Boston Brown Bread Muffins Recipe: New England Brown Bread With a Tennessee Twist Bread/Muffins Snacks

After the recent 30Seconds posting of the a Boston brown bread recipe, Donna John suggested in a comment that I try making a muffin version. I really prefer muffins to breads anyway – generally quicker time in the oven and easier to grab one on the go. These did not disappoint. I made two significant changes to that recipe. I substituted sorghum molasses made right across the street from us by my husband’s cousin, and lacking any buttermilk, I substituted almond milk mixed with lemon juice.

If you’ve never had sorghum molasses, it has a different “ring” to it than the more traditional molasses used in the New England version. It’s made from the sorghum plant, not sugar cane. It’s common around here in West Tennessee, and is pretty labor intensive to grow, harvest and press to extract the syrup. Bob’s cousin has an old-fashioned setup that he used to rely on horsepower to run – a big horse named Thunder, who had to walk around in circles for hours. Thunder didn’t want his owner to miss out on the fun though – he would only walk around the circle if someone walked with him every step! Now the “horsepower” comes from a tractor. To see how sorghum molasses is made, check out this video of another farm making molasses.

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: Makes 18 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 cups almond milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg (Oops! I forgot the egg, but the muffins were good anyway!)
• 1/2 cup sorghum molasses
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Here’s how to make it:

1. Cover the raisins with boiling water and allow them to sit for at least 10 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the almond milk and lemon juice and let it sit for 10 minutes until frothy.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine both flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the egg.
4. Add molasses and baking soda to almond milk/lemon juice mixture.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Drain the raisins and add to mixture.
6. Pour batter into muffin tins that have been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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