When we lived in Los Angeles I would buy bran muffins from Il Fornaio, they were so good. Then we moved to Tennessee, and I started buying bran muffins from Mimi’s Restaurant. My husband likes to have a bran muffin every morning for breakfast before work (during the week). Not only does he love the bran muffins from Mimi’s, but I love them, too. They’re so good and now I can make them at home! This recipe is the closest I’ve come in my experimentations, so I thought I’d share it with you.
Makes 12 regular sized muffins
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Milk
1/3 cup Raisins
1/3 cup dark Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Honey
2 Tbsp Molasses
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
1 cup Flour
1 cup Wheat Bran
4 Tbsp Pecan meal (or just finely grind up some pecans)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp salt
Glaze:
3 Tbsp Butter, melted
3 Tbsp Sugar
3 Tbsp dark Brown Sugar, packed
2 Tbsp Honey
2 tsp Water
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Blend milk and raisins together until a paste is formed.
Place the milk/raisin mixture into the bowl of your electric mixer, or a large bowl.
Add in the brown sugar, honey, molasses, vegetable oil and egg.
Mix on medium speed until everything is well blended.
Stop your mixer and add in the flour, wheat bran, pecan meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Mix just until moistened.
Quickly make the glaze:
In a small, microwaveable bowl, melt the butter for 40 seconds until melted and hot.
Add in the sugar, brown sugar, honey and water.
Stir until everything is melted and it becomes the consistency of caramel.
Place about 1 tablespoons of the glaze into each of the 12 muffin tins, dividing the glaze evenly among the tins until there is no glaze left.
Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full.
Do not overfill the muffin cups, there should be exactly enough batter for 12 perfect muffins.
Bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Immediately invert the baked muffins onto a foil or wax paper covered baking sheet to cool.
Enjoy!
Note: These muffins will keep in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for a week to 10 days. Or you can place them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Yep, one muffin is missing! I couldn’t resist and had to have a nice warm one fresh outta the oven. So good!!
One of my most fave muffins, Helena!! I know these are just puffs of giggly love for my palate…I mean the ingredients come together like a symphony of love!! xox
One of my favorites, too. I think I finally nailed it with this recipe. Hope you give it a try when you get a chance! xoxo
Just perfect
Now maybe you can work on Mimi’s carrot/nut/pineapple muffins! When you nail that one let me know!! ;0)
Hi Mary – I love those muffins, too! I enjoy figuring out recipes, so I’ll get right on it and I’ll let you know!
Will definitely try these. However my favourite muffins ever are the Il Fornaio ones. Any tips in how to make those? Thank you
Hi Lisa,
I’ve tried to make those and just couldn’t get it right. I love those muffins, too! I know that Il Fornaio has a cookbook out… but the muffins aren’t in there.
I have made these muffins today, and my search for the ultimate bran muffin is over. These are pretty special, quite amazing, incredibly delicious!!! Thank you so much for recreating the recipe. I used to love Il Fornaio, except it closed about 10 years ago. Still miss it…
I’m so glad you like the muffins! I love them, and my husband has one every morning.
I always thought of bran muffins as kinda dry and bland. But these sound amazing!! I would have made them this morning but I had no wheat bran.
Hey Carla – these are the best bran muffins! Can’t wait for you to try them!!
i just made them tonight! Absolutely delicious can not taste any difference from Mimi’s! Best ever thank you so much!!
Fantastic – glad you liked them! My husband must have one every morning, he loves them!!
Thank you! The flavor and texture was great! I used an ungreased non-stick muffin pan and the muffins stuck. Do you grease the tin? I want to make them again for guests. I can try buttering the tin, but I’m wondering if a little more butter in the glaze would do the trick…
Hi Evelyn – Glad you liked the muffins. I’m sorry they stuck. I usually loosen them a little by running a butter knife around the muffin, and then I flip them over. I think it’s also important not to let the muffins cool too much before flipping them. Only about 5 minutes. You don’t want the sugar and butter glaze to harden.
I love Mimi’s honey bran muffins! However, I have food allergies. When I saw your recipe and was convinced you had indeed nailed it, I decided to try it but with substitutions. I used coconut flour instead of regular, coconut oil instead of butter, oat bran instead of wheat bran, egg substitute for egg, and dates instead of raisins. Made the pecan meal. Husband came home and demanded to know what that delicious smell was, then proceeded to eat a freshly baked muffin and said they were divine. They taste SUPER YUMMY. Thank you for being so brilliant!
Thanks so much, Christi! We love those muffins and my husband has one every morning. Glad they worked out for you with the substitutions. I own a small cafe and there are so many people who come in with gluten issues, so I’m learning how to make just about everything gluten free!