Necessity and Rosie Beaucoup are the Mothers of Invention

Now this is not a food blog. No one has a smarter, funnier, or more beautiful food site than  Movita Beaucoup. But I created a bran muffin variation this morning that is worth sharing. After preheating the oven and assembling and mixing half the ingredients for my favourite bran muffin recipe (which I had already carefully doctored over the years), I discovered to my dismay that I was almost out of sugar and had less than half the amount of bran required! Especially frustrating, given that the cupboards here have an amazing number of ingredients for keeping just two short people alive and well.
The sugar problem was solved by emptying every sugar jar in the house into the bowl. The lack of bran was trickier given that they are... well.... bran muffins. The recipe already calls for wheat germ so I didn't want to increase it to the extent that it was also fully replacing the missing bran for fear of producing those sawdust creations that health foodies in the early '70's felt virtuous eating but had no flavour except for shots of cloyingly and sickenly sweet raisins.
I poked through the cupboards, trying to think of something that would act as a bran replacement and add a flavour that melded well with the rest of the ingredients. And saw the buckwheat flour that I have on hand to make buckwheat pancakes. Voila! - a new recipe was born.
The muffins are delicious. They do not require an electric mixer. They have no raisins. They are worth trying.

Rosie Beaucoup’s Buttermilk Buckwheat

Bran Muffins

3 cups flour

7½ tsp. baking powder

1½ cups sugar

2¼ tsp. salt

1 cup bran

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup buckwheat flour

1½ cup chopped walnuts

¾ cup canola or olive oil

2¼ cups buttermilk

3 eggs

Use a large bowl to whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the walnuts.

Use a smaller bowl to whisk the oil, buttermilk, and eggs until well blended.  Add to dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Don’t overwork the batter.

Bake in greased muffin pans at 425° for about 20 minutes.

Cool on a rack for 4-5 minutes before removing from muffin pans.

Makes 21 large muffins. They freeze well.