Replicating Zen Bakery Fiber cakes

[ziggylu]

Does anyone else eat these? We buy them at Trader joe's or Whole Foods...little muffins that pack a wollop of fiber in them for not so many calories(I don't have the label in front of me but I think it's around 80 calories and 13 g of fiber with just a couple ft grams). Husband and I both eat one in the morning to get a jumpstart on our daily fiber.

ANyway, at $5/package this adds up. Would like to try making something like that at home...anyone out there make something like this? I thought I'd start with something with ww pastry flour and add a lot of bran?

[paulj]

I've tried those, though they are a bit too high in fiber for my taste. But I too wanted to duplicate some store muffins, specifically moist bran-raisin ones. My approach was to start with a pumpkin bread recipe (from Joy of Cooking), replacing the white flour with a mix of half white whole wheat (also from Traders), and half mixed grains (TJ oat bran, TJ ground almonds, oats, etc). I also cut the sugar in half. I often use a can of TJ's pumpkin puree (1 can for 2 loaves), but it also works well with cooked and mashed winter squash or sweet potatoes.

As long as you like a hearty texture, this kind of recipe leaves a lot of room for experimentation. There have been a lot of bran muffin threads. Some have pushed the bran proportion quite high and still been happy with the results.

paulj

[Candice]

Hi. I too am looking for a recipe for the Zen Bakery apple cranberry fiber cakes. I really like them and the ingredient list is bran, water, white grape, ww flour, apple, cranberries, sodium bicarbonate, cinnamon, salt. I read somewhere that they use white grape juice to sweeten them and although they contain chunks of apple, I'm guessing they also use apple sauce for moisture. I've been looking at some other vegan bran muffin recipe to get an idea of proportions, but most of them have a much higher calorie count and not as much fiber or protein.

If anybody has reverse engineered this or gotten a hold of the recipe, I would love it. Thanks.

[mojosect]

Hi. Ever since i saw you can buy a bag of Bob Red Mill wheat bran for 1.99 i realized how much money i could save if I made these at home, since I eat them daily. I've tried many recipes and concoctions and I haven't found the exact recipe yet, but I've come pretty close. I can't nail their recipe, but these will definitely suffice. Here you go...
2 cups wheat bran
2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup apple juice (natural style or cider work best)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp honey
6 dried prunes (each prune cut into quarters or sixths)
Sprinkle of nutmeg and cloves (optional)
1/8 tsp salt

pre-heat oven to 400. mix dry ingredients (save prunes until end), then add wet ingredients.
stir until its incorporated then add prunes and fold in. Spoon mixture into 6 muffin tin lined with paper cups. Make sure to press mixture into cup. (I like to sprinkle some cinnamon on top or if I'm feeling really saucy I'll sprinkle on some turbinado crystals) Place in oven for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

They're not exact, but they're close enough, plus they're really good. As soon as I figure out the apple-cran combo I'll let you know. Place them in the fridge and they'll last about a week. Microwave them for about 30 seconds before you eat them.
I don't think I've ever used 'sprinkle' that many times.

enjoy!

[paulj]

No flour? Just bran?