Looking for a healthy bran muffin recipe that’s moist and flavorful, but not too heavy and grainy? These Yogurt Bran Muffins should please the whole family. They have just the right amount of sweetness, are lightly spiced with cinnamon, and full of fiber thanks to unprocessed wheat bran. Best of all, they’re made with Greek yogurt, which gives them a soft, tender crumb without the need for buttermilk or milk.
Yogurt Bran Muffins --Fluffy Not Grainy
My original goal back 2010 was to find a muffin that my young daughter would like. That is, without any add-ins and that didn't rely on raisins or dates for extra moisture. This was my child's preference at the time. Luckily these days she tolerates raisins and appreciates nuts and would enjoy a bran muffin no matter how grainy and dark. I guess these lighter yogurt bran muffins were good "gateway muffins".They are fluffy and sweet and not really grainy at all.
Future Experiments
This is one of those recipes you could make endless changes to and still have really good bran muffins. The recipe (which I finally put in a recipe card format) is basic, but here are some potential changes.
- The ½ cup of brown sugar could be replaced with coconut sugar or a mixture of brown sugar and honey or brown sugar and maple syrup.
- I'd love to try these with ½ cup of ghee in place of oil! If you get to it first, please let me know how it works. Coconut oil would also be great, as would grapeseed. As mentioned, I think using ⅓ cup of oil and 3 or 4 tablespoons of some sort of fruit puree would be good.
- Mini chocolate chips wouldn't be bad either if there's a chocolate monster in the family. I'd go with the tiny chips, not regular size, since the texture of the muffins is somewhat fluffy.
Recipe
Yogurt Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup wheat bran
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup neutral oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup yogurt (230 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together wheat bran, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a large bowl, whisk egg with the brown sugar, oil, vanilla, yogurt and bran.
- Mix bran mixture with egg mixture, making sure that ingredients at the bottom are incorporated into the batter.
- Spoon batter into muffin tins dividing evenly.
- Bake muffins at 400 for about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until muffins test done.
- Let muffins cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pans
Anna says
Just noticed I called for "1 eggs" and spelled muffin "mufin". Corrections made! Thanks everyone for not pointing out typos.
Holly says
Anna, These are delicious! I swapped out a few ingredients...used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose. I cut the brown sugar in half, using 1/4 cup, and added some nutmeg. And I used applesauce instead of oil. I added about 1/3 cup of ground flaxseed to the brown sugar, oil (or in my case, applesauce), egg mixture. They were fluffy and so tasty. I make muffins ALL the time...these are going into the rotation! Thanks for another great recipe!
Mags says
I'm always on the lookout for new muffin recipes. I love the fruity ones, but like your daughter, I dislike nuts in mine. This one looks very tasty...and healthy!
Katrina says
I've got these muffins in the oven. Well, except that I made some changes. I do that. 😉
I was inspired by your muffins and the fact that the thing that kept falling out of my overstuffed freezer when I'd open it was a big ol' bag of bran. So I added 2 T. cocoa powder, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, about 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger and 1/4 cup mini cc's. Smells good.
Anna says
Thanks Suzy! I really appreciate your comment :).
Suzy says
I just wanted to add a note that I appreciate how you post so regularly. I check many blogs daily (gee, I wonder why I can't get anything done) and many only post once a week, or even once a month. It's frustrating. So thank you for "keeping us posted!" 🙂
Louise says
Muffin Mania continues. LOL I just checked. Muffin Madness is already taken and being used, but Muffin Madness Dot Net is available according to whois. The muffins look great, but I think I'll try them with blueberries or cranberries.
sanjeeta kk says
A lie that turned out to be yummy ! Bran in the muffins sound healthy. Shall give a try.
Katrina says
You are too funny, Miss Anna of Muffin Madness! And the cinnamon in the bran muffins sounds good. They don't usually have any spices that I recall. I made some bran muffins last week that had just a couple tablespoons of cocoa (gotta have my chcolate) and they were actually really good. I think I used buttermilk. I packed them babies full of just about everything but the kitchen sink, including some candied orange peels I made as well as a few chocolate chips, some nuts and dried cherries. I really liked them.
I wish my kids would eat a bran muffin! Maybe I'll try them more plain than with all the stuff I put inside, love the cinnamon idea, as well as other spices.