Blueberry Maple Bran Muffins
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Start your morning right with blueberry maple bran muffins—hearty, lightly sweet, and bursting with juicy berries in every bite.
Most delicious muffins are loaded with white flour, sugar, and butter, making them more like cupcakes without the frosting than a wholesome breakfast. On the flip side, most healthful muffins don’t taste very good. These blueberry bran muffins, sweetened with maple syrup, strike the perfect balance between nutritious and indulgent. They’re lower in fat and sugar than most muffins, enriched with wheat bran and whole wheat flour, and packed with antioxidant-rich blueberries.
These muffins are a treat you can feel good about baking for your family. The recipe was inspired by a similar version in Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys.
“These are delicious and easy to make. I made them this morning, following the recipe to a T. The best bran muffins ever!”
What You’ll Need To Make Blueberry Maple Bran Muffins
- All-purpose flour, whole wheat flour & wheat bran or wheat germ: This trio provides structure and hearty texture, with the bran or germ adding fiber and a subtle nuttiness.
- Baking powder & baking soda: Work together to give the muffins a light, tender rise.
- Cinnamon, maple syrup, sugar & blueberries: Bring warm spice and sweetness to the muffins, with juicy blueberries scattered throughout for bursts of flavor.
- Large eggs, vegetable oil & milk: These bind the batter and add richness, moisture, and a tender crumb.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1. Prep the oven and dry ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the all-purpose flour, the wheat flour, wheat bran (or wheat germ), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Step 2. Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, maple syrup, sugar, oil, and milk. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until the batter is smooth—it will be very wet.
Pro Tip: If your maple syrup is cold from the fridge and you have the time, bring it to room temp first so it doesn’t seize up when mixed with the eggs and oil.
Step 3. Prep and add the blueberries. Rinse the blueberries, then toss them in a small bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons of flour so they’re lightly coated (the blueberries need to be wet for the flour to stick). Gently fold them into the batter using a spatula.
Pro Tip: Tossing the berries in flour helps keep them from sinking—just make sure they’re a little wet so the flour will stick to them.
Step 4. Fill the muffin tin. Use a ladle or 1/3-cup measure to scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each almost to the top.
Step 5. Bake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and crisp around the edges.
Step 6. Cool and store. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack. Serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The muffins can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Pro Tips For the Best Blueberry Bran Muffins
- Frozen blueberries work fine: Just don’t thaw them—adding them straight from the freezer prevents them from bleeding into the batter and turning it purple. As with fresh, toss them in a little flour so they don’t sink.
- All-purpose flour is okay: If you don’t have whole wheat flour on hand, feel free to use only all-purpose. The muffins will still turn out great, but using both adds texture and a little nutritional boost.
- Use a gentle hand with mixing: Once the wet and dry ingredients are combined, stir just until there are no dry spots. Overmixing can make the muffins dense.
- Store wheat bran and/or wheat germ in the fridge or freezer. This will significantly extend its shelf life. If kept at room temp, it will generally only keep for 3 months.
Bake Your Way Through These Muffin Recipes
Blueberry Maple Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off, divided
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ⅓ cup wheat bran or wheat germ
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 cup (130 g) of the all-purpose flour, the wheat flour, wheat bran (or wheat germ), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- 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).
- Rinse the blueberries and toss them in a small bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons of flour until they are well-coated (the blueberries need to be wet in order for the flour to stick). Add them to the batter and fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. Using a ladle or ⅓-cup measure, scoop the batter into the muffin cups until they are almost full.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and crisp around the edges. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn muffins out onto a wire rack. Serve warm. Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days and reheat before serving. (To reheat, wrap muffins in aluminum foil and place in a 350°F/175°C oven for 10 to 15 minutes.)
Notes
Nutrition Information
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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I made these muffins exactly as written and they are very, very yummy!! Thank you!!
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!
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!
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.
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!