Enfield Shaker Bran Gems Recipe

Four cups bran, six cups white flour, half cup butter, one cup sugar, three eggs, two teaspoons soda. Sour milk to make a thick batter. Mix overnight, leaving the soda and well-beaten eggs to be added in the morning.

Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Line a muffin pan with papers and grease the papers.

Mix together beaten eggs, buttermilk, and sugar. Melt and the butter.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, wheat bran, baking powder, and baking soda.

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Add raisins, if you are using them.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 15 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

YIELDS 12 MUFFINS.

Kitchen-Tester’s Note: These muffins are delicious served warm with butter and jam!

This recipe first appeared in Shaker Recipes for Cooks and Homemakers, by William Lassiter (New York: Greenwich Book Publishers, 1959, p. 140) and is attributed to Sister Martha Wetherhill. Shaker Recipes for Cooks and Homemakers was reprinted by Bonanza Books in 1978 under the title Shaker Recipes and Formulas for Cooks and Homemakers. Both editions are out of print, but are available at reasonable cost at www.abebooks.com or www.eBay.com.