Bran Muffins - The Super Healthy Recipe! (2024)

These super healthy bran muffins are extra soft, moist, and perfect for breakfast!

Bran Muffins - The Super Healthy Recipe! (1)

Homemade bran muffins are so delicious and easy to make from scratch, you’ll never need to spend money buying a box mix again.

The wholesome recipe is packed with fiber and nutrition!

And you can freeze leftovers for later, which means the healthy muffins are also a really great option for breakfast meal prep.

Also try these Black Bean Brownies

Bran Muffins - The Super Healthy Recipe! (3)

The best bran muffin recipe

Fluffy good-for-you bran muffins, with no buttermilk required!

The easy classic muffin recipe can be low fat, oil free, vegan, gluten free, soy free, cholesterol free, nut free, high in fiber, and dairy free.

Plus, they use up pantry staple ingredients that you can always keep on hand, no eggs needed. Serve them for breakfast, pack into a lunch box, or prepare the muffins as a kid friendly healthy snack.

Serve them plain or topped with almond butter or peanut butter and strawberry jam, mashed banana, vegan cream cheese, apple butter, or your favorite butter spread.

Bran Muffins - The Super Healthy Recipe! (4)

Healthy bran muffin ingredients

The flour: The recipe works with spelt flour, white flour, or oat flour. If you’d prefer flourless muffins made with almond meal, try these Keto Muffins.

The bran flakes: Pretty much any bran flake cereal will work here. I buy Whole Foods brand, because it’s free of high fructose corn syrup. All-Bran flakes or Trader Joe’s Organic Bran Flakes are also fine to use.

For gluten free muffins, corn flakes work instead of bran cereals. I haven’t tried buckwheat flakes yet. Oat bran flakes can be used for wheat free muffins.

The sweetener: You can use your favorite granulated sweetener here, including regular sugar, coconut sugar or date sugar, or granulated erythritol for sugar free muffins.

To add nutrition and flavor, I use blackstrap molasses as the liquid sweetener, which is high in iron and calcium. However, you can sub pure maple syrup, agave, honey, or keto syrup if desired.

The yogurt: This actually doesn’t need to be yogurt. I’ve made them with applesauce, roasted mashed sweet potato, vegan yogurt, or mashed banana (really good!).

Or turn them into carrot bran muffins by substituting an equal amount of cooked and then mashed carrot, or make pumpkin bran muffins with canned pumpkin.

The add-ins: The most popular choice is to add half a cup of raisins for raisin bran muffins. Or throw in a handful of shredded coconut, 1-2 tbsp flax or chia seeds, or press a few blueberries into the top of each muffin before baking.

Trending right now: Vegan Banana Bread

How to make bran muffins

Start by gathering all of the ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, cover the bran flakes with the milk of choice, and let it sit for half an hour. This softens the flakes so your finished muffins will be nice and soft.

Line a muffin tin, and preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Add all remaining ingredients to the large bowl with the bran flakes and milk, and stir to form a muffin batter.

Portion the batter evenly into the lined muffin tin, and bake on the oven’s center rack for 20 minutes or until the muffins have risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean.

Let cool. If you cover them loosely overnight, the muffins are sweeter and have a better texture the next day. Thanks to some of the moisture evaporating, the liners peel off easily the next day too (even in the low fat and oil free version).

Many people believe bran muffins are a good choice to help with weight loss or promoting good digestion and preventing constipation, thanks to the insoluble and soluble fiber.

I just like them because they are delicious and their neutral flavor goes well with sweet or savory breakfast options, from scrambles to smoothies (like this Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie).

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Muffin Storage Tips

The bakery style muffins can be left out for a day, loosely covered so extra moisture has a way to escape, ensuring the baked goods won’t get soggy.

For optimum freshness after a day, I like to store the muffins in the refrigerator, in a single layer in an airtight container lined with paper towels. They usually last for three to four days this way.

For longer storage, leftovers can also be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for a month or two. Store in a single layer, or put a layer of parchment in between layers so the bran muffins don’t stick together.

Thaw frozen muffins before eating, either by defrosting overnight or by warming in the microwave or oven.

This yummy eggless muffin recipe will remind you of the old fashioned bran muffin recipe your grandmother used to make!

Above, watch the bran muffin recipe video

Bran Muffins - The Super Healthy Recipe! (7)

The recipe was adapted from my Banana Muffins and Oatmeal Muffins.

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Bran Muffins

These super healthy bran muffins are extra soft, moist, and perfect for a wholesome breakfast!

Bran Muffins - The Super Healthy Recipe! (9)

Leave a Review

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Yield 12 bran muffins

5 from 418 votes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups bran flakes (for gluten free option, see note above)
  • 3/4 cup milk of choice
  • 1/2 cup yogurt, applesauce, pumpkin, or mashed banana
  • 2 tbsp oil or additional milk of choice
  • 2 tbsp molasses (or sub pure maple syrup, honey, or agave)
  • optional 1 tbsp ground flax, for added nutrition
  • 1 1/4 cup spelt, white, or oat flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar (see note above for sugar free)
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • optional 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, soak bran flakes in the milk for half an hour. Then preheat the oven to 400 F. Whisk all remaining ingredients into the bowl to form a batter. Portion into lined muffin tins, and bake on the center rack for 20 minutes. The muffins taste even better the next day, and liners peel off easily after a day as well.

    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

The muffins are a great breakfast with this Avocado Smoothie.

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More High Fiber Breakfast Recipes:

Banana Bread In A Mug

Overnight Oats

Keto Blueberry Muffins

Or these Healthy Blueberry Muffins

Vegan Pancakes

Chia Pudding

Chocolate Oatmeal

Green Smoothies

Chocolate Overnight Oats

Applesauce Muffins

Bran Muffins - The Super Healthy Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

How healthy are bran muffins? ›

Bran Muffins

Yes, you'll get a decent dose of fiber thanks to the bran, but larger versions can have more than 400 calories and contain around 13 grams of fat. Also, many store-bought bran muffins actually contain more white flour than fiber-rich bran, while packing unwanted sugar and sodium as well.

Is it okay to eat a bran muffin everyday? ›

Is having a bran muffin every day a healthy choice? It's not horrible, but it sounds better than it is. A bran muffin is still a muffin, a kind of bread or cake, made with flour and sugar, high in calories and carbs. An occasional muffin won't do you in, but a daily muffin habit can add pounds.

Are bran muffins good for constipation? ›

Current research indicates that the soluble fiber in oat bran helps to lower cholesterol and the insoluble fiber in wheat bran is helpful in the prevention of both constipation and colon cancer. Aside from their health benefits, these muffins are easy to make and freeze extremely well.

What is the advantage of adding bran to muffins? ›

The Bottom Line

Wheat bran is highly nutritious and an excellent source of fiber. It may benefit digestive and heart health and could even reduce breast and colon cancer risk.

Are bran muffins healthy to lose weight? ›

When you think of bran muffins, you likely think that's a healthy breakfast—right? But that's rarely the case. A bran muffin can pack in 300 calories or more, oodles of added sugar, and lots of butter and sodium. And that doesn't even include the extra butter you'll probably spread on the bran muffin.

What are the healthiest bran cereals? ›

Wheat bran cereals, such as Kellogg's All-Bran and Post 100% Bran, are winners when it comes to having the lowest GI and GL ratings. On average, they have a GI of 45 and a GL of 10 per 1-cup serving.

Is All-Bran good for your bowels? ›

All-Bran original would indeed be our best product for helping with constipation as it contains the most amount of wheat bran fibre (which has been proven to increase stool transit time), however, our bran flakes still contain a sufficient amount of fibre to help with any digestive issues you're having.

Are store bought Raisin Bran muffins healthy? ›

It's the bran. It helps keep you regular, especially if you eat a diet that isn't naturally high in fiber. But that doesn't make bran muffins healthy. Most of the muffins you buy in stores are high in sugar and fat, more like cupcakes than old fashioned muffins.

What does eating bran do to your body? ›

It's rich in soluble and insoluble fiber. Wheat bran has laxative effects that can increase stool volume and bowel frequency. It also contains proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. People use wheat bran for constipation, hemorrhoids, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

What is the best cereal for bowel movement? ›

Common Breakfast Cereals Suggested for High Fiber Content
CerealTotal fiber per serving (g)Serving (volume)
Fiber One, General Mills131/2 cup
All-Bran, Kellogg's101/2 cup
100% Bran, Post81/3 cup
Bran Flakes, Post53/4 cup
4 more rows
Mar 15, 1999

Is coffee good for constipation? ›

Sip a hot beverage. People who want fast constipation relief can also try drinking hot beverages, especially caffeinated ones like coffee or regular tea. The temperature of the liquid can speed up digestive motility, and caffeine stimulates the bowels as well.

What is the best breakfast cereal to avoid constipation? ›

Foods that help ease constipation

High fibre cereals such as: bran flakes, Weetabix, porridge, muesli and shredded wheat. Whole grains. Try to avoid stodgy foods such as white bread.

How to jazz up bran muffin mix? ›

Turn boring bran muffins up a notch by adding delicious and healthful mix-ins such as shredded carrots, coconut and dried cherries. Served warm with butter, this muffin can run with the best of 'em. Blog post updated October 2023.

Why are my bran muffins tough? ›

Over-mixing the batter. You'll know that you've done this if the muffins also turn out tough and chewy. This prevents rising because the gluten network is too tight to expand around the gas bubbles.

Why are my bran muffins dry? ›

Oven temperature directly affects a muffin's texture and how well it rises. Muffins baked at too high of a temperature will produce an overly cooked outer crust and an undercooked filling. Muffins cooked at low temperatures for too long may dry out, creating an unpleasant texture and taste.

Are bran muffins a good breakfast? ›

Bran Muffins that are Actually Healthy. These healthy bran muffins may sound pretty ordinary, but they're packed with the best goodies such as oat bran, apple, raisins and dates. As a result, they're extra moist but also have reduced sugar for a guilt-free breakfast!

Do bran muffins keep you regular? ›

Because it's a great source of insoluble fiber, wheat bran helps keep you regular and promotes digestive health. It's also been shown to reduce symptoms of bloating and discomfort and increase healthy bacteria in the gut, as it's rich in prebiotics (which are the food for the beneficial probiotic bacteria).

Are bran muffins good for your heart? ›

These moist, delicious muffins are highly nutritious and heart-healthy. The oat bran and flaxseed meal contained in these muffins are a great way to lower cholesterol. The flaxseed meal will also give you an omega-3 boost, which may help to prevent heart disease. The muffins are also high in fiber.

Do bran muffins have a lot of carbs? ›

4 oz of bran muffin contains 344 Calories, 52 grams of carbs, 8 grams of protein, and 11 grams of fat. This is a good source of fiber (25% of your Daily Value) and potassium (7% of your Daily Value).

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