These healthy bran muffins are naturally sweetened with dates and are 100% whole-grain. They’re light, fluffy and absolutely delicious!
Enhanced with vanilla and orange, this recipe is flavorful and flexible—stir in nuts, fresh blueberries, dried raisins, or dried cherries for different variations.
Not all healthy bran muffins are created equal, and a little PSA, not all bran muffins are healthy. Most often they’re packed with sugar and as dense as a brick. Nothing good there. But if they’re made right and with wholesome ingredients, bran muffins can be really good, like breakfast- and snack-worthy good.
These bran muffins are everything you love about the breakfast staple—light, fluffy, and packed with flavors of orange and vanilla—but with a healthified take. They’re with 100% whole-grain and naturally sweetened with dates, which in addition to the molasses, gives an immense depth of flavor.
What makes these bran muffins healthy?
If you’re interested in the stats, these Healthy Bran Muffins are a great source of fiber, vitamin B, Iron, Magnesium, and Manganese.
And if you aren’t interested, well, all you need to know is that these bran muffins are made with wholesome ingredients, packed with flavor, and are something you can feel good about.
What you’ll need to make these muffins:
How do you make healthy bran muffins
These bran muffins are so easy to make! There are a few more steps to this recipe than a recipe for regular muffins would have, but I promise the steps are simple and the results are so worth it!
- toast the bran flakes (this added depth of flavor)
- combine date and orange juice in a small saucepan and simmer until juice has been absorbed (this softens the dates to allow them to process smoothly)
- in a food processor, process barn cereal into a flour.
- add toasted bran flakes, baking powder and salt to food processor and combine; transfer to a bowl.
- add cooked dates and coconut oil to empty food processor; purée.
- add buttermilk, eggs, molasses, vanilla, and zest and pulse to combine.
- pour date/buttermilk mixture over dry mixture and mix just until combined.
- divide batter between muffin wells and bake!
Substituting oil with applesauce
Also, if you are watching your fat/oil intake, feel free to sub part (no more than half) of the oil with applesauce in this recipe. Although, I think these are pretty great the way they are. But you do you!
More healthy muffin recipes you may like…
- Whole Grain Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins (THE best GF blueberry muffins!)
- Whole-Wheat Olive Oil Banana Bread Muffins
- Pear & Fennel Muffins
If you make these muffins let me know, I’d love to see your creations!
xoxo
Make sure to tag me @ZESTFULKITCHEN ON INSTAGRAM or comment below if you make these healthy bran muffins!
To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can click the button on any of the photos, or the red button on the side bar or below the recipe. Happy & healthy baking!
Actually Healthy Bran Muffins
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 standard muffins 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Naturally sweetened with dates, these 100% whole grain bran muffins are light, fluffy and absolutely delicious. Enhanced with vanilla and orange, this recipe is flavorful and flexible—stir in nuts, fresh blueberries, dried raisins, or dried cherries for different variations.
Ingredients
- ½ cup bran flakes, such as wheat bran
- 1 cup pitted and chopped dates (8–9 dates)
- ¾ cup fresh orange juice
- 1 ½ cups original bran cereal (3 ½ ounces), such as All-Bran
- ¾ cup whole-wheat pastry flour (3 ½ ounces)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh orange zest
- ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Spread bran flakes on a baking sheet in an even layer and toast in oven for 6 minutes, stirring halfway through; let cool.
Bring dates and orange juice to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce to medium-low and cook until juice has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, process bran cereal in a food processor until finely ground into a flour. Add toasted bran flakes, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Process bran mixture to combine; transfer to a bowl.
Add cooked dates and coconut oil to now empty food processor and puree. Add buttermilk, eggs, molasses, vanilla, and zest and pulse until combined, about 10 pulses.
Pour date mixture over bran-flour mixture and stir just until combined; fold in walnuts. Divide batter between paper-lined wells.
Bake muffins until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool muffins in pan 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
If you are watching your fat/oil intake, feel free to sub part (no more than half) or the oil with applesauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 165mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 24g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 28mg
Keywords: Healthy Bran Muffins, Bran Muffins
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Megan & Carlie says
Yum! Love sweetening foods with dates! Will have to try these.
Lauren says
Me too, so easy and so tasty! Thanks!
Libby Barclay says
I seriously can’t wait to try these!
Lauren says
Yay! I hope you like them!!
Susie says
I made these and we ALL loved them, even the kids. These will be on heavy rotation at my house! Great breakfast for on-the-go.
★★★★★
Emily Bruno says
Love that these are sweetened with dates. Also love the vanilla + orange combo- yum!!
★★★★★
Libby says
The best bran muffins I’ve ever tried! Thanks ZK!!
★★★★★
Lori Grant says
These muffins are delightful!
★★★★★
Sudecia Brown says
The batter came out like ginger bread cookie dough. I made cookies because I didn’t want to throw away the batter/dough because it was expensive to make. Have no clue what went wrong. Bummer!
Lauren says
Hi Sudecia,
I am sorry to hear that the batter came out too thick. The batter is quick thick for a muffin recipe, it somewhat holds it shape, however it shouldn’t be anything like a cookie dough. A few things I am curious about, did you use bran flakes and bran cereal? These are two different ingredients and both are important for texture. The flakes add a lot of nutrition without too much bulk. Second, I want to make sure you used the correct amount of oil, buttermilk and eggs, as these three ingredients are important for loosening the batter. Lastly, did you cook the dates long enough for all of the orange juice to be absorbed?
These are just a few of the things that could have caused a thick batter. I hope that helps! If you need more instructions, the video is a great help!
Charlane says
The perfect bran muffin! Wow – nutritious, great flavour & moist! I didn’t have WW pastry flower so I substituted 1/4 C with white, NP with the change. Thanks Lo for a nutritious & delicious bran muffin!
★★★★★
Lauren Grant says
Thanks Charlene! I am so glad you enjoyed them! Also, thanks for letting us know that this works with a combo of AP and whole-wheat flour—I think a lot of people don’t have WW pastry on hand, so this is helpful!