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Blueberry Maple Bran Muffins

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Muffins flavored with cinnamon & maple syrup strike the perfect balance between wholesome & indulgent.

Blueberry maple bran muffins on a countertop.

My daughter loves to bake muffins for breakfast, and I love to bake with her. Problem is, most good muffins are loaded with white flour, sugar and butter, and are really nothing more than cupcakes without frosting. On the flip side, most healthful muffins don’t taste very good. These blueberry bran muffins flavored with maple syrup strike the perfect balance between wholesome and indulgent. They’re lower in fat and sugar than most muffins, enriched with wheat bran and whole wheat flour, and chockfull of antioxidant-rich blueberries. The best part? My daughter loves them, and I can feel good about giving them to her. This recipe was inspired by a similar recipe in Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys.

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Blueberry Maple Bran Muffins

Muffins flavored with cinnamon & maple syrup strike the perfect balance between wholesome & indulgent.

Servings: 14 muffins

Ingredients

  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with back edge of knife
  • ¾ cup whole wheat flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with back edge of knife
  • ½ cup wheat bran or wheat germ
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 large eggs
  • ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
  • ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
  • ½ cup canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
  • 1½ cups low-fat milk
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries, plus all-purpose flour for coating

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease two standard 12-cup muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray (the recipe makes 14 muffins, so 7 in each pan).
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, wheat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
  3. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, maple syrup, sugar, oil and milk. Whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until batter is smooth (note: batter will be very wet).
  4. Rinse the blueberries and toss them in a small bowl with 2 teaspoons flour until they are well-coated (they need to be wet in order for the flour to stick). Using a ladle or half-cup measure, scoop the batter into the muffin cups until they are about three-quarters full. Using your hands, evenly distribute the berries into the muffins, pressing them just beneath the surface of the batter (about 5 berries per muffin). If you leave them showing, they will create holes in the muffins. Carefully fill the empty cups in each muffin tin half-way with water.
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating pans midway through, until golden brown and crisp around the edges. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn muffins out onto wire rack. Serve warm. Store leftover muffins in an airtight container and reheat before serving. (To reheat, wrap muffins in aluminum foil and place in 400°F degree oven for 10-15 minutes.)
  6. Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 – 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm.

Nutrition Information

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  • Serving size: 1 muffin
  • Calories: 221
  • Fat: 9g
  • Saturated fat: 1g
  • Carbohydrates: 32g
  • Sugar: 17g
  • Fiber: 2g
  • Protein: 4g
  • Sodium: 177mg
  • Cholesterol: 28mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • It is very puzzling to me the number of people who comment on a recipe who completely switch everything up!
    What’s the point of commenting when you didn’t actually make the muffins as outlined? Perhaps a small addition as in cinnamon might be a helpful suggestion but the whole darn recipe?? Weird!
    By the way, I’m going to make these muffins now and I’m actually going to follow the recipe.

  • Hello,
    Can I omit wheat bran? I don’t have any. Thank you!

    • — Gita Shtivelman
    • Reply
    • Hi Gita, You could replace the wheat bran with additional whole wheat or all-purpose flour. Keep in mind that although they’ll still be good, they won’t be bran muffins. Hope you enjoy if you make them!

      • Thank you!

  • This muffin has a wonderful texture. I’ve been making a different muffin recipe every 2 weeks for the past year. I’m not someone who generally alters a pastry recipe but nowadays I use what’s on hand or needs to be used. Let me say this recipe is very forgiving especially when you look at the substitutions I made.
    I used all whole wheat flour. Added 1 tablespoon of flax meal. 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Molasses replaced maple syrup. Golden brown sugar. All out of neutral oils so I used olive oil. Buttermilk. Plumped large golden raisins in the buttermilk instead of blueberries, and added 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts.
    Baked all in a 12 cup muffin tin, filled to the top. Had 1 additional muffin that baked in a liner in a small glass container. Some were a dark bake in a convection gas oven, would check next time at 18 mins, this didn’t deter from taste.
    I recommend this bran muffin for its excellent crumb.

  • I don’t have whole wheat flour. Can I replace the whole wheat flour with all purpose flour?

    Thanks,
    Lisa

    • Yes, I think that should work. Please LMK how they turn out if you try it!

  • I like to weigh flour with a kitchen scale. Do you know how many grams of flour for this recipe for the all purpose and whole wheat flour?

    • Hi Heather, you’ll need 163 grams of all-purpose flour and 102 grams of whole wheat flour. (Most of my recipes have conversions to weights as well — I’ll update this recipe to include them.) Hope you enjoy the muffins! 🙂

      • Thank you!!

  • Hi Jenn, can I use butter instead of oil? I see a review where they used applesauce. What would be a good substitute for the oil?

    • Sure, Eugenia – melted butter should work.

  • These are SO delicious!! Thank you Jenn for another great recipe. I added some whole flax seeds on the top before baking for some crunch.

  • These are fantastic. I’ve made these several times and typically add 1 tbs of molasses for a golden finish and extra flavour. Sometimes I mash a banana into the mix as well. For the kids, I use homo milk for extra fat and reduce the amount of white sugar.

  • Jenn, can I use oatmeal in this recipe? Oatmeal and bran? I am trying to make as healthy of a blueberry muffin that I can. I like a hearty muffin, and dense is okay. What will work?

    • Hi Kate, I’ve never put oatmeal in these, so I can’t say from experience, but I suspect it will work (and as you said, the muffins will definitely be a bit drier and more dense). I’d replace the flour with an equivalent amount of oats (and I’d suggest keeping the oats to no more than 1/2 cup). Hope that helps — I’d love to hear how they turn out if you make them this way!

      • Hi Jenn, can’t wait to try this recipe and I was wondering if the recipe could be cut in half for smaller batches, also if it can be doubled for a larger group. Thanks in advance T.C.

        • — Tracy Chrysler
        • Reply
        • Hi Tracy, Yes and yes! 🙂

  • These muffins look incredible. I’m wondering if I could use buckwheat instead of whole wheat? Would I need to make any other adjustments with leavener or liquid? Thanks for your help, and for such amazing recipes!

    • Hi Alanna, I’ve never baked with buckwheat flour, so I’m not certain how it would impact the muffins. If you want to use buckwheat flour, I’d recommend using just a bit of it in place of the whole wheat flour, so in this case, using 1/4 – 1/2 cup of buckwheat and the remainder of that 3/4 cup should be whole wheat. If you like the texture of the muffins, you could up the buckwheat a bit more the next time you bake them. Hope that helps!

  • We aren’t in the habit of buying low fat milk. Do you suppose that whole milk will work?

    • Sure! Hope you enjoy. 🙂

  • These are delicious and easy to make. I made them this morning, following the recipe to a T. The best bran muffins ever! Thank you Jenn!

    • — Jennifer Workman
    • Reply
  • Very good recipe! I replaced the whole wheat flour with whole wheat PASTRY flour and the muffins turned out tall and round, and fluffy inside.

  • Hi Jenn – this recipe looks interesting indeed – would I be able to usebuttermilk instead of the milk?

    • Hi Delada, I’d recommend sticking with the regular milk here. Hope you enjoy the muffins!

  • I made these. They were delicious and surprisingly moist.

  • I googled “blueberry muffin recipe” this weekend and your recipe was shown with many others. Your amazing description won me over without clicking any others to compare. The muffins were fabulous and received rave reviews from my family. Thank you! We will make this recipe many, many more times.

  • good morning! So excited I found this recipe and I have all ingredients except the bran. Would it be okay to use All-bran buds instead to save a trip to the market?

    Thank you

    • Hi Julie, Unfortunately, I don’t think those would work. So sorry!

  • I’ve tried making these in small load pans because I can’t find a muffin pan to fit inside my toaster oven. (My apt have only a toaster oven, no full sized oven, sadly.) The small loaf pan bread always seems to fall in the middle, though. Any suggestions??

    • Hi Katie, I wish I could be more helpful but the recipe is not intended for a loaf pan so it won’t rise properly. So sorry!

  • Dear Jenn,

    Thank you for sharing this recipe. I would like to try it but I have a doubt and maybe you could help.

    I’m Italian, so not a native English speaker. And I live in Belgium, which means, when I go to the supermarket everything is in French and/or Dutch! Just to add confusion to confusion… 😉

    I saw a similar recipe on Zoe Nathan book “Huckleberry”. The recipe is called “blueberry bran muffins”, and in the introduction Zoe says “… the key is toasting the bran to a deep golden colour…”. But in the list of ingredients there is no bran, and there is wheat germ instead.

    I see that also here you mention bran OR germ, as if they were interchangeable.

    So my doubt is, are they? Because I always thought that bran was the external part of the seed and germ the internal one, so, two opposite things.

    Thank you so much in advance for the clarification!

    Francesca

    • Hi Francesca, You are correct that they are different but they are usually interchangeable in recipes — I’ve made these muffins with both and you really can’t tell a difference. Hope that helps!

  • I took these scrumptious muffins out of the oven 10 minutes ago and have already devoured two. I could not have just one! I also left out the 3 Tbsp sugar, used 3/4 cup unbleached flour, 1/2 cup sprouted spelt flour and the 3/4 cup whole wheat, and I substituted coconut oil for the canola. I used 2 cups freshly picked wild blueberries. Will definitely make these again!

  • This is my personal favourite, and I’m happy my kids love this, too!

  • So good and a bit healthy. They were too good, the dogs climbed on the counter and ate the rest when I went out. I’m making another batch.

  • I made these this morning. I didnt have any vegetable oil so I used olive oil. The muffins were so moist and delicious!

  • These are fantastic, 5 stars. I substituted the milk with Vanilla Almond Milk and it was great.
    This recipe is a repeat, indeed!!!

  • Hi there,

    Because blueberries aren’t in season right now, could I use frozen blueberries instead of fresh?

    • Hi Samantha, Yes, that’s fine. Be sure not to defrost them or they’ll “bleed” all through the muffins.

  • I followed the recipe exactly and they came out just as they look in the photos. I put them on a wire rack to cool and went off to have a cup of tea. I came back half an hour later and 3/4 of them had disappeared! I have 3 teenage mice, all of whom have no qualms about telling me I’m a rotten cook, so “Wow, Mum! These are absolutely delicious” speaks volumes! Breakfast muffins maybe – just don’t make them the night before!!!!

  • Wow! I swapped the plain and whole wheat flours, and doubled the wheat bran and baking powder. Split the batter in half, added one cup of mixed frozen berries to one half and to the other half added 1/2cup chopped dried dates and one small diced red apple. Probably a bit more ‘branny’ than your intention, but totally delicious!! My 2 ASD children have trouble eating enough fibre, but I think you may have given me a secret weapon 🙂

    • — Madonna Thomas
    • Reply
    • So glad they turned out!

  • Fabulous tasting muffin. I cut back on the 3 tablespoons of sugar though as the blueberries add the extra sweetness needed.

    • — Pauline Stewart
    • Reply
  • I love blueberries and was wondering if it would be ok to double the amount of blueberries to say 10? (If I also increase the amount of maple syrup in recipe to say 1/2 cup?)

    • Hi Carol, Feel free to increase the blueberries. I don’t think I’d add more maple syrup as it might cause the muffins to brown too quickly. Instead, I think I might sprinkle some turbinado or brown sugar on top before baking. Please let me know how they turn out!

  • I made these on a Sunday and they are the perfect on-the-go breakfast. Hearty and sweet and satisfying. I only substituted applesauce for the oil to get that extra edge health-wise. But other than that, delicious! I wonder what these would taste like with almond flour? I have never cooked with it, but have always wanted to and these muffins sound like a good thing to try it with!

  • These taste too good to be healthy! I keep a batch on hand for my high schooler who rushed out the door every morning. It makes me feel good to know she has some ” brain food”

  • Can I use frozen blueberries? do I need to thaw them first? Will they be too juicy?

    • Hi Walki, Yes, you can definitely use frozen berries. It’s best not to defrost them. Hope you enjoy!

  • I followed the recipe, except I substituted brown sugar for white. They came out so moist and perfect. Usually bran muffins are dry, these are perfection 🙂

    • Thanks, Maya. Good to know brown sugar works as well.

  • Yum so good! I used frozen blueberries and they turned out beautifully. Thanks for another great recipe.

  • We made this recipe a few weeks ago. I have a tried and true bran muffin recipe in my repertoire, but am always on the hunt for something new! These were so fluffy and moist – mine are usually a bit drier and don’t rise quite as much. I loved the idea of placing the berries on top and dipping them under the surface – worked like a charm and the muffins turned out perfectly as pictured. I always learn something new on your blog! Thank you.

  • I have a lot of frozen blueberries, do you think they will work out ok?

  • Hi, I would like to make these for a brunch with some families, and maybe even your french toast with challah (that one’s even more likely, actually). Any idea on whether I can make either of these batters the night before, or even two hours beforehand, or will that mess up the chemistry?
    Thanks,
    Patricia

    • Hi Patricia, You can make the French toast batter the night before but not the muffins. Hope you enjoy them 🙂

  • Hooray… a healthy muffin recipe! Now I have muffins that taste good and are good for me. Thanks! 🙂

  • I made these tonight and they were FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe! 🙂

  • Yum! I made these a few days ago, and they’re already gone. I’m glad you noted (and the pictures show) that the batter is so wet, because at first I thought, “Uh oh…this can’t be right. Did I add too much milk? Not enough flour?” Not to worry! They turned out just fine. Thanks again for another great recipe, Jenn!

  • I substituted cane sugar for white sugar, double the blueberries, and both wheat bran and sweetened wheat germ and they are really not very good 🙁 I think it was the cane sugar – it’s just not sweet enough. I never like what I cook with it.

    • Hi Lindsdey, It was probably also the fact that you doubled the berries. Blueberries get very sour when you bake them, so they need a lot of sugar to balance them out.

  • Made these this morning w/ honey instead of maple syrup and they were delicious! I really liked the suggestion of putting berries in batter after t hey were in the muffin tins – made for a nice distribution of the berry in the muffin.

    • — Shelley Thomas
    • Reply
  • I just made these muffins – delish!!! Not too sweet, perfectly moist. Only one problem, I burned them, and they cooked for only 20 minutes. Any idea what I did wrong? I would like to make them again, but I don’t know how to prevent them from burning again…

    • Hi Elissa, So glad you liked the muffins! That’s strange that they burned. It may be that your oven is a bit too hot — you can try calibrating it or just cook the muffins at 375 next time.

      • Thanks! I will try the lower temp.

      • Jenn, do these freeze well – fully cooled? Any instructions appreciated!

        • Sure, Amy, they can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 – 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm. Hope you enjoy!

  • I’m not a fan of maple flavor, any suggestions on what I could substitute for the syrup? Honey, perhaps?

    • — Shelley Thomas
    • Reply
    • Hi Shelley, Yes, honey would work great!

  • We made these last night and fed them to the kiddos this morning (2 & 4) and they LOVED them! We didn’t even reheat them and they gobbled em up!

    Thanks for sharing another great recipe!

  • As you commented & we know, white sugar is bad for you, yet there is 1/2 cup plus of sugar used in this recipe! Can there not be a better substitute suggested?!

    • Hi Barb, Unfortunately, I know of no good sugar substitute. I tried making the recipe with less, but the sourness of the blueberries was overwhelming. You need the sugar to balance it out. That said, I’ve made this recipe using only 1/4 cup sugar with chopped strawberries instead of blueberries and it came out great.

  • Your daughter is so cute!! I love bran muffins…always have. These look great 🙂

  • Do you think whole wheat pastry flour could be subbed for all the flour? I think it would work. I’ll try it and let you know. These look wonderful, and the idea to drop the blueberries in is a really good one. Thanks for sharing this!

    • Hi Sue, Whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid than all purpose flour, so you will need to add a bit more milk to make up for the difference, otherwise the muffins will turn out really dry. Hope that helps.

      • Thank you! I think the whole wheat pastry flour is a tad lighter, and might work better than the whole wheat flour; if it doesn’t work, nobody to blame but me!

    • You might try an extra egg yolk. It provides liquid (good) and fat (not as good) that can keep the dough moister.

  • I have ALWAYS LOVED bran muffins. I remember eating them as a kid thinking, “These are muffins for old people.”
    These look wonderful!

  • These look great! I love bran muffins, especially with fresh fruit in them 🙂

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