Think you don't like bran muffins? These healthy oat bran muffins with chocolate chips will totally change your mind in one delicious mouthful! Light and chewy with a wonderfully sweet texture and plenty of melted chocolate chips, these healthy bran muffins are the perfect quick grab-and-go breakfast or afternoon energy-boosting snack.
Click here to save Healthy Oat Bran Muffins with Chocolate Chips - XXL Bakery Style on Pinterest
Monday morning. The time when we all decide this week will be the one. We'll get all our work completed on time, we'll tick off all those things on our to-do list we've been putting off, we'll totally rock our workouts and we'll stick to our healthy eating meal plan.
But unless you're a total productive rockstar (in which case I digitally applaud you!) by Tuesday afternoon we start slacking and then by Wednesday all those goals we set with the best of intentions have gone out the window. Sound familiar?
It does to me because that's pretty much how all my weeks pan out. But you know one thing that's guaranteed to keep me on track, keep me crossing things off my to-do list and stepping-up my fitness outfits like I go to the gym and don't just run around like a freak in my house? Healthy snacks. Which is exactly where these healthy oat bran muffins come in.
When it comes to food, I've got very little self-control. I simply can't go from breakfast to lunch or lunch to dinner without nibbling on a little something in between. So the best way I can combat this is to make sure I've got plenty of high fibre, low sugar, low fat treats around like these healthy bran muffins.
How do I know I'm actually going to eat these healthy oat bran muffins and not just shove them aside in favour of a s'mores Pop Tart? Because they taste ah-maz-zing. Seriously - they taste as good as a regular fat-filled sugar-loaded heart-attack-in-your-hand bakery muffin. That's right. A healthy oat bran muffin you'll genuinely want to eat. I've achieved the impossible!
A while ago my boyfriend brought home some oat bran and I didn't even know what it was. It looked like a cross between flour and couscous. I looked it up online and found out that you use it to make healthy breads and muffins. But not the yummy kind of healthy breads and muffins.
If you didn't know, oat bran has a pretty bad rep for tasting horrible and making tough, hard, icky-tasting baked goods. I love a good challenge. So I decided to take this hated ingredient and make something delicious with it. And I'm thrilled to say it all worked out.
While these healthy oat bran muffins are a little denser than regular wheat muffins, they've got a wonderful chewy texture and thanks to all the fibre, they're really filling. Filling enough to eat for breakfast. And that's saying a lot coming from someone who can eat two bowls of oatmeal in the morning and still not feel full. You should see me at a breakfast buffet. I totally demolish it!
Everything is better with chocolate, so I added some milk chocolate chips to the healthy oat bran muffins batter. When you bite into the muffin, little delicious pools of chocolate loveliness burst open and make you happy. And who doesn't need an extra bit of happiness on a Monday?
[social_warfare]
📖 Recipe
Healthy Oat Bran Muffins with Chocolate Chips - XXL Bakery Style!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup oat bran
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup all-purpose white flour
- ¼ cup milk chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 medium egg
- ½ cup applesauce
- 3 tablespoons skimmed milk (use non-dairy milk for low FODMAP)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F/200C and grease or line a 6-mould muffin tin. In a large bowl, stir together all the ingredients until well combined and there are no dry pockets.
- Evenly scoop out the batter into the 6 muffin moulds and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until the tops of the muffins are golden brown.
- Leave to cool in the pan on a wire rack before storing or eating.
Notes
If you don't want XXL size muffins, bake the batter in 8 muffin moulds. Then each muffin will work out around 125 calories.
Nutrition
Winnie
These muffins are sooooooooo beautiful looking
I'd love to try this recipe, so I'm pinning it
Blair @ The Seasoned Mom
These look great, Nicky! I can't wait to try them. I love a good, healthy muffin for breakfast or snack. Pinned!
Blair @ The Seasoned Mom
Just started following you on Facebook...I look forward to seeing what else you make next! 🙂
Blair @ The Seasoned Mom
Not Facebook...I meant Pinterest! 🙂
Laura@Baking in Pyjamas
Those sound yummy, I could do with one of those every morning!
Ai Lin from Nomsies Kitchen
Hi Nicky, I LOL when I read your post - I too have grand plans every Monday morning then panic come Friday because I have maybe done half of my to-do list. Anyway, these muffins are so great! What wonderful flavours and high in fibre, just too good. Pinning right away.
Kimberlee
I look forward to trying your recipe. I have been using oat bran and oat flour in more of my bread making lately - I like how it increases the fiber. Oat bran is so good for you.
Emily
This looks and sounds super yummy!
Joy @ Yesterfood
Nicky, these muffins sound wonderful. I love the ingredients- the oat bran, whole wheat flour, applesauce (and chocolate!). Thank you for bringing these to Treasure Box Tuesday- I am sharing on Google+! 🙂
jill
I've never thought about adding chocolate to a bran muffin. I am intrigued and pinning this recipe to try. Thanks for sharing!
aprila
I love muffins and this one looks delicious. Thanks for linking up at Tell Me About It Tuesday. We hope you hop over and share with us again next week.
Agos
They sound good! Do you think they would work with wheat bran?
Nicola Quinn
I've never used wheat bran before, so I really can't say. Sorry!
CJ Huang
This looks like a pretty healthy and yummy muffin! I'll have to give it a try.
Sara
I tell ya, I'm not a huge fan of bran muffins but these sound quite yummy! Thanks for sharing your version with us and for linking up over at Tell it To Me Tuesday! We hope to see more from you next week!
Shannon {Cozy Country Living}
These look great! I love muffins for a quick breakfast for my kiddos in the morning and I think that we will all love these. I can't wait to try them!
Nicola Quinn
Thanks so much, Shannon. English muffins really are one of my all-time favourite breakfast breads 🙂
Diane Ugo
These muffins look so good. Another great recipe, Diane @ Mrs U Makes
Nicola Quinn
Thanks so much, Diane!
Hope you have an awesome week.
Miriam
Hi folks, I'm a regular oat bran user. I switched because I always found wheat bran to be too noticeable in my baked goods. I find oat bran to be nice and fine. I throw about half a cup of it into all my cakes and muffins and my picky picky son doesn't even notice. I even throw it into cake.
Nicola Quinn
You're right, Miriam. Oat bran is a lot easier to sneak into baked goods than wheat bran!
Sonia
Tried recipe. Very good. Recipe is a keeper. I didn’t have whole wheat flour so I substituted with just reg flour and I added a tsp of vanilla extract.