These muffins remind me of raisin bran muffins my mom used to bake for my brother and I when we were little. I love these muffins. It's part taste and part texture. I just love the texture that oat bran gives these muffins. You actually feel like you're eating something substantial. As for the taste, they are super yummy!
They are the perfect snack for the mid-aft munchies!
These muffins are packed with fiber from the ground almonds, flax and oat bran. Oat bran isn't an ingredient I use that often, but I should! It has a lot of soluble fiber and once it reaches the digestive system absorbs nearly 25 times its weight in liquid. This means it fills it keeps you fuller longer. In comparison, it has about 50% more fiber than oatmeal.
My dear friend Candice made a variation of these for our little ones to snack on when I visited her last weekend and I just had to make them! The original recipe came from the Ambitious Kitchen blog but I made some joyous changes.
I made these muffins "mini" because they are good for little hands and then you can eat two or three.
These days, with Vienna being a little more picky, I'm always looking for creative ways to get her to eat superfoods like oats, flax or almonds. I have no trouble with blueberries, in fact she'd live off berries if she had a choice so it was a fair compromise to put blueberries in this muffin recipe.
Blueberries are super rich in vitamins and minerals anyhow, so we all win! (In the photo above, she's a bit of a mess... she has a cold right now and she smacked her head on her baby doll stroller -- eek! However, she's still super cute in my eyes :))
I've made these a few times already so I thought it was time I shared them on the blog. I made them again today because we are heading to Ottawa for a couple of days and my parents are looking after Vienna. So I wanted to have some easy snacks on hand for Vienbeans :)
They are not technically gluten-free but Bob's Red Mill brand does sell "gluten-free" oat bran.
If you make them grown-up size you'll have to bake them a little longer. I'm guessing about 5 to 7 minutes longer.
Now because I made them when blueberries are NOT in season I just used frozen organic blueberries. However, I can't wait till July/August when blueberries are in season!!
Here's the recipe.
Snacks
Blueberry Oat Bran Flax Muffins
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Ingredients
- 1 cup oat bran*
- 3/4 cup almond flour (almond meal)
- 1/4 cup ground flax or flax meal
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1/3 cup real maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup almond or coconut milk
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries**
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a mini muffin tray with paper cups or grease really well. Combine all the dry ingredients into a large bowl: oat bran, almond flour, ground flax, cinnamon and baking soda.
- In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients: 2 eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond or coconut milk, fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Combine the dry and the wet ingredients together.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a fork inserted comes out clean.
- Makes 28 mini muffins.
Notes
*Oat bran is just the bran part of the oat flake. Bob's Red Mill is the brand of oat bran I use. If you prefer to use whole oats, just make sure you grind them or put them in a food processor until they are a finer texture similar to oat bran.
**Make sure you let the blueberries thaw if you're using frozen.
UPDATE - how to make this nut-free: I have made this nut-free by swapping in 1/2 cup coconut flour for 3/4 cup almond flour. You need to add more liquid though (1/4 cup more) because coconut flour is incredibly absorbent. I have also used oat flour instead of oat bran. I use oat milk to make it nut free.
Muffins are one of my favourite grab and go snacks these days, so I've compiled a bunch of my favourite muffin recipes from the blog for you below.
Sweet Potato Protein Muffins
Coconut Flour Banana Spice Muffins
I hope these healthy and yummy muffins become a favourite in your home!
Have a joyous rest of your week!
Joy
When you say coconut milk in your recipes, do you mean the one that is in the can, or that is sold in the refrigerator section, in cartons??
ReplyHey Leslee! In this recipe, Joy used carton coconut milk from the refrigerator section :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I have an almond allergy. Can I use coconut flour?
ReplyHey Michelle! You can definitely use coconut flour as coconut is [surprisingly] not a nut :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Made these tonight! Absolutley delicious! Prefect breakfast:)
ReplyHey Alexa! We're so happy to hear you enjoyed them! They definitely make a great fibre-filled breakfast or snack! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Are these detox friendly?
ReplyHey Amber, They sure are! :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Can you sub raisins for blueberries?
ReplyHey Emma! You definitely can :) That sounds delicious! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Do you have any recommendations for an egg substitute in this recipe?
ReplyHey Kirsten, For sure! If you have a copy of Joyous Detox, you can turn to pg. 81 to find a list of Egg Substitutions. Alternatively, you can use 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp water (letting it sit for 10 minute together) and count that as 1 egg and simply multiply accordingly :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Hi Joy. Being as how I have been advised not to have flax can I replace the flax meal in these blueberry oat bran muffins with 4 eggs. Thanks. I love opening my mail and finding your post.
ReplyHey Beth! The 1/4 cup of ground flax in this recipe isn't exactly used to hold the muffins together, but to add a bit of a nutritional boost. You could actually omit it altogether and it should be fine. Just please note that we cannot guarantee the success of the recipe when variations are involved as we have not tried it ourselves :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
So joyous to have this recipe. I'm pinning it so I can make it this week. Thanks!
ReplyHey Nicole! Woo-hoo! Let us know what you think when you get around to trying it :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Just took these out of the oven and am enjoying with a cup of tea!!! I have a tree nut allergy and so replaced the almond flour for oat flour and they turned out great... definitely adding these to my muffin repertoire. Thanks!
ReplyHey Jan! Mmm - that sounds like the perfect combo :) So happy that modification worked out for you too! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Hello! In my experience, most blueberry muffin recipes have not called for thawing the berries first. Is there an advantage to doing so? Thank you.
ReplyHey Melissa, It may help from a moisture standpoint. If we let them thaw while baking, it may release too much water into the muffins which may throw off the texture. But if you have done so in the past and haven't had it effect your end results, skip the thawing step :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Made a batch of these today and they turned out perfect. Used regular sized muffin tin and, as you suggested, added 5 minutes to bake time. Thank you for the recipe!
ReplyHey Melissa! Yay! So happy to hear that! Did you end up thawing the blueberries after all or skipping that step? Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Hi Rachel, thanks for your replies. I didn't thaw the berries in the end. But I did toss them with a pinch of flour. Going to try these again next week with raspberries!
Hey Melissa! Thats amazing! Happy to hear it turned out regardless :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Hi Joy Canines substitute ground chia for the ground flax?
ReplyHey Maria, I'm not sure that would work in this recipe as chia and flax behave differently especially in baking! If you end up giving it a whirl, let us know how it turns out :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Can wheat bran be substituted for the oat bran?
ReplyHey Cheryl! It should be fine, however the ratio may vary slightly. But as we have not tried it ourselves, we wouldn't be able to guarantee results. Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Great recipe can't wait to try it! Can I substitute the almond meal for brown rice flour?
ReplyHey Sacha, It should be okay but we haven't tried it ourselves so we can't guarantee 100% that it will turn out. If you plan on giving it a whirl, let us know how it is :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I'm so excited to try these! My girls and I are a little obsessed with the vegan blueberry muffins at the Peets coffee shop by my house. But these are probably healthier and cheaper! Win win!
ReplyAmazing! Let us know what you think when you and your girls get around to trying them, Ashley :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Do you think this recipe would work using Wheat Bran?
ReplyHey Becki, I'm sure wheat bran would work just fine, although we haven't tried it ourselves so we wouldn't be able to guarantee results. Let us know if you get around to trying it though :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I'm going to make blueberry bran flax muffins but I don't have almond flour. Can I substitute for coconut flour. I was thinking that recipe calls for 3/4 almond four, so I was going to use 9 tablespoons coconut flour. Should I still add extra liquid? Thanks!!! Happy monthers day!
ReplyHey Jill, You can definitely sub them but coconut flour can be a bit tricky to get the conversion down properly. Typically for 1 cup of almond flour you'll want to use about 1/4 cup of coconut flour and add liquid or eggs because coconut flour is so absorbent as you know. I would aim for just less than 1/4 cup coconut flour and use 3 eggs. Aim for a smooth batter instead of a cement batter! Just please note that we haven't tried this conversion ourselves so we cannot guarantee it will work. Good luck - let us know how it goes if you try it! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I have made these wonderful muffins more than once! But today I used canned coconut milk (same measurements though) and I added shredded coconut with the blueberries. They are amazing!!! Thank you for the great recipe Joyous Health :)
ReplyHey Michelle! Wow, that sounds delicious! I bet they were extra amazing! We'll have to try that :) Thanks for sharing! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Hi I would like to ask if I can use more flaxseed instead of the amount of oat bran in the recipe. I would like to use 1 cup of almond flour ; 3/4 cup of ground flaxseed; and only 1/4 cup of oat bran. totalling the 2 cups And instead of the maple syrup I wound like to use liquid Splenda. I am eating very low carb and that's why I want these changes since oat bran has more carbs than flaxseed
ReplyHey Illeana, We haven't tried it so we wouldn't be able to guarantee results but if you happen to try it let us know how it works out :) Just keep in mind that the texture may change slightly since flax acts differently that flours such as oat bran. Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Thanks for answering Rachel, actually I made it with these changes: I used 3/4 cup of oat bran; 3/4 cup of almond flour; 1/2 cup flaxseed; I switched to 3 Tbs of Sugar Free syrup and some liquid Splenda. I also put a little bit of almond extract, I used olive oil and half
ReplyHey Illeana, That's awesome! Did it work out nicely in terms of texture and flavour? Rachel - Joyous Health Team
JOY! These blueberry muffins are AMAZING! My 4
ReplySo happy you enjoyed them Tova! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Wow these are so delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe
ReplyYou're welcome!
can you make them in normal Sized muffin pans?
ReplyYes totally, you'll just need to adjust the baking time. I'm guessing around 5-10 minutes longer. Bake until a knife inserted comes out clean. Hope that helps!
Hello there... Super happy to have found your blog. Just made these for my 1 1/2 year old boy and he really liked them 🤗 Quick question, how long can these be in the fridge? Can they go on the freezer? If so for how long? Super thank you in advance.
ReplyHey Paula! So nice to meet you! Thanks for stopping by here :) They should be good in the fridge anywhere from 5-7 days and in the freezer for a couple of months :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Hi there, would I be able to use Bob Red Mills gluten free quick cooking oats instead of oat bran? Thanks
ReplyIt's definitely a less dense texture so it will alter the consistency a bit but my guess would be you'd want to add a little more oats than oat bran. If you're super comfortable baking, then you can probably tell by the texture how many oats to add. Hope that helps!
My 2 year old twins went nuts for these!!! My little boy gobbled up two and was grabbing for more! These will definitely become part of the rotation 😊
ReplyGlad to hear it they were such a hit! Kids always seem to love them. Now if we can just get more grown ups to eat them too for health reasons, haha!
Looks delicious and so easy! What brand of frozen blueberrys were you using? couldn’t hear the name In The video. Also, what are your top 2 or 3 evoo brands to use in baking? Thanks
ReplyI was using Stalhbush http://www.stahlbush.com/products/fruit/blueberries/, not organic but 90% of the time I just buy PC frozen wild blueberries. As for the evoo, I like Acropolis, Silver Leaf and Maison D'orphee. Most of the time I buy Acropolis because it's the best tasting!
Is it possible to omit the blueberries altogether?
ReplyYes absolutely. You could add raisins, cranberries or any other berry instead.
I was hoping to keep them plain. Would that mess up the ratios if I just omitted the blueberries?
ReplyI don't think so. Let me know how they turn out!
These muffins are GREAT!!!! Thank you so much for the recipe!
ReplyYou're welcome!
I love the blueberry flax muffins. I made the into 12 regular muffins and used GF oats. I added a handful of walnut crumbs I had to use up and the muffins were fantastic. Great for snacks and so tasty. Today I made them again, but this time I used walnut flour (ground in my spice blender) instead of almond flour. Instead of oatbran, I substituted Bob's Red Mill Creamy Buckwheat cereal (which is GF and essentially just whole buckwheat "grits"). They came out just as well, but the tops are nice and crunchy - sort of like a nice bread crust. This version is lovely too and provides a way for me to rotate some of my foods (I can't eat even GF oats every day).
ReplyLove your subs Wendy, thank you for sharing!
I make 12 regular sized muffins almost every week. My question is how do I store them so they don’t go bad?
ReplyKeep them in the fridge once they've cooled they will keep up to 5 days or freeze for 3 months. Enjoy!
Hi! I made these today (with the flax egg) and everyone in my family loved them! I liked them, but am really sensitive to the taste of baking soda. For some reason I can really taste the soda in these (I double checked and used the correct amount). Is there a substitute for the soda (baking powder maybe?) or can I reduce it and partially replace with something else? Maybe half soda/half baking powder? Thanks so much for your help!
ReplyGlad your family loved them! You could simply eliminate the baking soda and add more baking powder. The other reason this can happen is if the dry ingredients were not fully mixed and then you get little balls of baking soda.
I have had these in my mental to-make list for years. Oat bran isn't something I usually stock in house but I finally saw (still open tab on my phone) recipe at the same time as I was headed out to bulk barn. It was nice to have a "bran" style muffin. I made both minis and regular size muffins, used honey for the sweetener as I am out of maple syrup (tragic!) I would like to make the almond flour version, but I used coconut flour so that I could send these in school lunches. Will definitely make again soon!
ReplyGlad to hear they worked well with coconut flour to make them school-friendly :)
Thank You!!
ReplyHi Joy! I just found this recipe. I would love to try it, but I was wondering if you had any nutritional information for the muffins. I have to watch my diet, especially for sugar, and I need to read my labels. Can you help me? Teresa Avizienis
ReplyHi Teresa! I'm sorry but I do not have nutritional info for my recipes. Thank you for stopping by! These are highly nutritious and rich in fibre.