During my sophomore year of college, I lived in an apartment located about a mile away from campus along with three other girls. Nearly every morning after turning off my alarm clock, I climbed down the ladder of my lofted bed, pulled on my workout clothes, and headed out the door for a run.
Still half asleep and not quite fully coherent, I typically stuck with the same route (I lacked the brainpower to remember new directions and street names that early in the morning!). I followed the asphalt path that meandered around a few different parks in the residential neighborhoods behind our apartment complex, mentally picking out my favorite houses as I passed by the quiet roads.
For about two weeks during the early spring and again in the late summer, I really looked forward to a particular stretch of my route. A long straight section, bordered by the houses’ wooden backyard fences on the right and an empty riverbed on the left, it pointed due east.
Since I started my run at almost the same time every single day, the bright yellow sun was just starting to peek out over the horizon as I jogged down that stretch during those four special weeks, painting the sky with soft pinks and tangerine hues, while the deep purple of the night began to fade.
I felt like I was witnessing an artist at work as those rich colors of dawn rippled farther and farther across the dawn sky, and on those days, I always finished my run full of peace and inspiration.
Once I returned home and showered, I typically poured myself a small bowl of my favorite Trader Joe’s cereal to slowly savor as my post-workout fuel, but these Morning Glory Bran Muffins would have been the ideal breakfast for those mornings—and not just because of their name! Full of healthy ingredients and cozy cinnamon, their comforting flavors pair perfectly with the crisp morning air of my runs, and both of my parents even called them the best muffins they’ve ever had.
That’s high praise, coming from them!
Chef Pam McKinstry created the original recipe for morning glory muffins, named after the Morning Glory Café where she worked. The muffins included a little bit of everything: carrots, apples, raisins, nuts, and coconut… As well as way too much oil, refined flour and sugar for my tastes. So let’s talk about how we’re gong to make this healthier version!
You’ll start with oat bran. (Or wheat bran—both work equally well!) Although the original recipe didn’t include bran, I absolutely love bran muffins and thought it’d be a fun addition. I also have a secret trick to making the best bran muffins…
You’ll soak the oat bran in a mixture of Greek yogurt, milk, and vanilla while measuring and mixing together the other ingredients! This trick softens the oat bran (similar to how all of my protein-packed overnight oat recipes work), which makes your bran muffins extremely tender. Trust me—this simple tip makes these muffins absolutely irresistible!
Even better, the Greek yogurt adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, so you just need 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Yes, that’s it! Greek yogurt also adds a protein boost because it contains around 21g of protein per cup, as compared to regular yogurt with around 10g. There’s a reason Greek yogurt is one of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking!
Instead of white flour, you’ll use whole wheat flour Just regular ol’ whole wheat flour! This is the kind that I buy because it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to find at most grocery stores where I live in the US. I’ve also included my recommended gluten-free flour blend in the Notes section, if you prefer that instead.
We’re also skipping the refined sugar today, so you’ll sweeten these healthy muffins with a combination of pure maple syrup and molasses. Be sure you buy the good stuff when it comes to maple syrup! Skip the pancake syrups or sugar-free syrups. Pure maple syrup generally comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs, and the only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup.” I’ve even bought it in bulk online before at a cheaper price.
The molasses is what gives bran muffins their characteristic rich, warm flavor, so please don’t skip it! It’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages, and you can usually find it near either the honey or the maple syrup at the grocery store. (This is the kind I buy.) You’ll use it in all of my bran muffin recipes, as well as all of my gingerbread recipes. It’s a mandatory ingredient in gingerbread, too!
And now for the part you’ve been waiting for… The mix-ins! You’ll stir in shredded carrots, diced apple, raisins, diced pecans, and shredded unsweetened coconut. Whew! That’s quite a mouthful to say… And an even tastier one to eat! My dad’s eyes lit up as he took bite after bite. “These are my kind of muffins!” he exclaimed as he tasted each of those ingredients.
And after he ate three, my mom claimed another four, leaving almost none for me… I’d say that’s a pretty good sign, wouldn’t you??
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 I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your muffins and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Morning Glory 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
- 1 ½ cups (160g) freshly grated carrots
- ¾ cup (94g) diced apple
- ¼ cup (40g) raisins
- 2 tbsp (14g) finely diced pecans
- 2 tbsp (10g) shredded unsweetened coconut
- 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 whites. 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 carrots, apple, raisins, pecans, and coconut.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 20-23 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.
White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat flour.
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.
Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots. They’re too thick and dry, and they’ll dry out your muffins.
Both red or green apples will work. When cutting the apple, make sure the pieces are no larger than the raisins to ensure the muffins bake properly.
Any nuts may be substituted for the pecans.
I’m not a huge fan of nuts or coconut in my muffins, which is why there’s very little of them. You’re welcome to add more, if you prefer!
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Carrot Cake Bran Muffins
♥ Apple Gingerbread Bran Muffins
♥ Peach Pie Bran Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Strawberry Bran Muffins
♥ Zucchini Bread Bran Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bran Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Bran Muffins
Hello there. I just tried these muffins last night and the taste was nice, but the crumb was not there. It was more like chewy granola. The problem seemed to be the oat bran. You mentioned it weighs 120 grams per cup, so that would be 180 grams for 1.5 cups as your recipe states, but when I look it up, it says oat bran weighs 90-94 grams per cup which would be 135 grams. This makes sense to me as I wasn’t able to “soak” the oat bran in the milk and yogurt. It just absorbed it. I’m wondering if 180 is a typo maybe? I just can’t figure out another reason these didn’t work. Thank you!
We’re honored that you decided to try our recipe, Ginger! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the flavor! We’re happy to help figure out why your muffins ended up with that texture! That certainly sounds disappointing and not like how they’re supposed to be. They should be really soft and moist — not chewy.
We tested and developed this recipe using a kitchen scale and measuring the oat bran in grams, so 180g is the exact amount we used. 🙂 When we say “soak,” the oat bran is meant to absorb the milk and yogurt, and it sounds like that’s what yours did! There’s going to be noticeably more oat bran than milk and yogurt, and the mixture isn’t going to look like soup (the way traditional oatmeal often looks when you initially mix oats with water or milk just prior to heating and cooking them).
If you watch our video here, from 0:28 to 1:19, you can see exactly what the oat bran “soaking” step looks like. (Although the recipe video is for chocolate bran muffins, the quantities of bran, Greek yogurt, milk, and vanilla are exactly the same as in this recipe during the soaking step!)
In order to find the culprit behind that chewy texture in your muffins, I have some questions for you!
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients — especially the oat bran, flour, molasses, and pure maple syrup?
What brand of oat bran did you use?
Did you use whole wheat flour or the homemade gluten-free blend we provided in the Notes section?
What brands of molasses and pure maple syrup did you use? (Some can be more viscous and less liquidy than others, which is why we like to double check!)
Did you use a stand mixer or hand-held mixer to make the batter?
Can you describe the consistency of your batter right before you folded in the carrots, apple, raisins, pecans, and coconut? (For example, it was wet and loose, stiff like cookie dough, dry and crumbly, etc!)
How long did you bake your muffins?
Did you muffins rise while baking?
Did they collapse while cooling?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but we’ll have a much better idea of the culprit once we know your answers to all of them!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. I didn’t make any substitutions and I used a kitchen scale. They didn’t really rise, they just kept that chewy texture and there wasn’t really a crumb. I used Kirkland maple syrup and oat bran from the bins at Winco. The batter really wasn’t very wet, I stirred and whisked the ingredients as directed and didn’t use a mixer. Honestly, it was a lot of work and a lot of ingredients so I won’t be making them again but I appreciate you sharing the recipe and telly to troubleshoot!
I totally understand, Ginger! Thanks a lot for answering my questions. Even if you don’t plan to make these muffins again, I wanted to share a little feedback in case you have a change of heart or perhaps it could be helpful with other recipes in the future!
We haven’t worked with Winco’s bulk bin oat bran before, so we’re not sure about how that performs in baking recipes. (Some oat bran brands can be more absorbent than others, so we like to double check, just in case!)
If you measured the liquids with a kitchen scale, that would be the main reason why your muffins turned out like this! Kitchen scales can only measure the volume (mL or fluid ounces) of liquids with a density of exactly 1.0g/mL, like water.
Molasses, pure maple syrup, and nonfat milk all have densities greater than 1.0g/mL. On average, molasses is around 1.40g/mL, pure maple syrup is around 1.37g/mL, and nonfat milk is around 1.04g/mL. (Their exact densities can vary with the brand and type, so this is just an approximation!)
Unless you took that into account and adjusted accordingly, you would’ve ended up adding less of each ingredient. Because your muffin batter was missing liquids, that would be why it was dry and your muffins turned out chewy! It would also be why your muffins didn’t rise.
For the best results, we recommend using a kitchen scale for any ingredients given in grams — but regular measuring cups for any ingredients given in mL. Since there’s no way to program a kitchen scale with the density of each individual liquid ingredient, this way of measuring will be more accurate and ensure your baked treats turn out the way they should!
I hope that’s helpful. If you do decide to try again, I’d love to hear if the texture turns out better for you next time!
I’m sorry, I should have clarified, I only used the scale for the four and oat bran. I used measuring cups for the milk and yogurt.