Date Bran Muffin receipe conversion

[gator8me]

My mom used to make this batter up and then refrigerate it and then make fresh muffins on some mornings. I have been looking over the receipe and am thinking there may be ways to make this lower carb. Was wondering if anyone had some good ideas.
Here is the orginal receipe ~
1cup boiling water
1/2 cup shortening
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 pint buttermilk
1cup Nabisco bran
1cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups Kellogg's all bran
1 cup chopped dates

Pour boinling water over bran(nabisco). cool.
Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time and beta well. Add soaked bran. Mix together flour, soda, all bran and buttermilk, stir in dates.
This mixture can be stored in fridg for as long as two or three months (doesn't take that long to use it up lol) Bake in muffin pans 20 to 25 min at 400 degrees.

Was talking to mom and she thinks you could use just one type of bran if one of them was lower in carbs. I haven't taken the time to look yet as I have been otherwise occupied. lol Was thinking I could substitute Splenda for the sugar and maybe Almond flour for the regular flour. Is buttermilk lc or should I try and substitute that as well? Also was wondering if Oil would be better than shortening.

Any ideas out there? Was also thinking that maybe cranberries or blue berries would be good replacements for the dates. although... the dates do make it yummy. lol

Thanks!

[Gaelen]

Ally, I used to have this recipe and had lost it! thanks for posting it!

When I substitute for shortening, I use coconut oil...it's shortening consistency at room temperature, and it's a healthier fat than shortening. However, this batter does need the shortening consistency, so go with coconut oil or butter rather than an oil.

Almond flour, or half and half almond flour and vital wheat gluten, or vital wheat gluten and oat flour, or almond flour and oat flour would all work, and each will give you different carb levels.

I love dates, but they are higher carb than either blueberries or cranberries. Some days, though, they'd be worth it. You might be able to cut the sugar by half or by two thirds, because in this it's more needed for the fermentation than as a bulking agent in the batter.

Buttermilk helps with the fermentation, and I'd actually keep it. Kefir is higher protein and lower carb, and it would work too--so would plain yogurt or soured milk--but when I'm making subs, I usually start with a couple things (the flour and sugar, for instance) and then start vamping from there.

Hope this helps. Wish I wasn't about to travel, or I'd make a batch up right now!

[gator8me]

So you think I would need to keep the sugar and just cut it in half then instead of switching out to splenda?

[Gaelen]

Ally, this is partly a 'fermented' or sour dough batter. It needs some sugar to ferment, either from natural fruit sugars (the dates) or actual sweetener like cane sugar or honey. Once the buttermilk, baking soda etc. use up the available fermentation materials, the batter will spoil quickly unless it has some other 'food.' In desem bread, the fermentation depends on the whole grains...but again, if you sub in the ground nuts for the flour and brans, or reduce the flour amount, the keeping time will also reduce in direct proportion to the food sources. Nut flours don't ferment, they mold. ;) And artificial sweeteners don't contribute to fermentation; they only add sweetness.

[gator8me]

ahhhhhh ok.... i'll go with oat bran flour, keep the bran cereals and i'm thinking honey would be excellent in this reciepe. How much honey do you think? And do I use the same amount of coconut oil as shortening if I switch?

[Relief]

when I start decarbing, I take the flour amount and substitute half almond flour, 1/4 whey protein powder and 1/2 regular flour and see how it turns out, and then start tweaking to see if I can still get a good texture using less and less flour. for this recipe you probably wouldn't need the regular flour at all and could go to vital wheat gluten as Gaelen suggested.
alternatively I might start with a flour sub I use a lot: 1 part each flax meal, oat flour, whey powder, powdered egg white, 6 parts almond flour and a 1/2 part xanthan gum. use this in the same amount as the flour measurement. in other words:

3 cups almond flour
1/2 cup each of:
whey protein powder
oat flour
ground flax meal
powdered egg white
1/4 cup xantan gum
mix this all together well and then measure out what you need for the recipe. this combo works well for baked goods that you want a cakey like texture ( doesn't work as well for things like cookies or brownies)

for the sweetener sub I start by using 1/4 the amount of sugar as xylitol or erythritol and the other 3/4 splenda (I only use the liquid sweetener sweetzfree zero carb--1/4 tsp =1cup sugar http://www.sweetzfree.com/ ) some recipes need more bulk and so I might try more xylitol the second pass at the recipe if the muffins seem too dry.

in this recipe, though the original doesn't call for brown sugar, I might just add a teaspoon of molasses as I love the rich flavor that that can give and would taste great with the bran.

I would probably use yogurt as I always have it around--maybe diluted with a little cream if it seems too thick and would cut the amount of dates in half--or use blueberries or cranberries as Gaelen suggests also.

definitley go with butter or coconut oil.

I'm not sure whether the dough would hold up as long in the fridge as the original--sugar is a mild preservative--but as you said, it never lasts that long anyway:D

good luck let us know how they turn out for you!

[Gaelen]

and Ally...in addition to all of Relief's great suggestions, go 1:1 coconut oil or butter to the shortening called for in the recipe (1/4 cup for 1/4 cup, for example.)

[LifePlanFan]

Ally, this is partly a 'fermented' or sour dough batter. It needs some sugar to ferment, either from natural fruit sugars (the dates) or actual sweetener like cane sugar or honey. Once the buttermilk, baking soda etc. use up the available fermentation materials, the batter will spoil quickly unless it has some other 'food.' In desem bread, the fermentation depends on the whole grains...but again, if you sub in the ground nuts for the flour and brans, or reduce the flour amount, the keeping time will also reduce in direct proportion to the food sources. Nut flours don't ferment, they mold. ;) And artificial sweeteners don't contribute to fermentation; they only add sweetness.

So if fruit sugars are needed, wouldn't blueberries work? Do they have enough sugar to do the job?

[Gaelen]

So if fruit sugars are needed, wouldn't blueberries work? Do they have enough sugar to do the job?

Hi, LifePlanFan...
The thing about putting blueberries into a batter (blueberry muffins are one of my favorites, too) is that you need to add them just before baking, or they can turn the batter, especially a bran-based batter, a really unappetizing blue. Raspberries will turn it red. In this case, dried cranberries unsweetened would be a safer bet--that's why the dates work. They don't change the batter color, they provide the sugar boost, and they keep well. Blueberries, especially fresh ones, have a disturbing tendency to mold given the right conditions. And a batter that's supposed to ferment is definitely the right conditions. ;)

But if you put some dried dates into the batter, and THEN added blueberries just before baking...that might work.

[gator8me]

Thanks all... I'll be playing with this when I get home and let everyone know how it goes! lol I'll also be keeping an eye on this thread to see if there are any other suggestions. :) Thanks everyone!