Earlier this year, one of my closest friends shared with me that she had never been to a baseball game. As a huge fan (my dad and I are in the process of visiting all 30 MLB stadiums together, and we’ve already checked off 22 from that list!), I immediately volunteered to take her to her first game.
After checking our schedules, we picked July 2 as the best date for both of us, so that Saturday afternoon, I drove over two hours through 4th of July holiday weekend traffic (we accidentally forgot about that little travel planning detail… oops!) to meet her at the minor league baseball stadium in her hometown. Following big hugs in the parking lot—we hadn’t seen each other in months!—we handed over our tickets to the ushers and walked through the stadium gates. (If you follow me on my @AmyBakesHealthy Snapchat account, then you already saw snippets of our adventure!)
While the teams finished their warm-ups and stretched on the field, we walked around the concourse, looking at the different gourmet food options, ranging from traditional hot dogs and cracker jacks to thick, freshly carved tri-tip sandwiches and sizzling fajitas straight off the grill. (These are what I ended up eating!) Once we circled the entire stadium, we navigated back to the right side of the field to our seats just beyond first base.
During the first twenty minutes of the game, I explained the basics of baseball to my friend as she patiently soaked it all in: balls, strikes, outs, runs, foul balls, innings, singles, doubles, triples, ground balls, pop flies… Although I omitted lots of smaller details and nuances, she understood all of the rules I had described by the end of the game!
Before I drove home, I handed over a bag of these Peach Pie Bran Muffins to my friend. She served as my official taste tester last year when we both lived in the same town for a few months, and since she fell in love with my bran muffin recipes back then, I had a feeling she’d appreciate these… They’re supremely soft, so tender, and burst with cozy spices and juicy fruit—and just 109 calories!
The following morning, she texted me, “Omgggggg your muffins are my favorite!!!!!!!” Because she worked as a professional baker for 4 years, that’s extremely high praise!
To make these healthy bran muffins, you’ll start with—you guessed it!—oat bran. This is the kind I buy, and wheat bran would also work. Because it’s is very absorbent and soaks up lots of liquid, it’s very important to measure the oat bran correctly using either the spoon and level method or a kitchen scale because too much will dry out your muffins. I highly recommend the latter! This is the kitchen scale that I own, and it’s the best $20 I’ve ever spent. I use it every single day! It ensures all of my recipes turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time.
Many bran muffins taste bland or dry, but not these—they’re the exact opposite! And that’s all thanks to my secret trick to baking the most tender bran muffins… You’ll soak the oat bran in Greek yogurt, milk, and a little vanilla while preparing the other ingredients. This softens the oat bran, similar to how my overnight oat recipes work, and gives these muffins their irresistible texture.
Most traditional recipes and store-bought bran muffins depend on lots of oil for a tender texture, but not these. You just need 1 tablespoon of coconut oil for the entire dozen! Instead, their tender texture comes from both that secret trick I mentioned above and my favorite ingredient in healthier baking. Do you know what it is?
That’s right—it’s Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt provides the same moisture as extra oil or butter for a fraction of the calories, and with 21g of protein per cup (as compared to regular yogurt with around 10g), it gives your muffins a protein boost, too. They have over 4g, which is a great way to start your day or sneak in a little extra protein at snacktime!
Finally, for that iconic peach pie flavor, you’ll add in diced peaches and cinnamon. My grandma makes the best peach pie I’ve ever had (and I’m still testing ways to make it healthier… she used so much butter! ?), and one of her secrets was lots of cinnamon. I always add it to all of my peach baked treats for that reason!
For the peaches, you can use fresh or canned in 100% juice and drained. If it’s summertime, I highly recommend the former! However, I’ve baked these with canned peaches during the winter when I start craving warm weather treats, and they taste just as delicious. It’s very important to finely dice the peaches so they’re no larger than the size of chocolate chips. This small size ensures the muffins bake evenly and that you get a piece of fresh fruit in every bite!
Who’s ready to eat?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your muffins and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Peach Pie Bran Muffins | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) oat bran (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (120mL) 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
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) molasses, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup, room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) diced peaches
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oat bran, Greek yogurt, 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, and salt. In a third bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and egg white. Stir in the molasses and maple syrup. Add the oat bran mixture, stirring until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in the peaches.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 21-24 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.
For the gluten-free flour, use the following blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, and ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought blends should also work, as long as they are measured like this.
Any milk (including non-dairy) may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the maple syrup. Do not substitute pancake syrup because it will not produce the same taste or texture. Do not substitute anything for the molasses; it’s required to produce the iconic bran muffin flavor.
Fresh peaches or peaches canned in 100% juice and thoroughly drained will both work. Make sure to cut the peaches so they're no larger than the size of chocolate chips to ensure the muffins bake evenly.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Small Batch Maple Peach Muffins
♥ Whole Wheat Honey Peach Muffins
♥ Clean Peach Scones
♥ Peach Pie Pancakes
♥ Peach Streusel Coffee Cake
♥ Clean Peach Crumble
♥ Peach Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Skinny Honey Peach Cheesecake
LOVE the flavors of peach pie and these muffins, especially with cinnamon!! 🙂 So sweet that your friend loved the game and these muffins, if I ever get to your area you can take me out to the ballgame too! 😉
YES! I’m definitely taking you to a baseball game Marina! 😉
Is it possible to replace the oat bran with bran bud cereal?
Are you referring to cereal like Grape-Nuts Sabrina? If so, I really don’t recommend that substitution. Instead, I’d suggest using old-fashioned oats that you’ve ground in a food processor or blender until they’re about ⅛ to ¼ of their original size. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of the muffins if you try them!
YES, that was the best day EVER! I had so much fun with you in your happy place!! These fantastic muffins (which are sadly gone now) were the icing on the cake! <3 <3 <3
I’m so glad you had fun at the ballgame Andrea!! We’ll have to do it again sometime. 🙂 That means the world to me that you loved the muffins!!
Hi Amy, I’ve just started following you on Pinterest. Been scrolling through your recipes, and I love what I’ve been reading. I had a question and thought about the peach muffins and the peach scones, I think it was. If I was to use the canned peaches in 100% natural juice, how do you think it would work to use juice instead of the agave nectar? We live overseas where fresh peaches cost a fortune when you can get them and agave nectar is not always available either. I would be interested to know what you think. Thanks muchly.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Robbie! I don’t recommend using the peach juice in place of agave. It isn’t nearly as sweet, so your baked goods would taste bland. However, you can use one of the substitutes for agave that I offer in the Notes section underneath the Instructions if those are cheaper and easier to find! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins and the scones!
Just made these— love them! A note that I did substitute wheat bran for oat bran. It weighed 90g for 1 1/2 cups. I used that amount and they worked great- although baking time was closer to 35 mins. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these muffins Grace! Thank you so much for letting me know about the wheat bran — that’s great to hear! 🙂
When I mix my oat bran (Bob’s Red Mill), measured the way you direct, and mix it with the Greek yogurt and milk, it is very stiff. Your other oat bran recipe (for Chocolate muffins) has more milk. I am wondering if I should mix in additional milk because it does not look like the consistency pictured. My first batch came out a bit chewy. I am making them again and hope to get a better texture.
I’m honored that you tried making my recipe, Connie! I intentionally didn’t include quite as much milk in this recipe compared to my chocolate bran muffins because peaches contain lots of juice, which they release while baking. Too much liquid from the juice can throw off the ratio of ingredients and cause muffins to collapse, and I didn’t want that to happen with these muffins! However, the consistency of the mixture in Step 2 of this recipe should be exactly the same as in Step 2 of my chocolate bran muffins recipe — both recipes only call for ½ cup of milk to be used in Step 2.
Did you measure the oat bran with a kitchen scale or measuring cups?
By chewy, do you mean tough and gummy? Or dry in texture?
What can I use in place of molasses. I dislike the taste of it and it affects my blood sugar
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe! If you don’t like molasses, then you can substitute additional pure maple syrup, honey, or agave for it. However, your muffins won’t have that iconic “bran muffin” flavor — but they should still be delicious! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of them if you try making these muffins!
Thanks I am going to try to make them this weekend
It’s my pleasure! I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think of these muffins. 🙂
My muffins came out terrible. They Frey on the top and wet inside . Unevenly cooked
Oh no!! That sounds frustrating and not at all like how these muffins are supposed to turn out, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened. In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section, other than using ½ cup of maple syrup?
Did you use pure maple syrup (the kind that comes directly from maple trees!) or something else, like a sugar-free maple syrup?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients, especially the oat bran, flour, milk, and maple syrup?
Did you measure the peaches before or after dicing? Were your diced peaches the same size as chocolate chips, or were they larger than that?
How long did you bake your muffins?
Did you use a regular oven or a counter-top oven? (The latter is about 2 feet wide and much smaller!)
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of the culprit once I know your answers to all of them!