Bran Muffins No. 1

A lean, eggless bran batter from the era of wheat conservation. The instructions assume a preheated gem pan and an oven hot enough to set the muffins fast.

• Gem pansA gem pan is a cast-iron muffin pan, usually with shallow oval or round cups. A standard 12-cup muffin tin works; grease it and heat it in the oven before filling, as the recipe directs, so the batter starts cooking on contact.
• "Hot" ovenThe recipe gives no temperature, only "hot." In period usage that is generally taken as roughly 400–425°F; twenty minutes at 400°F suits standard muffin cups.
• Bran means branThis is plain unprocessed wheat bran, the flaky miller's byproduct sold today in bulk bins and health-food aisles. Bran breakfast cereal is sweetened and already baked and will not behave the same way.
• Soda and acidThe molasses is the only acid here, and 2½ tablespoons against a teaspoon of soda is a thin margin. With a light or mild molasses, expect modest lift and a faint soapy note; sour milk or buttermilk in place of the sweet milk appears often in period recipes as a way of giving the soda more acid to work with.
• HydrationBran drinks a great deal of liquid. Let the mixed batter stand five to ten minutes before scooping so the bran softens, otherwise the crumb reads gritty.
• MixingCombine only until no dry flour shows. This batter has no egg and no fat to soften the gluten, so overworking it makes the muffins tough and tunnelled.
• Expectations and yieldWith no butter, egg or sugar beyond the molasses, these are dense, dark and barely sweet — closer to a breakfast roll than a modern muffin. The recipe gives no yield; the quantities make something under a dozen standard cups. They are best warm, and stale quickly.