this recipe uses wheat germ instead of bran and it is toasted to a deep golden color. This is not your typical bran muffin.

High quality and local ingredients get expensive quickly, which is why I LOVE receiving local ingredients like honey as gifts. I’m not willing to allocate all of my resident income to baking because, you know, rent. However, I do appreciate it when I am able to create more wholesome goodies. I swiped this local honey from my parents’ cabinets when I was home (Hey mom – can you restock when you come to visit me??) and I’ve been loving it. The syrup was a gift from my mom for another healthy-ish baking project, and it is DELICIOUS. The Runamok website is fun to explore with several very creative infusions (everything from jasmine tea to merquén), and I could easily spend way too much money on maple syrup. The only thing that could have made these more Seattle-esque, would be if I had fresh eggs from my mom’s hens. I’m going to need to track down a local friend with a brood! 

I just happened to have organic and local ingredients for these muffins, but there is no need to go out and buy these ingredients if you have good ol’ standards on hand. All-purpose flour could easily be used instead of white whole wheat for a slightly less pretentious, but just as delicious muffin.

These muffins will dry out and so are best eaten the day they are made. I’m sure they’re best fresh out of the oven, but I made them late at night and they were still gone in about 30 seconds during our morning meeting!