With sweet, plump dates and natural bran, how can you resist these Healthy overnight bran and date muffins. They’re incredibly moist and full of healthy ingredients, and there is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked muffins wafting through the house in the early morning.
Of course someone has to get up and put them in the oven… but here’s the thing… the mixture is made the night before. All you have to do is mix up a batch of ingredients and leave the mixture, sealed, in the fridge overnight. The muffins can be baked straight away, but they are so much better if the mixture is left for a few hours. This mixture will last in the fridge for days, so if you are just making one or two each day it will last the week.
The kids will love them too, as the dates soften during the cooking into delicious sweet pieces, and they will never know they are eating dates. They are pretty addictive too, so mix up a batch today and enjoy.
ABOUT BRAN : Unprocessed wheat bran is the outer covering of the kernel, and contains large amounts of necessary vitamins, minerals and protein.
These are better left overnight and made the next day. Batter will last for 4-5days in the fridge
- 1 1/4 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sugar Use any sugar, coconut, brown, mascavado or white
- 1 3/4 cups unprocessed bran (digestive bran)
- 125 g dates
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1 egg
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Sift the flour, bicarb , cinnamon, and sugar.
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Add the finely chopped dates and bran.
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Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the oil, buttermilk and lightly beaten egg until it is combined well.
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Cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
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The next morning fill each muffin tin with a generous helping of the mixture.
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Bake at 200ºC for 20 minutes
10 Comments
I made two batches of these amazing muffins. The smell of them baking in the morning is great and they taste great too.
I am so glad you like them, thank you.
Simply the best muffins I have ever made. Thank you thank you thank you
Can you make them without oil?
I have never made them without oil unfortunately but you can use coconut oil. They taste a lot different but that would be your healthiest option. Hope this helps
I made these today and they were absolutely delicious! Two decades ago I used to make them for my children when they were little and now I made them for my grandchildren for the first time. Do you think they would work with substituting any dried fruit of choice? And also do you think it would work with substituting 50% wholemeal flour and 50% white flour. Thank you for your input in advance.
Hi Nancy, I am so glad you and your grandchildren enjoyed them. I think this recipe is very forgiving, and I am sure it would be absolutely fine to substitute the flours. I am sure you could substitute the dried fruit as well, but just remember that dates are very sweet and some dried fruits like apricots are quite sour, so your muffin wouldn’t be as sweet depending on what you use, which may be what you are looking for.
My daughter-in-law practically re-wrote the recipe with all the substitutes she made, as she keeps a gluten free home. Let me know how they turn out.
Keep safe and thank you for using my recipes.
My Dad was recently diagnosed coeliac, and so I’m looking for gluten free recipes. I’m therefore very interested in your daughter’s gluten free version…… Would you mind sharing this please? Thankyou
Hi Francis , I am sorry to hear that baking gluten free is always a bit of a challenge. I will find out exactly what she uses and get back to you. Take care
You were so right about how forgiving the recipe is! Yesterday I made them with 100% wholemeal flour and increased the chopped dates to 200 g in total. I also increased the buttermilk by 3 tablespoons to compensate. They tasted divine! I shared some with my elderly father and he love them as well. ?