Bran muffins can be tender and moist. Here’s how.

Honey date bran muffins. The natural nutty sweetness of wheat bran shines in these tender muffins, sticky with honey and dates. Food styled by Spencer Richards. (Julia Gartland/The New York Times)

By GENEVIEVE KO

In the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Oklahoma!,” the signature song opens with:

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain / And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet / When the wind comes right behind the rain.

Those lyrics capture wheat bran at its best — earthy, sweet, invigorating — but even the shimmer of that tune can’t lighten bran’s heavy image. It’s rightfully associated with fiber, but often wrongly assumed to be as scratchy as twine. By extension, bran muffins are vilified both as a form of good-for-you breakfast torture and as a Trojan horse for unhealthy heaps of sugar.

They can, of course, be both. But they can also be exceptional, a morning underdog to blueberry’s obvious appeal and banana’s brazen charm. Done right, they beat them all. Not only do they taste more complex, they feel like fortitude because, well, they are, slowly doling out energy for hours.

These mahogany treats deliver the toasted nuttiness and hearty chew of wheat bran and avoid whole wheat’s common afflictions of heaviness and bitterness in baked goods. The depth of dates and molasses highlight bran’s natural sweetness, and oil and buttermilk lend a touch of richness.

But the key technique that makes these muffins special, glossy with a floral aroma and fresh burst of citrus, is infusing them with an orange-honey blend right out of the oven. This trick of poking toothpick holes in baked goods, then brushing them with syrup while warm is usually applied to cakes, and it transforms bran muffins, ensuring they stay soft and moist for days.

Another insurance against a cardboard finish is simply adding liquid — a lot of it — to the batter. Soaking the bran before baking not only keeps the muffins from drying out, it also ensures that they end up tender.

To understand how wheat bran arrives at that optimal state is to understand the wheat berry from which it comes. Also known as wheat kernels, wheat berries are encased in husks zipped along the tops of stalks and removed in a process known as threshing. Once the inedible chaff and stalks are removed, the wheat berries remain, each composed of three parts: a hard, thin sheath of bran, which surround a large endosperm and little germ. Grinding the berries, trinity and all, yields whole wheat flour. But the parts can be separated when the berries are milled: The endosperm alone becomes all-purpose (white) flour, and the bran and germ are sold on their own.

Wheat bran is primarily insoluble fiber with a little protein, fat and phenolic compounds. Those compounds give bran its tannic edge, its signature complexity with the dark roast notes of coffee and the deep purple of red wine. In excess, that tannic flavor can lead to the sandpaper mouth feel you get when you drink oversteeped black tea or the dregs of a wine bottle. Acidic liquids can tame that bitterness. In these muffins, orange juice does just that, while the fruit’s zest perfumes the batter.

Unlike all-purpose flour, bran can absorb two to three times its weight in liquid. Some recipes call for soaking bran in boiling or hot water to speed the grain’s softening, but liquid at any temperature works as well. A good proportion of water is ideal for thoroughly hydrating the bran.

In this recipe, orange juice also douses the bran before and after baking. It makes these muffins just sweet enough to balance robust tannins and just special enough so their healthy fiber content is secondary to how great they taste.

Honey date bran muffins

These mahogany treats deliver the toasted nuttiness and hearty chew of bran and avoid whole wheat’s common afflictions of heaviness and bitterness in baked goods. The key to making these muffins tender and keeping them from drying out is simply liquid — in all different forms. Water helps soften the bran along with orange juice, which adds a floral aroma; molasses and honey highlight bran’s natural sweetness; and oil and buttermilk add a touch of richness. Soaking the bran before baking and infusing the muffins with an orange-honey syrup while they’re still warm ensure they stay soft and moist for days. Dates lend a caramel depth to the mix, but if you’re nostalgic for classic bran muffins, you can use raisins instead.

By Genevieve Ko

Yield: 12 muffins

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 to 3 large navel oranges

2 cups/160 grams wheat bran

1/2 cup/70 grams dates, pitted if needed and chopped (see Tip)

1/2 cup/116 grams buttermilk

Nonstick cooking spray or oil, for the pan

3/4 cup/100 grams whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

2 large eggs

1/3 cup/74 grams canola or other neutral-flavored oil

1/3 cup/100 grams molasses (not blackstrap)

1/2 cup/148 grams honey, divided

Preparation:

1. Zest 2 of the oranges into a large bowl. Into a liquid measuring cup, squeeze the juice from 1 orange (reserve the remaining oranges) and add enough water for 3/4 cup total liquid. Pour over the zest. Add the wheat bran, dates and buttermilk, and stir until well mixed, breaking up any clumps of dates. Let the bran soften while you prepare the other ingredients, at least 5 minutes.

2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the top of a muffin tin with cooking spray or oil and line the cups with paper or foil liners.

3. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

4. Stir the eggs, oil, molasses and 1/4 cup/74 grams honey into the soaked bran until well blended. Add the flour mixture and stir until no streaks of flour remain. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, which will end up almost full.

5. Bake until domed and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean but moist, 20 to 25 minutes.

6. While the muffins bake, squeeze 1/2 cup/113 grams juice from the reserved oranges into a small saucepan. Add the remaining 1/4 cup/74 grams honey and bring to a simmer over medium, stirring occasionally. Simmer until thickened to a syrup, 3 to 5 minutes.

7. Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then poke about 8 holes in each muffin from top to bottom using the cake tester or toothpick. Gradually brush all of the honey glaze over the tops, letting each addition soak in before brushing on more.

8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. The muffins keep for up to 4 days at room temperature in an airtight container or for up to 2 months in the freezer.

Tip

Any variety of date tastes great here, and it’s best to start with whole ones and chop them yourself. Store-bought chopped dates work, but disappear into the batter after baking. You also can mix in raisins or dried cranberries or a combination instead.