Photo By VK Rees
These vegan blueberry bran muffins are so wholesome they make you feel like you’re setting the world right. Deliciously wheaty with just enough sweetness and juicy blueberries in every bite. The wheat bran gives them that hearty, substantial texture that makes them feel like actual food rather than dessert in a paper cup (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) They are the muffin you want with your morning coffee, and also the one you grab on the way out the door or as a midnight snack.
About Wheat Bran
Wheat bran definitely has an old school charm to it. The kind of ingredient your grandparents had in the pantry, the kind of thing that showed up in the health food stores in the 80s and the kind of thing that I happen to love. In a muffin like this it adds a nutty, slightly earthy flavor and a hearty texture that makes the bake taste more interesting than a plain flour muffin. It’s not heavy or dense, it’s just extra. If you’ve never baked with it before, this is a good place to start. Find it in the baking aisle or the bulk section of most grocery stores. It’s just one of those ingredients that makes your vegan muffins even more vegan somehow.
The Maple Extract Trick
I use maple extract here rather than a larger amount of maple syrup, and this is worth explaining. Maple syrup is expensive, and so much of the flavor bakes out in the oven anyway. Extract works perfectly and a tiny amount goes a long way. It’s a good ingredient to have around for oatmeal and pancakes too, so worth investing in a bottle. The molasses does the rest of the work, giving these a deep, slightly caramel-y sweetness that pairs beautifully with the blueberries. Also, though, if you don’t have maple extract, don’t worry about it. Use an extra teaspoon vanilla extract. This will still be a very very good vegan blueberry bran muffin.
Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
Both work here for this blueberry bran muffin recipe. If you’re using frozen, don’t thaw them first. Just fold them in straight from the freezer and add a few extra minutes to your bake time. A good trick: toss the frozen berries in a tablespoon of flour before folding them into the batter. It helps prevent them from sinking to the bottom and keeps them from releasing too much juice into the crumb. May I also recommend frozen wild blueberries, which are smaller and bake up nicer in muffins. They don’t burst and make your muffin soggy the way the large frozen variety can. But nothing wrong with a soggy muffin, I guess.
A Few Muffin Tips For These Blueberry Bran Muffins And Beyond
The most important thing with muffins is to not overmix. Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry, stir just until everything comes together. Remember that a few lumps are fine. Overmixing develops the gluten and gives you a tough, dense muffin instead of a tender one.
For standard 12 muffins, the batter will peek just above the top of the tin, which is fine. If you want bigger, bakery-style muffins, fill just 10 cups instead. The batter will come very close to the top but won’t overflow. Either way, the tops should feel firm to the touch when done, don’t rely on a toothpick test here since the blueberries are wet.
Make It Your Own
The bran base is pretty neutral so you can swap the blueberries for raspberries, chopped strawberries, peaches, apples or even chocolate chips if that’s the direction you want to go. If you want to be so 80s healthfood, use carob chips. Said no one ever (except me).
This recipe originally appeared in Isa Does It.
If You’re In A Vegan Baking Mood Try These Morning Bakes:
Blueberry Maple Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup vegan milk soy, almond or oat
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/3 cups wheat bran
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tablespoons light molasses
- 2 teaspoons maple extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
- Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside to curdle.
- In another medium bowl, mix together the wheat bran, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the curdled milk, oil, applesauce, molasses, and both extracts. Stir the wet ingredients together in the well, then mix the wet and dry ingredients together just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix. Fold in the blueberries.
- Fill each muffin cup most of the way full. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes, using the longer time if your blueberries were frozen. The tops should feel firm to the touch. No batter should appear when you insert a toothpick.
- When cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack.
