Thrilled to share this 30-minute recipe for healthy bran muffins with you! Made without refined sugar and positively packed with dietary fiber, these wholesome bran muffins are a tasty AND nutritious treat. Dairy free, no mixer required, and the add-ins are up to you!
One reader, LT, commented: “Great recipe! I added 1 cup of fresh blueberries and 1/4 cup of hemp hearts, and they turned out fluffy, moist, and delicious. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Cynthia, commented: “I love a good bran muffin and this recipe is it! I added chopped apple this time, and it added a heightened level of moistness to this great recipe. From now on, this will be my add-in. Thanks for a great healthy muffin recipe! ★★★★★“
What do you think of when you think of “bran muffins”? Healthy but tasteless? Nutritious but dry? Well, I set out to change the humble bran muffin’s reputation, so get ready to rethink your preconceived notions. Because these healthy bran muffins are flavorful, moist, and anything but bland!
A few test batches later and we have ourselves a perfectly delicious, healthful, not-overly-sweet bran muffin that adults AND kids enjoy. I had a 2-year-old, 5-year-old, 6-year-old, 9-year-old, teenager, plus adult taste testers here… approval all around. 😉
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Healthy Bran Muffins
- Wholesome and nutritious
- Slightly sweet, cinnamon-spiced, nutty flavor
- Packed with insoluble dietary fiber
- Hearty but NOT dry, just like these applesauce muffins
- Sweetened with honey—no refined sugar
- Dairy-free baking recipe if using a dairy-free milk
- No mixer required
- Healthy grab-and-go breakfast or anytime snack
- Freeze well
- Add-ins are up to you: raisins, nuts, blueberries… choose your favorite
Recipe Testing for Bran Muffin Success
I adapted this recipe from my morning glory muffins and blueberry oatmeal muffins, two of the most popular healthier muffin recipes on my site. The recipe went through 3 rounds of testing:
- The first test batch I made was too wet—not enough whole wheat flour, so they tasted a little greasy.
- For the second batch, I left out the applesauce and let the batter sit for about 15 minutes before baking, so the bran could soak up some of the liquid. This made the batter really thick, but then the muffins tasted too dry. Better to bake the batter right away.
- My third try was the “just right” Goldilocks-approved batch of bran muffins, which is the recipe I’m sharing with you today.
What Is Wheat Bran?
The bran is the protective outer layer, or shell, of the wheat kernel, which is stripped away during the milling process. But it’s actually super rich in insoluble fiber and other nutrients, and has a lightly sweet, nutty flavor. What’s not to like about this superfood?!
What Type of Wheat Bran Should I Use?
A lot of bran muffin recipes call for bran cereal, but we are just using straight-up wheat bran here, so there are no added ingredients from the cereal.
I usually find wheat bran in the cereal aisle near the oats, or you can buy it online. I like Bob’s Red Mill brand (not working with them, just genuinely like their products). No need to soak it or sift it or anything before using, just add it as a dry ingredient.
A couple questions & answers:
- Can I Use Bran Cereal Instead? I recommend using wheat bran for these muffins, but I know some recipes call for grinding bran cereal (either flakes or strands, such as All-Bran or Fiber One) into crumbs to use in place of wheat bran. I haven’t tested it myself with this recipe. Keep in mind that most bran cereals include sugar.
- What if I Can’t Find Wheat Bran? If you’re unable to find wheat bran at your local store or purchase it online, you can try these blueberry oatmeal muffins or chocolate chip baked oatmeal cups instead. The recipe is similar, and you can choose any add-ins you prefer instead of blueberries (such as raisins).
- Can I Make These Gluten Free? You can’t without completely changing the recipe. I recommend my blueberry almond muffins instead.
All the Ingredients You Need:
- Whole Wheat Flour: I love using whole wheat flour in baking when I can. It can dry out baked goods, so it’s important to pay attention to the ratio of wet ingredients to balance it out. I use it in these peanut butter banana muffins, too!
- Baking Soda + Baking Powder: These leaveners help the muffins rise up tall. I usually use 1 teaspoon each in most muffin recipes, but that proved to be too much baking soda (it left a little bit of an aftertaste). So, use 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon soda here.
- Salt: Flavor enhancer.
- Cinnamon: A favorite ingredient in many muffin recipes!
- Egg: The egg helps to bind the ingredients together. If you’d like to make these muffins vegan, swap the egg for your favorite baking egg substitute.
- Honey: Likewise, you can swap the honey for maple syrup to make these muffins vegan.
- Coconut Oil: This is one of my favorite ingredients in baking. To avoid a coconut-y flavor, look for one that’s labeled “refined.” If you don’t have coconut oil, use vegetable oil, avocado oil, or melted butter instead.
- Applesauce: Unsweetened, smooth applesauce takes the place of more oil. If you don’t have applesauce, mashed banana is a great replacement.
- Vanilla Extract: Baked goods’ favorite flavor enhancer (shh, don’t tell the salt).
- Nondairy Milk: I tested this recipe with plain (unsweetened) almond milk, but you can use oat milk or your preferred type of nondairy milk. You could also use regular dairy milk or buttermilk.
- Optional Add-ins: I used raisins in the pictured muffins, but you can certainly leave the bran muffins plain or fill with fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries; dried cranberries; chopped nuts; apples; etc.
How to Make Your Bran Muffins
Making these bran muffins is as simple as combining the dry ingredients in 1 bowl, combining the wet ingredients in another bowl, then whisking them together and folding in your raisins or other add-ins. Honestly couldn’t be easier—even simpler than whipping up a batch of zucchini muffins.
*Success Tip: The batter will quickly start to thicken up as the wheat bran absorbs the liquid—think instant oatmeal, or bran flake cereal absorbing milk the longer it’s left in your bowl. Scoop the batter into your lined muffin pan as soon as all your ingredients are combined, and bake.
Always appreciate quick, uncomplicated prep work for breakfast recipes.
Enjoy the baked muffins warm and feel free to swipe a pat of butter on each, or apple butter, or my favorite honey butter. So satisfying!
For even more inspiration, see my complete list of 30+ healthy breakfast recipes.
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Description
Flavorful, wholesome, and tender, these bran muffins are an easy and quick healthy baking staple. Make sure you’re using pure wheat bran, not bran cereal. Use your favorite add-ins, or leave the muffins plain. See Notes for freezing instructions and mini muffin instructions.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (195g) whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 cup (52g) wheat bran
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (170g) honey or pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup (75g) coconut oil, melted
- 1/3 cup (80g) unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) nondairy milk* (or dairy milk), at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (about 100g) raisins*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use muffin liners.
- Whisk the flour, wheat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside.
- Whisk the egg, honey, melted coconut oil, applesauce, vanilla, and milk together in a medium bowl until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk to combine. Switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and fold in the raisins (or other add-ins).
- Spoon the batter evenly into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 14–15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then heat up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-Count Muffin Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Muffin Liners | Cooling Rack
- Whole Wheat Flour: Feel free to replace with all-purpose flour, or use a mix of both all-purpose and whole wheat.
- Wheat Bran: I usually find wheat bran in the cereal aisle near the oats, or you can buy it online. I like Bob’s Red Mill brand (not working with them, just genuinely like their products). No need to soak it or sift it or anything before using, just add it as a dry ingredient. If you’re unable to find wheat bran at your local store or purchase it online, you can try these blueberry oatmeal muffins instead. The recipe is similar, and you can choose any add-ins you prefer instead of blueberries (such as raisins).
- Can I Use Bran Cereal Instead? I recommend using wheat bran for these muffins, but I know some recipes call for grinding bran cereal (either flakes or strands, such as All-Bran or Fiber One) into crumbs to use in place of wheat bran. I haven’t tested it myself with this recipe. Keep in mind most bran cereals include sugar.
- Coconut Oil: If you don’t have coconut oil, use the same amount of vegetable oil, avocado oil, or melted butter instead.
- Applesauce: If you don’t have applesauce, mashed banana is a great replacement.
- Milk: I use plain (unsweetened) almond milk, but you can use any type of milk—dairy or nondairy—that you prefer, or buttermilk. Nutrition information calculated using plain unsweetened almond milk.
- Raisins/Add-ins: You can use 2/3 cup of any add-ins you prefer instead of raisins, such as dried cranberries, chopped walnuts or pecans, fresh or dried blueberries, or peeled and finely chopped apples, or leave the muffins plain. If using apples, I usually use closer to 1 cup. Nutrition information calculated using raisins.
- Why the initial high oven temperature? Like I do for most muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so they’re extra high, then the centers will bake during the lower-temperature bake time. This trick makes beautiful bakery-style muffins every time.
- Mini Muffins: If making these in a mini muffin pan, bake 12–13 minutes total at 350°F (177°C) the whole time.
- Nutrition Information Per 1 Muffin: Calories (191), Total Fat (7.3g), Sodium (174mg), Carbohydrates (31g), Dietary Fiber (4.2g), Sugar (14g), Protein (3.7g)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 191
- Sugar: 14.1 g
- Sodium: 174.7 mg
- Fat: 7.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.4 g
- Fiber: 4.2 g
- Protein: 3.7 g
- Cholesterol: 15.5 mg
Reader Comments and Reviews
For “healthy” muffins, these are fantastic! The crumb is light and moist. I cut the maple syrup down to 1/4 cup and they weren’t sweet enough for me. My mistake! I’ll make them with honey next time and add the full 1/2 cup. Thanks for another great recipe.
These are great but too sweet for me. If I reduce or eliminate honey what would be the replacement? More unsweetened apple sauce?
Hi Sweets, you could try replacing with more applesauce, but we really recommend sticking with the honey (or maple syrup) for best results. Using more applesauce may yield a rubbery-tasting muffin.
Love this as a base recipe- don’t come at me – I did some major modifications/additions to make them real hardy.
I double the recipe- add four large shredded carrots- 1 shredded apple-1 shredded pear- add an extra teaspoon of cinnamon- a little cardamom and apple or pumpkin pie seasoning- and pour in more raisins- and I use 8 eggs (that’s 6 additional)
This makes three dozen regular muffins with all the extras- I follow the baking recipe putting the muffins in at 425 for ten minutes, turning it down but I added an extra ten minutes -baking for 25 minutes at 350 rather than 15 and they’re perfectly moist and filling
I made these today my husband (68 yrs) thaught they were great loved the texture. Good job Sally. Will make often with different add ins . Thank you. Judu
Hi, I am getting ready to make these. I read through every comment (twice) and never saw how much molasses was used when it was substituted. I think that would give the muffins a deeper flavor. For the time being, I will use maple syrup.
Has anyone shared how much to use?
Thank you
Hi Chris, other bakers have reported substituting all the honey (1/2 cup) with molasses. Let us know if you try!
Can I omit the honey for a sugar- free option?
Hi Makena, we don’t recommend omitting the honey altogether. The muffins will be quite dry and lose a lot of flavor. You could use maple syrup instead for a different unrefined sugar option.
Oops! I forgot to leave a rating when I commented earlier. Five stars for sure!!
I made these muffins today. Soooo tasty! I used maple syrup and canned coconut milk. We will definitely have these again.
I’m ready to bake these wonderful sounding muffins, but my pan makes 6 large muffins. Can I use that and just bake longer?
Hi Marcie, you can follow the baking time and instructions from these jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide. Enjoy!
These are so amazing. I crushed up bran flakes in the blender instead of using the bran called for in the recipe. They are so moist and so flavorful. Thank you so very much for coming up with this. Yum!
I had to use All Bran cereal due to being unable to find wheat bran. The muffins still came out great. I had some dried figs I needed to use so substituted them for the raisins. Super yummy. I’ll be trying other add ins like banana or blueberries.
Thank you for this awesome recipe. I have been making these bran muffins for the last few months for an elderly relative. It’s simple and quick to make and she seems to like it saying they are tasty and not dry. She has suffered an injury leaving her in lots of pain and regularly needing prescribed pain medication. The medication negatively impacts her digestive system. Despite trying prunes and other high fibre foods, she said that only these muffins helped her. I am so thankful to have found your recipe, allowing me to help her in a small way. I have just put another batch in the oven so I can deliver them to her tomorrow.
Always like your recipes and this one is no exception m. Very good and very easy. I didn’t have applesauce so used your mashed bananas suggestion. I thought nuts would go better with bananas than raisins, so also used your suggestion for nuts as an alternative (I used walnuts). I appreciate your recipes and suggestions for alternatives. I don’t make muffins very often, if ever, but will be doing so going forward.
Question- instead of using applesauce could I just use an extra 1/3 cup of oil and add a bit more sweetener? I am excited to try this muffin recipe to help my kids eat more fiber and want them to be calorie dense, too.
Hi Heidi, we haven’t tried the recipe that way, so are unsure of the results. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
I’ve made these 3 or 4 times and love them! I’ve made them both with apple and chopped dates. I’m obsessed with the chopped dates version but they’re delicious either way! My husband actually prefers the apple version. I used the same measurement for the dates as the recipe has for the raisins. My 11 month old son also loves these! Of course, I make them with maple syrup instead of honey when I know he’s going to eat them.
Really enjoyed making this recipe.
Struggled to find one for a while so this worked out perfectly
I added steamed sliced apple pieces and wow
Great recipe thanks. Maybe next bran muffin recipe can be a low carb one
This recipe is delicious. For someone who DOES NOT bake you made it very user friendly. Great job. My husband loves them. Thank you, again!
How do you prepare frozen blueberries for use in this recipe? Should they be thawed, drained, etc?
Hi Jeri, if using frozen blueberries, do not thaw first.
Excellent recipe, the muffins are so moist. Have made them 3 times now. This recipe is a keeper.
Can oat bran be used instead of wheat?
Hi Mary, we haven’t tested it, but other bakers have reported success using oat bran in this recipe.
What an amazing recipe! I love that it uses great ingredients and is still moist and delicious. They disappeared quickly after being ready to eat (and my kids are usually a bit particular with food) and I ended up making 2 more batches that night! Huge hit, can’t wait to see what other flavours I can add. Carrot and walnut is going to be my next try!
Would it work to add a scoop of protein powder to the mix? Trying to get more protein in things these days
Hi Kathy, we haven’t tested adding protein powder here. Let us know if you do!
I have a question- can I use wheat germ instead of wheat bran for the bran muffins?
Hi Lynda, we’ve only used wheat bran in this recipe and haven’t had the chance to try wheat germ. Let us know if you test it.
We’ve been looking for a great bran muffin recipe, and the search is over. This was fantastic! I added half an apple diced and a bit more cinnamon along with a dash of ginger and all spice. We all agree that this is our favorite.
This is my “go to” recipe for bran muffins. Today I added a little over a cup of blueberries. My kids asked me make them so I did. Turned out perfect.
I added 3 carrots shredded along with the 2/3 C golden raisins. The carrot makes them so moist. These are a winner in our house!
I used avocado oil and white whole wheat flour, and it came out perfect! My three year old is a big fa !
If I want to make 24 muffins do I double the ingredients or start & bake 12 more.
Hi Lorraine, you can double the recipe with no other changes. Quite a few readers make a double batch of these muffins and have reported success. Enjoy!
Has anyone ever seen coconut oil once melted and added to wet ingredients hardened back up? This is my second batch and my first batch came out amazingly… I am not sure if this is what I’m seeing in my wet and dry mix but I can’t think of any other ingredient that it could be??? I added dried cranberries, flax seed, and pecans, used a banana ilo applesauce, buttermilk, agave ilo honey. Any idea what happened?
Many thanks
Paul
Perfection, with the substitution of molasses for the honey.
This is great recipe. Another keeper from Sally. Thank you
EXCELLENT recipe…just made them this weekend AND they were a big hit! Very flavorful and EASY! Have an urge next time to add some molasses to the recipe as it goes so well with bran recipes. Have you tried that? How much molasses would you suggest? I’ll also try the mashed banana in place of the applesauce…just to play!!