With summer arriving in my corner of the globe (at least as far as summer crops are concerned), I found myself inundated with zucchini, so I wanted to make bran muffins again. Zucchini is a great way to add moisture to bran muffins.
The principle is just bran muffins with cocoa and "buttermilk" (I didn't use buttermilk), which is what creates the "red velvet" flavor profile. If you're looking for red velvet cake, though, you'll be disappointed. This is just a lot of things I like all in one.
The Principle
Cocoa and tangy buttermilk are the basis of the "red velvet" flavor profile. Cocoa powder can generally just be added to whatever you are baking (I used about 10% as much as the flour by weight). Though I used chopped walnuts, I would love to try adding cacao nibs.
As for the buttermilk element, I have used kefir and traditional skyr, with similar results; I like to use these, but the flavor is a bit too mild to be red velvet. Any tangy milk-like substance can be used, but thicker substances should be thinned by about 25% with water or milk. I think next time I'll try soy milk with lemon juice.
Everything else is also flexible, of course. For fat and sugar I used coconut oil and honey, respectively. I have used ⅓ cup grated zucchini (do not squeeze it out) and 150g unsweetened applesauce (not at the same time, but in different batches) with no noticeable difference in sweetness; they help add moisture and it helps get rid of the zucchini.
It would be easy to make this vegan. Next time I make it, I think I will try using avocado and aquafaba in place of the egg; I have had vegan chocolate cake made with avocados, and it's really delicious.
Edit: I made these vegan like I said. I replaced the buttermilk item with soy milk curdled with apple cider vinegar (I would use lemon juice next time instead), the coconut oil and egg yolk with avocado, and the egg white with aquafaba. It needs at least 5 more minutes in the oven; use the toothpick method. It might just be the avocado; I just didn't want to deal with the coconut oil again.
You don't have to add anything, but I added chopped walnuts to my second batch and I think it was an improvement. Like I said before, I would love to try cacao nibs in these. If you want to have these as a sweet treat, you could add chocolate chips to the mixture.
Another way to sweeten these up and enhance the "red velvet" experience would be to make a cream cheese frosting; I made a really nice whipped one with leftover cream cheese and cream I had.
The Method
If you are using honey or coconut oil (particularly the coconut oil), you'll probably want to warm the wet mixture before adding it to the dry mixture so that they incorporate as evenly as possible. Because coconut oil contains so much saturated fat, it is mostly solid at room temperature and will become chunky in your mixture. I haven't gotten this part down to a science yet, but I've gotten the best results by making sure to leave the egg out to reach room temperature, warming all the other wet ingredients separately in the microwave (so as to not cook the egg), and using a stand mixer to incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. However, rest assured, I did not have this wisdom the first time I made the muffins with these ingredients, nor did I use a stand mixer, and they came out perfectly fine.
I like to oil my muffin tin by adding the oil to one of the muffin slots, then dipping a clean paper towel into it to soak it up before rubbing the towel over the other slots.
For the bake, I don't use convection; if you do, reduce the temperature by 25℉. For the first five minutes I bake the muffins at 425℉, then reduce the temperature to 350℉ and bake for 15 more minutes. This is always perfect for me; the toothpick always comes out clean at this point. The reason to use a higher temperature at first is that it causes the muffin tops to rise higher.
I leave these out in a tin and eat them pretty quickly; when they're around, I often will eat one for breakfast and one for an afternoon snack. They are best served warm, so I usually pop them in the microwave for 15 seconds.