Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins, con’t

I finished baking the Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins from Nourishing Traditions this morning.  I was interested in whether soaking the flour in buttermilk would really have much of an impact on how light the muffins would be.  One interesting detail is that the muffins had to bake at a lower temperature and for a longer period of time (325 degrees for up to one hour) than if they were made with white flour.  Oh, and the authors suggest using stoneware muffin  tins, but since I didn’t have any, I used by standard metal tins.  No problem, although using metal instead of stoneware may have shortened the baking time by a few minutes.

I was prepared for the muffins to be somewhat lighter than normal, but after all, they are whole wheat only, so I didn’t expect a big difference.  WRONG.  They are amazing.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

 

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins with butter

So light and fluffy.  Now, I like the dense, hearty texture of whole grain breads and muffins.  It’s part of what I enjoy about them.  But, one of the problems that often comes up is that other people really are used to light, fluffy breads (due to all the white flour used) and are resistant to a heavier bread at first.  These muffins wipe out that issue.

By soaking your whole wheat flour in buttermilk for 12 to 24 hours you will be able to use healthier whole grains in baking and those with more conservative tastes will still love your baking!

The only change I made was I used blue agave instead of the maple syrup called for in the recipe.  The exchange was one for one.  That is, I used ¼ cup of blue agave for ¼ cup of maple syrup.

I highly recommend these muffins.  I plan to make another batch in a few days – perhaps adding black walnuts with the blueberries.

If you’ve used this technique before with whole grains, let us know about your experience.

Enjoy!