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 just made your muffins following it exactly except I substituted with what bran instead of oat bran and I had the same issue of dryness. There was not enough liquid to soak it. I still proceeded with the recipe and it was not easy to mix, even with the bran and liquid ingredients I knew adding the flour would make it even drier but proceeded to keep mixing this past like mixture. Usually muffins are not supposed to be mixed very much to keep the muffins moist but in this case it was impossible to do that. I scooped the batter and baked them anyway. They turned out better than expected, heavier than my usual muffins but hearty and healthy none the less!
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Mary! I’m really sorry for the delay in responding to your question. I’ve been on travel and am currently playing catch-up with blog comments!
These muffins should have a moist and soft consistency — and the batter should be fairly thick but not dry — so I’d love to help figure out why that happened with your batch. In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
Was the flavor okay, and it was just the texture that didn’t meet your expectations?
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? (Other than the wheat bran!)
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients — especially the bran, flour, honey, and molasses?
If you used measuring cups, did you happen to dip them directly into your containers of flour and bran? Or did you gently shake them back and forth at all while filling them (to “level off” the mound of flour or bran, for example)?
If you used a kitchen scale, how many grams of wheat bran did you use?
If you used a kitchen scale, did you use grams, mL, or ounces to measure the milk, honey, and molasses?
Did you use the full amount of honey and molasses? (Some people prefer their muffins to be less sweet and decrease one or both of these, which is why I like to double check!)
Did you use whole wheat flour, the homemade gluten-free flour blend in the Notes section, or something else?
When soaking the wheat bran, was there enough Greek yogurt and milk to at least coat all of the bran, or was there so much wheat bran that it was impossible to do that?
Could you describe the muffin batter’s consistency a bit more? For example, was it as thick and stiff as cookie dough, closer to the consistency of yeast-based bread dough, or something else?
Did your muffins rise at all while baking?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of the culprit and how to fix it once I know your answers to all of them!
And again, I sincerely apologize for the delay in returning your note. I’d love to help solve this mystery so your next batch turns out better, if you decide to try making them again!