Last Updated on November 23, 2022 by Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD
This Blueberry Bran Muffin recipe makes bran muffins as sexy as bran muffins get. They are moist, perfectly sweet, and light in texture. Oh, and they’re healthy, too. Some may even call these muffins amazing.
Why This Blueberry Bran Muffins Recipe Works:
- These muffins are moist. Bran absorbs liquid in the batter keeping the muffins moist. It also functions to cut through strands of gluten as they form, which means softer, more tender results. Gluten toughens muffins — it’s the reason that the more you stir muffin batter, the tougher they become. SO, bran makes a blueberry muffin recipe that is super forgiving.
- They’re healthy. Healthy bran muffins with a bounty of rich and nutty flavours have added bursts of berries to give you more vitamin C. Bran is full of protein, potassium, and calcium too while fresh blueberries can give you antioxidants. Well, they ARE a superfood! And combined with the bran you’ve got carbohydrates and fiber that will keep you feeling full and satiated along with improved cholesterol levels.
- Delicious right from the muffin pan! The flavor of these blueberry bran muffins will have you licking up any remaining crumbs once they’re all gone! So Voila! Beautiful, healthy, moist blueberry bran muffins – as sexy as muffins get.
Blueberry Bran Muffin Ingredients:
Here’s a quick glance at the main ingredients you’ll need to make these tasty muffins.
- Wheat bran: As the main ingredient for these wholesome muffins, it gives you that nutty flavor in the base. You’ll be pouring boiling water over it to get it ready for this recipe.
- Brown sugar: With brown sugar, you get more of a caramelized taste and sweetness. No need for vanilla extract with this ingredient, though be sure to measure it packed. Also, turbinado, while it looks similar, is not the same thing.
- All-purpose flour: Your batter needs some balance and a tablespoon of this flour will do the trick. You could also use whole wheat flour if you’d prefer.
- Baking powder: Have your blueberry bran muffins rise to the occasion. Baking powder is a leavening agent that helps them bake up to perfection. While baking soda is used in other recipes, you only need the baking powder here.
- Blueberries: My recipe calls for one cup of blueberries and you can use them frozen without thawing, or choose fresh blueberries if you they’re in season.
- Vegetable oil: You need a little fat to pull this all together.
- Eggs: Only one egg is needed to bind this batter together for the best blueberry bran muffins.
- Salt: Kosher salt helps balance the sweet flavors in these muffins.
How to Make it
1. Preheat: Set your oven to 375F and line your muffin tin.
2. Wet ingredients: Pour boiling water on the wheat bran and stir. A medium bowl will be too small so use a large bowl. Once absorbed, add the brown sugar, vegetable oil, and egg.
3. Dry ingredients: Put all the dry ingredients together. Then add the bran mixture to it until mostly combined.
4. Add blueberries: Put them into the batter then pour it into the lined muffin cups or use cooking spray.
5. Bake: My blueberry bran muffins will be ready in 15 to 20 minutes. You can use a toothpick to check the centers.
Make Ahead Instructions
If you want an easy way to whip these muffins up for breakfast or as a snack, you can make the batter the night before. Mix it together as instructed but leave the blueberries out until right before you bake it.
Storage Instructions
These blueberry bran muffins will be fine left at room temperature, though you’ll want to cover them up for freshness. You can put them in the fridge to keep them for longer, though ideally, the freezer is a better place for them.
Variations
You can drizzle some honey on top. Add a little cinnamon or even pumpkin pie spice. Or go for broke and add in a mixture of berries!
Are Bran Muffins Good for Weight Loss?
Bran muffins may be good for weight loss compared to other muffins since they have so much fiber. Combine with a big glass of water and these little muffins will probably keep you feeling fuller for longer than say a Lemon Sour Cream Blueberry Muffin.
What Do Blueberry Bran Muffins Taste Like?
Blueberry Muffins have a sweet, nutty taste that bursts with the freshness of berries. Making them with bran is preferred because you have a heartier base, adding some nuttiness to the taste. You’re going to love them!
Which blueberry variety is best?
The smaller wild blueberry variety is best for muffins because they are less watery and make for a more even muffin texture. They also have a more intense blueberry flavor. The smaller ones are key if baking with frozen blueberries, as frozen larger blueberries create cold pockets in the batter and will bake up unevenly.
Is bran good for bowel movements?
Yes! It’s much thanks to all that insoluble fiber it has that really keeps things moving. Be sure to drink lots of water, too.
Can blueberry muffins be frozen?
Absolutely! Freezing them makes it easy to grab them as a snack or thaw out for breakfast any time.
Pro Tips and Tricks
- Don’t over mix when you put the batter together. You only need to stir until it’s just combined. You don’t want your muffins having a tough texture.
- Leave your berries in the freezer. If you’re using frozen berries, you want them to go into the batter frozen. Otherwise, they will turn the batter blue.
- Yes, fresh berries are fine. But if you’re craving these muffins when blueberries are out of season, frozen is the way to go!
Plus it’s healthy. AND tasty, if you ask me. A blueberry bran muffin has a rich, nutty flavour that a boring normal blueberry muffin lacks.
So Voila! Beautiful, healthy, moist blueberry bran muffins – as sexy as muffins get.
Moist Blueberry Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups wheat bran
- 1 cup boiling water
- ⅔ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup blueberries frozen are fine, no need to thaw
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by lining with papers or greasing well.
- Pour boiling water over wheat bran in a large bowl and stir until absorbed. Stir in brown sugar, vegetable oil and egg.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to bran mixture, gently stirring until mostly combined (there should still be a few floury streaks). Fold in blueberries, then divide batter among muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes, until tops feel springy when gently pressed. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
I love this Blueberry bran muffin, I was wondering if you can substitute the blueberries or any other fruit?
You could substitute raisins, chopped dates or another fresh fruit if diced to the size of a blueberry!
We swapped out the oil with half a cup of apple sauce to save nearly 1000 calories. Delicious!
Some of the moistest muffins I’ve ever eaten. Used wheat germ instead of wheat bran, because that’s what I had, and it worked out great. Will definitely make again.
Can you substitute Kellogg’s all bran for the wheat bran?
I haven’t tried it, I’m sorry. I believe the All Bran has sugar added but you could definitely try it! Just soak it with the wet ingredients until it’s falling apart.
The recipe calls for wheat bran 😊
These were delicious! I did add cinnamon because I love it in blueberry muffins. Also my frozen blueberries had extra ice crystals which made the batter thin, so I added some ground flax seed. They were so good I made them again 2 weeks later, using frozen blueberries from the same freezer batch, so I did the same additions. As soon as I get the time I’m using up my last ziplock bag of frozen blueberries with this recipe again, instead of my original intention of testing other blueberry bran muffin recipes! I’m so glad I found this recipe.
Hi Alice, thank you so much for coming back to comment! I’m so happy you like these muffins as much as I do.
Yummy! So moist! I substituted the oil for unsweetend apple sauce. I also added cinnamon, ground (milled) flax seed (1T), and Chia seeds (1T). I used Kellogg’s All Bran Buds to make mine.
Amazing! I’ve had people ask about using All Bran. Did you still add it the same way as the recipe calls for?
Thank you for sharing this recipe. This is the easy and delicious recipe I ever had.
Loved it…. I substituted apple sauce for the oil and added a few raisins. Totally delicious….I will make this again
These muffins are delicious and so easy!
Jennifer, these are my new favourite muffins! I did not have blueberries, so I used raspberries. Honestly, so good! Will be making these on repeat this winter. Thanks for the delicious recipe!!
What are the stats on these? I make them weekly! I’m now on WW and wondering if you could tell me calories, protein, carbs, and sugars so I can add a points value to them. I use large muffin tins. Thanks!!
You’d have to google a recipe nutrition calculator. There are lots that are cut and paste 🙂
I LOVE this recipe and so do my kids. I’ve made it weekly and have been making extra to freeze for the week. I made the triple batch last night and I have to say, it’s way too much oil. The single and double are fine but the triple turned out very oily 🙁 that was a lot of food to waste. I’ll try to sub applesauce like some others have mentioned.
Hi Kayla, I love that you pointed that out, thank you, although I’m sorry you had to throw some away.
Doubling/tripling the recipe definitely affects how well the ingredients are absorbed and incorporated, and requires more mixing which changes the final texture. Isn’t it funny how you can make a recipe three times and it’s perfect but if you triple it in one bowl it’s not?
Just tried them for the first time. So moist and delicious. Will try substituting oil for apple sauce like others have mentioned.
Love this recipe. Used butter instead of oil. Added cinnamon to the top before baking. Making them again tomorrow with the double batch recipe. ❤️