• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Start Here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop

The Bake School

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Start Here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Start Here
    • Baking 101
    • Recipes
    • Shop
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Berry

    Published on: August 18, 2015 by Janice Lawandi; Updated on: September 12, 2023 27 Comments

    Low sugar blueberry bran muffins

    418 shares
    • Facebook27
    • Reddit
    • Flipboard
    Jump to Recipe
    Blueberry bran muffins text overlaid over photo of the muffins displayed in a vintage muffin pan

    This low-sugar blueberry bran muffins recipe is made with wheat bran and packed with blueberries! These blueberry muffins make a great healthy breakfast or snack.

    Blueberry bran muffins text overlaid over photo of the muffins displayed in a vintage muffin pan
    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
    Jump to:
    • 📖 Recipe

    There are two main ways to make a bran muffin and to incorporate bran into baked goods:

    1. use bran cereal, like these date bran muffins, which are made with All Bran cereal that's in the aisle with the regular cereals. Date bran muffins are my favourite and my mom always made them with All bran, so that's what I still do today. And they are great!
    2. use wheat bran, like in the blueberry bran muffins below. You'll find wheat bran in the health food aisle of your grocery store, or at your local scoop shops and bulk bin stores.
    Ingredients to make blueberry bran muffins measured out into bowls, ready for mixing

    You might ask what's the difference between bran cereal and wheat bran, and the difference is rather huge. Wheat bran is the outer layer of the wheat kernel and an excellent source of dietary fibre according to most producers. It's 100 % wheat with nothing added. This is the bran you would want to use if you are making low sugar bran muffins.

    On the other hand, bran cereal contains wheat bran, yes, but it also contains a lot of other ingredients, like sugar, fats, preservatives, and more. I love bran cereal and there's nothing wrong with it. I use it to make muffins, I top yogurt breakfast bowls and smoothie bowls with it, and I eat it as a snack. Bran cereal is great, but it's not a suitable substitute for wheat bran without making other changes to your recipe.

    Blueberry bran muffins divided between paper liners in a vintage muffin pan

    If you want a muffin that is made from wheat bran, make this low-sugar blueberry muffin recipe shown below. If you want a muffin made from bran cereal, make these All Bran muffins. If you need a baking substitution for the wheat bran in this recipe, you can try another source of bran, like oat bran, but proceed with caution as I haven't tested any substitutions.

    If you can't find crème fraîche, I recommend using full-fat sour cream, but this has more moisture than crème fraîche so you will undoubtedly have to bake the muffins longer and/or adjust with a little extra bran and flour since these muffins are already quite moist.

    The key to these low-sugar bran muffins is baking them with lots of fruit which adds sweetness.

    Baked blueberry bran muffins in a vintage muffin pan with a blue and white striped linen with orange edging

    While baking a batch of these blueberry bran muffins or honey blueberry muffins, you might notice the blueberries turn green or change colour as they bake, don't panic. It's probably the pH of the batter that changed the colour of the berries, but that has zero impact on the flavour of the berries. The muffins are just as yummy and still safe to eat!

    This recipe is from the book Baking with Less Sugar: Recipes for Desserts Using Natural Sweeteners and Little-to-No White Sugar by Joanne Chang, published by Raincoast Books (available on Amazon and Amazon Canada). Be sure to check out my review of Baking with Less Sugar to see the other recipes that I made.

    If it's not blueberry season and you want to bake fruit muffins with another fruit, try these strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel topping.

    A muffin pan of blueberry bran muffins with 1 cup empty. One muffin on an offset spatula and another muffin broken open to reveal the interior

    📖 Recipe

    Blueberry Bran Muffins

    AuthorAuthor : Janice Lawandi
    Low sugar blueberry bran muffins are perfect for breakfasts and snacks. These blueberry muffins are loaded with blueberries, not too sweet, and include wheat bran. 
    5 from 1 vote
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved Recipe
    Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time 45 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
    Course Breakfast
    Cuisine American
    Servings 12
    Calories 245 kcal

    Equipment

    • Muffin pan
    • OXO balloon whisk
    • 3-¼ oz scoop
    • Cake tester
    Need measurements in CUPSUse the button options below to switch from Metric to US measurements! It's that easy!

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
    • 60 grams wheat bran
    • 10 mL baking powder
    • 5 mL ground cinnamon
    • 2.5 mL baking soda
    • 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
    • 2 large egg(s)
    • 180 grams crème fraîche at room temperature
    • 125 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) at room temperature
    • 70 grams granulated sugar
    • 15 mL pure vanilla extract
    • 115 grams unsalted butter melted and at room temperature
    • 300 grams fresh blueberries fresh or frozen (roughly 2 cups)

    Instructions
     

    • Place a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 350 °F (175 °C). Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin tin, coat with nonstick cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
    • In a large bowl, stir together flour, wheat bran, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
    • In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, crème fraîche, milk, sugar, and vanilla until well-combined. Slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking.
    • Pour the wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients and fold gently, using a rubber spatula, just until the ingredients are combined. Gently fold in the blueberries until the fruit is well distributed. The batter may seem lumpy, but don’t try to smooth it out.
    • Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop a heaping ⅔ cup batter into each prepared cup of the muffin tin, filling the cups to the brim (almost overflowing) and making sure the cups are evenly filled. You might think you have too much batter, but you can fill these to overflowing and then you will get nice tops on your muffins. (If you prefer smaller muffins, spoon about ½ cup batter into each cup and decrease the baking time to 25 to 35 minutes. You will get up to 18 smaller muffins.)
    • Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the muffins are entirely golden brown on top and they spring back lightly when you press them in the centre. There’s a lot of fruit in these muffins, so make sure you bake them enough so the insides of the muffins don’t get soggy. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, and then remove them from the pan.

    Notes

    These blueberry bran muffins are made with wheat bran, which is NOT to be confused with bran cereals like All-Bran. They aren't the same and cannot be interchanged. If you want to use bran cereal to make muffins, try these All Bran muffins.
    If making this recipe with frozen blueberries, DO NOT thaw them and make sure they are frozen solid before mixing them into the muffin batter. Otherwise they may bleed into the batter too much.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 245kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 5gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 167mgPotassium: 234mgFiber: 4gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 406IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 83mgIron: 2mg
    Give backIf you enjoy the free content on this website, buy me a pound of butter to say thanks!

    Raincoast Books offered me one copy of this book, plus the opportunity to host a giveaway. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it. I tested three recipes from the book before coming to the conclusion that this book is awesome. 

    More Berry Baking Recipes

    • Apple Blackberry Crumble
    • Slicing a blueberry crumb cake.
      Easy Blueberry Crumb Cake
    • Toast served with homemade strawberry jam and butter on a pink plate.
      Strawberry jam
    • Strawberry jam with rhubarb smeared on a piece of toast on a plate.
      Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

    Baking resources

  • Baking conversion charts
  • Baking ingredients and pantry staples
  • Baking substitutions
  • Common baking conversions
  • Choosing baking pans
  • How to measure ingredients for baking
  • Mixing methods
  • Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Eleanor Chen says

      January 16, 2022 at 1:12 am

      Hi Janice. Mine is a low sugar household. Any idea if I can add/use dried blueberries if I don't have enough fresh or frozen ones?

      Reply
    2. Alisha Duncan says

      August 23, 2015 at 2:14 pm

      I love using maple syrup and honey in my baking - I try to use them more often now, but there are still times I use granulated sugar...

      Reply
    3. Joyce says

      August 23, 2015 at 1:43 pm

      To be honest, I never look into reducing sugar in my baking, but as we get older and try to eat more responsible, this is something I'm interested in learning and experimenting. This cookbook will be a great starting point for me!

      Reply
    4. Jessie says

      August 23, 2015 at 11:15 am

      I never cut sugar in recipes, but I do like recipes that use maple syrup or honey instead of sugar!

      Reply
    5. Erika says

      August 23, 2015 at 11:11 am

      I do cut the sugar occasionally but I'm also very excited to learn about using honey and otger sources as well!

      Reply
    6. ELAINE says

      August 23, 2015 at 10:58 am

      My go to is usually maple syrup. Sometimes I use coconut sugar, but I've learned it needs to be ground finer to use in baking recipes.

      Reply
    « Older Comments
    5 from 1 vote

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    This is a picture of Janice Lawandi

    Hi, I'm Janice!

    I am a baking-obsessed recipe developer with a PhD in Chemistry who writes about baking and the science of baking.

    More About Me

    Join the Community

    If you enjoy the free content on this website or have questions, consider joining the Bake School Community!

    Easter Treats

    • Freshly baked rhubarb crumble ready to be served.
      Rhubarb Crumble
    • Rhubarb upside down cake sliced to serve it.
      Rhubarb raspberry upside-down cake
    • Serving rhubarb muffins on plates with a side of butter.
      Rhubarb muffins with sour cream and streusel
    • Let's bake with rhubarb-best rhubarb recipes roundup
      What to bake with rhubarb
    • Bluebarb or blueberry rhubarb crumble with a marzipan oat crumble topping in a blue baking dish with a fluted edge
      Blueberry rhubarb crisp with marzipan crumble
    • A perfect slice of rhubarb pie, ready to be served.
      Rhubarb Pie Without Strawberries

    Berry Baking

    • Milk crumbs on a Momofuku Milk Bar style cake-layers of blackberry curd, almond cake, and almond frosting
      Blackberry almond cake — Milk Bar style
    • raspberry amaretti semifreddo slice
      Almond raspberry semifreddo
    • Vanilla cardamom tapioca pudding with strawberries
      Homemade tapioca pudding recipe with fresh strawberries
    • A pan of baked honey blueberry muffins with streusel topping.
      Honey blueberry muffins
    • A plate of raspberry financiers.
      Raspberry Financiers
    • Honey-kissed-strawberry-rhubarb crumbles
      Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble With Honey

    Eggless chocolate cake

    Chocolate layer cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles on a cake stand.
    Learn to make an eggless chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting!

    Baking conversions

    Buy the baking conversion charts NOW!

    As seen on

    Logos of online and offline publications that featured the Bake School and Janice Lawandi.

    How to poach pears

    Poached pears on an enamelware plate.
    This easy poached pears recipe is simple and you can use the poached fruit for salads, appetizers, and desserts!

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Meet Janice Lawandi
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and conditions
    • Accessibility
    • Press

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services
    • Portfolio

    As seen on

    Logos of online and offline publications that featured the Bake School and Janice Lawandi.

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    COPYRIGHT © 2025 · THE BAKE SCHOOL

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.