My best friend works in a bakery as her full-time job. Every day, she earns an income staying elbows-deep in flour and making muffins, scones, cookies, and cakes. How neat is that?? I must admit, I’m a tiny bit jealous… I’d love to open up my own bakery someday!
As much as she loves baking, there’s one major downside: the work hours. Her alarm rings just after 3 am, she arrives at the facility before 4:30 am, mixes and shapes and bakes until 2, and slides between the covers to go to sleep by 7 pm. With the days growing longer and the sun setting later, that early bedtime would really throw me off!
A few weeks ago, she visited me shortly after I posted these blueberry buttermilk bran muffins. She mentioned her morning driving routine—nibbling on a muffin and sipping her coffee as she cruised down the empty freeway to work—so I sent her home with the rest of my batch.
The very next day, she texted me, exclaiming that they were the best bran muffins she’s ever eaten. That’s high praise coming from a professional baker!
When she stopped by again last week, she explained that she tried switching to granola or protein bars when her muffin stash ran out, but those just weren’t the same. Nothing beats the texture and flavor of a soft, tender muffin! Since we both love our veggies as much as baked sweets, I immediately mixed up these Carrot Cake Bran Muffins for her to enjoy.
Many people think of bran muffins as bland or dry, but these are the exact opposite! They’re practically as tender as cupcakes and are bursting with warm, cozy flavors. So how do we do that?
Amy’s Nerdy Food Notes!
How we mix together the ingredients determines the texture of the muffins. Many recipes stir in the oat bran along with the dry ingredients, but this leads to dry muffins. Instead, soak the oat bran in milk, Greek yogurt, and vanilla before measuring anything else. Similar to soaking oatmeal to make overnight oats, soaking the oat bran softens it and creates that tender muffin texture we want.
Two ingredients create the characteristic cozy bran muffin flavor: molasses and cinnamon. Molasses has a warm, rich, earthy taste, and I always envision cool foggy mornings paired with a tall cup of coffee and fleecy blanket whenever I bake with it. In other words, it adds the ultimate cozy taste! You can find it on the baking aisle near the maple and corn syrups.
Cinnamon also provides a warmth and depth to bran muffins. Because I love adding it to my carrots cakes, I also sprinkled in a little nutmeg as well. When paired together, these two spices create a tantalizing aroma while the muffins bake and cool on the counter, which always tempts me to break into one while the steam still drifts off the top. The burnt fingers and tongue would be worth it!
The final important ingredient in these particular bran muffins is the shredded carrots. About 3 large carrots, peeled first, will yield the amount you need. To make quick work of shredding, use a food processor! Do not buy pre-shredded carrots; those are dry and would result in subpar muffins.
I handed these Carrot Cake Bran Muffins to my best friend as soon as she walked into my kitchen last week, and she sampled a small bite… Which lead to the entire muffin. She said that these were even better than the last ones—maybe even the best muffins she’s ever had!
That made my heart melt into a warm, cozy, cinnamony puddle. ♥
| Carrot Cake Bran Muffins | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) oat bran (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- ⅓ cup (80g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup (80mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) honey
- ¼ cup (60mL) molasses
- 1 ½ cups (160g) shredded carrots (about 3 large, peeled first)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oat bran, yogurt, milk, and vanilla.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a separate bowl. In a third bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter and egg. Stir in the honey and molasses. Mix in the bran mixture. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in the shredded carrots.
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire rack.
Other readers have had success substituting wheat bran for the oat bran. I have not tried that myself and cannot personally vouch for that substitution.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Pure maple syrup or agave may be substituted for the honey. Do not substitute pancake syrup because it will not produce the same taste or texture. I don’t recommend substituting anything for the molasses; it’s required to produce the iconic bran muffin flavor. (And you'll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Do not buy pre-shredded carrots. They are not as moist and will result in subpar muffins.
{clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
More bran muffin recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Mixed Fruit and Nut Buttermilk Bran Muffins by The View From Great Island
♥ Blueberry Peach Bran Muffins by Healthy. Delicious.
♥ Glazed Pumpkin Bran Muffins by Lauren’s Latest
♥ Maple Pecan Bran Muffins by Foxes Love Lemons
Hi, Amy: I am so excited to try this recipe! I was trying to brainstorm ways to up the fiber per serving, or ways to just make the muffin even healthier than it already is. What do you think about adding either ground flaxseed or chia seeds to the recipe? If so, how much of either would you suggest incorporating? Thank you for your amazing website,
Lynn
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipe Lynn! I don’t recommend adding chia seeds because they’re so absorbent, which means they’ll soak up moisture from the batter and make your muffins dry. However, adding ground flaxseed might work! Just to make sure your muffins don’t turn out dry, I’d probably recommend substituting 2-3 tablespoons of ground flaxseed for an equal amount of flour. 🙂 I’d love to hear how that goes and what you think of the muffins if you try it!
Sorry to say these were a dismal failure, I suspect there is way too much bran and not enough liquid. Totally inedible.
I’m honored that you tried my recipe Nesa! That sounds really disappointing and not like how these muffins are supposed to turn out at all, so I’d love to help figure out what happened. 🙂 Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? How did you measure the flour and oat bran — with a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe how you used them to measure?
Hi Amy, yes, I was disappointed that I wasn’t successful with these muffins as they look lovely in your pictures. In answer to your enquiry above:
Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
The only difference I made was using wheat bran instead of oat bran.
Also, I live in New Zealand and I suspect that American ingredient names are different. I think our (NZ & UK) molasses is what you would call blackstrap. The molasses I used didn’t do the recipe any favours, too bitter. I think golden syrup or treacle would have been much better.
I think the volume of dry ingredients to wet is too high. Your recipe calls for 2 ½ cups of flour and bran to 1 egg, 1 ½ cups of carrot and slightly more than ½ cup of wet ingredients. I made a different carrot muffin recipe that had 1 ¾ cups of whole wheat flour, 2 eggs, 2 cups of carrot and 1 ¾ cups of wet ingredients, which gave a fairly wet batter and they turned out perfectly yummy.
How did you measure the flour and oat bran — with a kitchen scale or measuring cups?
I used cooking measuring cups where 1 cup = 250ml
If the latter, can you describe how you used them to measure?
Each measuring receptacle was filled level
Thank you for such detailed responses to my question Nesa — this makes it SO much easier to solve the mystery! 🙂
I’m assuming that you measured your wheat bran by volume (so you used the same number of cups), rather than by weight (180g of wheat bran), since you used measuring cups — correct?
Yes, blackstrap molasses would definitely make these muffins taste more bitter! I used regular American molasses, not blackstrap. If blackstrap is the only molasses that you have available to you, then I’d recommend using 2 tablespoons of that and an additional 2 tablespoons of honey instead (so 6 tablespoons of honey in total).
When you used the measuring cups to measure the bran and flour, how did you fill them? Did you happen to dip them into your containers to scoop out the ingredients, by any chance? Or did you shake your measuring cups back and forth while filling them?
What can I sub in for molasses ? or can I leave it out?
I’m honored that you’d like to try my recipe, Wendy! I highly recommend using the molasses, if at all possible, because it’s what gives bran muffins their iconic flavor. However, if you’re truly unable to use it, then you may substitute additional honey, pure maple syrup, or agave in its place. Just remember your bran muffins won’t have quite the same flavor — but they’ll have the same texture and should still taste delicious! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of them if you try making this recipe!
OMG 😳…These have been by far thee best Healthy and Delicious Carrot cake muffins I have ever tasted, and nailed them fist time 🤩 (wish I could post a pic for you). I usually don’t follow recipes fully as I like to add my touch & tend to want to make the recipe more healthy like the other lady commented lol but since you were extremely instructing to follow each step measurements precisely, I did that and it PAID OFF. However,I used unrefined Molasses sugar as that’s what we have on the island.
I am always scouting for healthy eats and treats as both my husbands and I are fitness crazy 😜
So Thank you Amy , these are my go to carrot cake muffins from now on.
PS: Did I mention my husband loveeees them too 🤪
I’m SO excited that you and your husband love these muffins, Mapula!! It truly means a lot that you’d call these your “go to” carrot cake muffins and that you’d take the time to let me know (and that you’d trust my recipe without modifying it too! 😉 ). Your sweet comment made my entire day! ♡ You’re welcome to share your photo with me on Instagram, if you have an account there (I’m @amyshealthybaking!), or you can email it to me as well. I’d absolutely love to see your muffins!!
My muffins did not come out anything like the ones in the pictures. I followed the recipe with these exceptions:
-I used wheat bran
-I did not use a scale (but followed all your measuring tips)
The batter never changed shape in the baking process. At 23 minutes in, nothing was happening. After 33 mins. in the oven, I took them out and had to throw them away. (My oven is working. I just baked two other types of muffins, with pretty much most of the same ingredients. Those came out fine.) So disappointed!
I’m honored that you tried making my recipe, Maki! That sounds really frustrating and not like how these muffins should turn out at all, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened. 🙂 In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
How did your muffins look compared to the ones in my photos? (Both the outsides and the insides!)
Besides the wheat bran, did you make any substitutions or modifications to this recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
When using measuring cups and following my tips (I’m so glad to hear that!), you used a fork to fill them with flour + wheat bran, and you did not shake the measuring cups back and forth at all while filling them, correct?
After 23 minutes, were your muffins baked all the way through? Or when you checked them with a toothpick, was there still raw batter attached to it?
When you tasted your muffins, how were their flavors and textures?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of what happened and how to fix it once I know your answers to all of them! 🙂
Hi, thanks for replying to my comment. I am happy to answer your questions.
Your question: How did your muffins look compared to the ones in my photos? (Both the outsides and the insides!)
My response: The muffins did not rise AT ALL. Their shape was exactly the same as when I scooped the batter into the baking tins. No change at all. The batter just browned and hardened, but it didn’t rise at all.
Your question: Besides the wheat bran, did you make any substitutions or modifications to this recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
My response: Besides substituting the oat bran for wheat bran, the only other thing I didn’t do was to use a scale to measure the ingredients. However, I followed all your measuring tipsn(i.e., using a fork to scoop, not shaking measuring cup to settle dry ingredients, etc.).
Your question: When using measuring cups and following my tips (I’m so glad to hear that!), you used a fork to fill them with flour + wheat bran, and you did not shake the measuring cups back and forth at all while filling them, correct?
My answer: Correct. I made it a point to follow the directions very carefully.
Your question: After 23 minutes, were your muffins baked all the way through? Or when you checked them with a toothpick, was there still raw batter attached to it?
My response: Toothpick was still showing batter at 23 minutes. They were crunchy on the outside but still a bit raw on the inside.
Your question: When you tasted your muffins, how were their flavors and textures?
My answer: The flavor was what you would expect from a bran muffin, but the texture was not muffin-like at all. The texture was more like a “mushed up” granola bar/cluster. Overall, the top of the “clusters” were crunchy, the middles were raw, and the bottoms were burnt. I ended up throwing them out.
Also, my ingredients were all bought the week before and my oven works fine.
I appreciate you taking the time to read through this, but no worries. I will move on to try some of your other recipes.
I am always looking for healthy and tasty treats for my family.
It’s my pleasure, Maki! I’m happy to help. 🙂
What did the insides of your muffins look like? (I didn’t see that in your response, but I could be missing something!)
What flour did you use? Did you use regular whole wheat flour, or did you use the gluten-free option that I provided in the Notes section?
For the wheat bran, you used the same volume (1 ½ cups), correct?
You also used the full amount of yogurt, milk, honey, and molasses, correct?
Did you use a stand mixer or hand-held mixer to make the batter, by any chance?
I’d still love to help solve this muffin mystery — it’s so strange that your muffins turned out burnt on the tops and bottoms but raw on the insides, even after an extra 10 minutes of baking!
I tried to make these over the weekend. I wasn’t able to find oat bran in any local stores, so I tried wheat bran. I measured everything with a kitchen scale and made no other modifications to the recipe. I agree with Nesa that the recipe seems to be lacking liquid ingredients. My “batter” was more like the texture of the moist sand you’d use to make a sandcastle at the beach. After baking, they were very dry and crumbly. As soon as I try to pick them up they fall apart. They still seem to taste pretty good, so I’ve been having them with a large glass of water, but I’d love to help figure out what’s going on here.