[recipe redone] date branana muffins

I have mentioned on numerous occasions that when I'm trying things out, I like to try the Cook's Illustrated version of a recipe first. The food always turns out good and usually gives me a good base for making my own tweaks. In fact, the narrative that comes before the recipe gives great insight into the decisions they made while developing their recipe. So if they say something like "we tried 8 TB butter but found it to be too rich" and you think the recipe could be richer, just use the 8 TB -- it'll still turn out. Baking is more scientific than other types of cooking, but it doesn't have to be as precise as some people would have you think.

Anyway, I digress...I wanted bran muffins last week for breakfast, so I made the Cook's Illustrated recipe entitled "Better Bran Muffins." Using Kellogg's All-Bran cereal instead of wheat bran was supposed to make it easier for people to make -- in their words, "We wanted a bran muffin that didn't require a trip to the health food store." The ingredient list was smaller than that of their "Best Bran Muffins" (and I had everything already) making the choice of "Better" over "Best" an easy one.

I have to say that it was just ok, though. I thought that they miscalculated something -- the muffins tasted soapy! Knowing that too much baking powder can do that to a baked good, I double-checked if I mis-measured...nope. The recipe called for a lot of baking powder -- 2 teaspoons by itself (to be counter-balanced by 1 3/4 cups yogurt). I decided that in my redo, I would reduce the soda by a 1/2 teaspoon and replace it with 2 teaspoons of baking powder, which has the same leavening capacity (1 soda:4 powder) but comes with enough acid to balance itself out. Also, I had one banana that was just about on its way out, so I subbed that for some of the yogurt. Finally, I had some chopped dried dates that I'd use instead of raisins.

The resulting muffins were, in my opinion, much better than the first go-around. Not soapy at all, tasting faintly of banana, and with little pockets of sweet dates to liven up the sometimes-boring bran, this muffin made my mouth happy for almost two weeks.

1 cup chopped dried dates
1 teaspoon water
2 1/4 cups All-Bran Original cereal (5 ounces)
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (2 1/2 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar (4 2/3 ounces)
3 tablespoons mild molasses (or light)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), melted and cooled
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 1/4 cups plain whole-milk yogurt

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray standard-sized muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine dates and water in small microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, cut several steam vents in plastic with paring knife, and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Let stand, covered, until dates are softened and plump, about 5 minutes. Transfer dates to paper towel-lined plate to cool.

2. Process half of bran cereal in food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. Whisk flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl to combine; set aside. Whisk egg and yolk together in medium bowl until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar, molasses, and vanilla; whisk until mixture is thick, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter and whisk to combine; add yogurt and mashed banana and whisk to combine. Stir in processed cereal and unprocessed cereal; let mixture sit until cereal is evenly moistened (there will still be some small lumps), about 5 minutes.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently mix with rubber spatula until batter is combined and evenly moistened. Do not overmix. Gently fold dates into batter. Using 1/3-cup measure or ice cream scoop, divide batter evenly among muffin cups, dropping batter to form mounds. Do not level or flatten surfaces of mounds.

4. Bake until muffins are dark golden and toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs attached, 16 to 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

After they have cooled, muffins can be frozen in a zip-top bag and reheated whenever the mood strikes by using a microwave oven -- zap for 2 minutes at 20% power.