30 Minute Feel Good Banana Bran Muffins
Fluffy, tender and never dry…these banana bran muffins are SO flavourful and nutritious! Made with whole grain flour, wheat bran (and no eggs!), these easy muffins make a perfect snack or breakfast on the go.
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As nerdy as it sounds, this dietitian has a new life goal: to get everyone as excited about fibre as they are about protein. Because last time I checked, ahem, most of us actually get enough protein but like 90% of us are still under eating fibre!!
You want to feel full and satisfied? Eat more fibre. Support balanced blood sugars? Fibre. Maybe, finally, get that bloating sorted? Fibre. If you’re into nerding out about gut health, grab my book Good For Your Gut.
And I kinda think these craveable banana bran muffins might just convince you to love fibre. Yep, I said craveable and I stand by it. The real test? My kids gobble them up, so the batch disappears in like a DAY. And since they’re nut free, they’re totally school safe too.
I use LOTS of very ripe banana (the blacker, the better) and just enough sugar and oil to keep them super moist and enough whole grain flour and wheat bran to load up on fibre. Each small, snack sized muffin has almost 5 grams of the stuff!
Which is perfect, because you want to increase your fibre intake slowly and consistently. So simply adding one of these yummy plant-based muffins to your day will help you build up that fibre tolerance.
And, if you’re wanting a super quick, make-ahead breakfast on the go, just whip up a batch of my fave green blender juice and enjoy a glass with a couple of muffins. So energizing!
How to make these fluffy banana bran muffins
The full, detailed recipe is below…but let’s chat about a couple step-by-step things first!
Starting with ingredients. I use 100% whole wheat flour here but you could absolutely use all purpose if that’s what you have. The wheat bran is the heavy hitter on fibre, so these will still be a nice little fibre boost.
Super nerdy baking fact: bananas are actually a really good egg replacer in baking. Which is why these muffins are totally egg free but still so fluffy!
Something that makes these muffins a little different: I’m baking these at a higher heat with plenty of leavening to make sure they’re light and tender and fluffy.
Do NOT overbake! These cook fast: test at 16 minutes.
More higher fibre breakfast ideas:
- Easy Protein-Packed Chickpea Scramble
- High Fibre Steel Cut Overnight Oats
- Chunky Vegan Apple Muffins
- High Protein Waffles with Red Lentils
- Healthy Black Bean Breakfast Burrito (Vegan)
30 Minute Feel Good Banana Bran Muffins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, or all purpose
- 1 cup wheat bran
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon, for more cinnamon flavour, use 1 teaspoon
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup well mashed very ripe banana, about 4 medium bananas
- ¾ cup soy milk, or your fave milk!
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ⅓ cup oil, I use olive oil, anything goes!
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Optional add ins, choose one
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup finely chopped dates
- ⅓ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉ (205℃). Prep a 12 well muffin tin with silicone or parchment liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: mashed banana, soy milk, sugar, oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and gently stir until just combined (don't over mix!). If using a mix in, fold it in now.
- Using a heaping 1/4 cup measure, scoop the batter into the muffin tin.
- Bake for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Don't over bake!
- Let cool on a wire rack. Once fully cool, store covered (keep that moisture in!) at room temperature for up to 3 days.
17 Comments on “30 Minute Feel Good Banana Bran Muffins”
Can these be made gluten-free if I sub pay bran for the wheat bran and use all-purpose gf flour?
Hi Jennifer,
Ooh, good question. I haven’t tested any GF variation so I can’t guarantee it. However, muffins are typically pretty forgiving. And there is a lot of banana for structure. If you have a GF blend that performs really well for you, I might give it a try. And if you do, please let us know how it went, as I am sure that others will have this question!!
Hi – i love a good not to sweet bran muffin. But i don’t use bananas so i was wondering if you had a version of these without them?
thanks.
jacquie
Hi Jacquie,
This is my first bran muffin! But I’m sure they’ll be more…any favourite flavour requests??
blueberry or apple would be great. thanks for considering.
These had good flavor but were quite dry. I cooked them for 17 minutes, which was apparently too long in my oven.
Hi Shelly,
Oh no! Yes, that’s one downside of high heat cooking, they cook quickly. Perhaps check them at 15 minutes? Also, the ripeness of the bananas can influence – if the bananas are not super saucy and ripe, definitely feel free to add a tablespoon or so of milk if the batter seems too dry.
Huge hit in our house! Texture and flavor are great. Kids even love them. Thank you for this!
Oh yay!! My kids eat them too which is a real win for me ha ha
I made these as written, and added frozen blueberries and frozen cranberries to the batter at the very end. I cooked them for a few extra minutes because of the fruit. They are delicious!
Oh what a fun addition!! Thank you for sharing it Alana 🙂
Delicious- my most selective eater even asked for seconds. Straight to the lunchbox repertoire! Thanks so much.
Okay, that’s a major win…I’m so glad!!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it with oat bran and choc chips, wheat bran and choc chips and oat bran and date pieces! Love them all!!
Oh brilliant!! So glad to know that oat bran works…and I mean, who doesn’t love a sweet addition 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave a rating and review…it really helps others discover the recipe.
Excellent recipe. I added rhubarb.
Can you tell me approximately how many calories are in one muffin. So nice to find an egg free recipe..
Rhubarb is such a good addition! My rhubarb plant is exploding and I need to use some up…so glad you found the recipe 🙂
I don’t do the nutritionals for my recipes beyond (starting this year) fibre and protein but if you need more detailed info, cronometer app is super helpful for analysing recipes and easy to use! Hope this helps.