My dad’s birthday falls towards the middle of September, and this year, half of our immediate family was out of town. Mom had flown to her parents’ house a few days prior for a slight medical emergency, and my brother’s graduate school dorm move-in date was scheduled for the day before Dad’s birthday.
Although my brother returned home for part of the day, long enough to celebrate with a trip to the ice cream store across town, he packed his car full of kitchen supplies and clothes to drive back to his dorm and finish moving in during the early afternoon. After his taillights disappeared at the end of our street, I turned to Dad and asked what he wanted to do for the rest of his special day.
“How about a movie?” he suggested, and after rummaging around in our DVD cabinet, he pulled out one of the Harry Potter films. We turned on the TV and started watching, only pausing while I dashed across town to his favorite Mexican restaurant to grab the take-out birthday dinner he requested.
If you follow me on Snapchat (@AmyBakesHealthy), you’ll know how this story ends…
We turned the evening into a movie marathon, and we plowed through the first three Harry Potter movies that weekend!
Since Dad left for a week-long backpacking trip with his college buddies a few days later, I didn’t feel right watching the next five movies without him, so I dug out the books from a storage shelf in the garage instead. Starting at the very beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I read a few (okay, more like ten) chapters each day as breaks while working and to wind down before bed.
Two weeks later, I’m more than halfway through the fourth one, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It’s taken all of my self-control not to finish each book cover-to-cover in a single day the way I did during my childhood… But trust me, it’s been tempting! There’s something so cozy about curling up on the couch with a novel and blanket, about being transported to another world, about absorbing words on the well-worn pages.
Many times when I opened the cover and began a new chapter, that feeling would wash over me, and I’d start craving something cozy to eat too! Eventually I caved and baked these Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bran Muffins, and between their warm fall flavors and lots of chocolate, they turned out to be the perfect reading snack.
Which probably resulted in me speeding through even more chapters… Whoops!
Many people are turned off from bran muffins because they think that those baked goods are bland and dry—but this recipe of mine is anything but! They’re incredibly tender, almost like a dense cupcake, and they’re full of warm spices. You can smell the cinnamon wafting around the kitchen while the muffins bake. It’s absolutely irresistible!
I have a secret trick to make these muffins so tender. You’ll soak the oat bran for at least 10 minutes before mixing it into the muffin batter. Stir it together with the pumpkin purée, milk, and vanilla, and let that rest while you measure and mix together the rest of the ingredients. Similar to my overnight oat recipes, this step allows the oat bran to soften by absorbing moisture, and this trick results in the most tender bran muffins you’ll ever eat!
Now the rest of the dry ingredients are fairly predictable: whole wheat flour (or gluten-free!), baking powder, and a slew of pumpkin’s favorite spices. You’ll need cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. I prefer to blend my own spices instead of using pumpkin pie spice because it’s cheaper and I control the ratio (I always like extra cinnamon!).
As for the sweetener, you’ll use pure maple syrup and molasses. Remember, pancake syrup is NOT the same thing as maple syrup! Pancake syrup contains corn syrup and granulated sugar, whereas the only ingredient in pure maple syrup is—you guessed it!—maple syrup straight from the trees.
As for the molasses, I do not recommend substituting anything for it because molasses provides the iconic bran muffin flavor: that deep, rich, slightly earthy taste the muffins are known for. You’ll need it for all of my bran muffin recipes, as well as some of my granola recipes, so it’s worth buying a bottle at the store!
And of course… Don’t forget the chocolate chips! We’ll use minis because their smaller size ensures every bite contains at least one morsel of chocolate. Remember to save some to press into the tops of the muffin batter just before baking for a cute finishing touch!
Mmmmmm. Cozy books and cozy muffins—does life get any better than this??
| Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bran Muffins | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) oat bran (measured correctly and gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (183g) pumpkin purée
- ½ cup (120mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60mL) molasses
- 2 tbsp (28g) mini chocolate chips, divided
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oat bran, pumpkin purée, milk, and vanilla. Let the mixture rest for at least 10 minutes while preparing the remaining ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. In a third bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and egg white. Stir in the maple syrup and molasses. Add the oat bran mixture, stirring until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in 1 ½ tablespoons of chocolate chips.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups, and gently press the remaining chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 17-20 minutes or until the tops feel firm to the touch. Cool in the muffin cups for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the maple syrup. Do not substitute pancake syrup; it will not produce the same taste or texture.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Forgot to rate it. Perfect for what I was looking for.
You’re so kind to leave another comment just to review the recipe — thank you Sonja!!
This recipe was really disappointing. I’ve been baking bran muffins for over 30 years and had some leftover pumpkin so thought I’d try it. I’m certain that I measured everything perfectly, so I know that’s not the issue. They didn’t rise and are extremely dense, but not in a good way. Going back to my tried and true recipe. Thanks anyway.; they sounded great.
That sounds frustrating Deborah. Since that isn’t how the muffins are supposed to turn out, I’d like to work together to figure out what happened. If the muffins were that dense, it sounds like there was either too many dry ingredients or not enough wet. Would you mind explaining how you measured the bran and flour, especially the bran?
I made 8 bigger muffins and I left the egg yolk in. The muffins were rubbery and very dense. Do you think the egg yolk made the rubbery?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe! The egg yolk probably didn’t make the muffins rubbery. Instead, there are two most likely culprits. The first is that there was probably that there was too much bran. Did you measure it as directed in the link in the Ingredients list, or did you scoop it directly from the container? The second is that the muffin batter was over-mixed. Did you use an electric mixer (either a stand mixer or hand-held), or did you mix everything together by hand? We’ll figure this out so it doesn’t happen again! 🙂
Amy;
Hi,your chocolate chip pumpkin bran muffins look so tasty and yummy and i am going to copy your recipe and make it as soon as i go buy the ingredients to make it in the kitchen sometime this month month or in october after my mom and i move into a 2 bedroom apartment or townhouse.
Even though i have eggs in the frigerator at home i have a hard time separating the egg yolks from the egg white due to my arthritis in my hands,wrists and shoulders.can i use egg whites in a carton at the grocery store to put or use in your recipe?
Kim
I really appreciate your interest in yet another recipe of mine Kim! That means a lot to me! 🙂 Yes, you can use egg whites in a carton if you prefer. Just make sure they’re at room temperature, or else they’ll re-solidify the melted coconut oil or butter! You’ll need 2 tablespoons of egg whites from a carton. Alternatively, you can use 1 whole egg and reduce the butter / coconut oil to ½ tablespoon instead. Both will work! I can’t wait to hear what you and your mom think of these muffins!
Hello Amy,
I just love your website! You have such wonderful recipes. I want to try this one but need to know if these, or any of your bran muffins, freeze well? I’m the only one in the house who will be eating these, and I don’t want them to get dry or go bad.
Thanks,
Cindy
I truly appreciate your kind words and interest in my recipes Cindy! Yes, these and the rest of my bran muffin recipes freeze really well. (They’ll also keep for at least 5-7 days, if not longer, if sealed inside of an airtight container in the refrigerator!) I’m so excited to hear what you think of them! 🙂
I’d like to use wheat bran instead of oat bran, how would I substitute that?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jessica! I haven’t personally tried, but other readers have reported success with that substitution. They’ve used the same amount, 1 ½ cups. (Just remember that wheat bran has a different density, and therefore a different weight per cup, compared to oat bran — so don’t measure it by grams!) I’d love to hear what you think if you try these muffins!
Taste is amazing. They were dense but I didn’t follow the extra steps for the flour etc. Honestly I could care less because they were moist, and super delicious. Very filling too! Loved them! I used ground whole oats for the flour, I doubled the recipe and lowered the maple syrup and molasses by about 1/3 of the total amount. I love that this recipe used natural products for sugars but I still wanted the least amount of sugar possible. I also used the whole egg. I will make this recipe over and over as my teenage son eats very clean whole foods but he also eats a lot. Two of these muffins seem to fill him up. ????
Thanks for an awesome recipe.
I’m so glad you and your son enjoyed these muffins Alex! It really means a lot to me that you already think you’ll make these again. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know! 🙂 I always love hearing what recipe modifications work, so thanks for including your recipe tweaks too!
Hi Amy
Can ground flax seeds be added, and can raisins be substituted for chocolate chips?
I’m honored that you’d like to try my recipe, Fonda! I think it should be fine to add ground flax seeds, and you can definitely substitute raisins for the chocolate chips. You can even add more raisins if you’d like — up to ½ cup or so should be fine! I also recommend hydrating your raisins first; it makes them exceptionally plump and juicy. (I actually do this whenever I bake with raisins. It makes a HUGE difference!)
To hydrate your raisins, add the raisins to a microwave-safe bowl, cover them with water, and cover the top of the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Let the raisins sit for 10-15 minutes (or while you measure and mix together the rest of the ingredients). Thoroughly drain the excess liquid before folding them into the muffin batter.
I’d love to hear what you think of these muffins if you end up making them! 🙂