Healthy Double Chocolate Bran Muffins - XXL Bakery Style!

Delicious hearty muffins, perfect for a quick breakfast on the go, these healthy double chocolate bran muffins are about to turn your world upside down. Miles away from the dry, crumbly bran muffins you've had in the past. These babies are super light, crazy moist and so unbelievably yummy that you'll never believe they're good for you. Whoever said breakfast muffins are empty-calorie frostingless-cupcakes has never tried my chocolate bran muffins!

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Three healthy double chocolate bran muffins stacked in a tower

When I posted a recipe for Healthy Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins a little while ago, I honestly never imagined it would be a hit with you guys. I thought you'd take one look at the word "bran" and run far, far away screaming...straight into the nearest bakery to console yourself with a chocolate-glazed doughnut. Before I tried my own bran muffins, that's totally what I would have done.

But maybe you're more opened-minded than I am. Or maybe you have more faith in me than I do. Because whatever you reasons were, you stuck around and told me about how much you loved those healthy bran muffins! So, not wanting to let the bandwagon race past me and all that, I decided to jump on it and whip up an even better version - this time with twice as much chocolate!

All the ingredients you need to make healthy double chocolate bran muffins

When I make sweet treats, I usually keep the portion size pretty small. You know what they say - everything's fine in moderation, right? But when I made these healthy double chocolate bran muffins, instead of putting a modest amount of batter into each muffin mold, I rammed as much in there as I could!

The result was the most amazing, the most incredible, and the most fantastic XXL muffins. Like the kind you get in a bakery! Because they're such a generous size, these healthy muffins are perfect for a genuinely healthy breakfast that will get you through until lunch. Add a spread of healthy fat - like homemade peanut butter - and you've got a pretty balanced breakfast you won't be able to get enough of.
Batter to make 6 healthy double chocolate bran muffins

I reckon you could totally use the batter to make 12 smaller snack-size muffins, but I haven't tried it out for myself. So I can't be too accurate when it comes to the timings. I suggest keeping the oven temperature the same but only baking the muffins for 8 minutes if you're going to make half-size ones.

Do the usual trick - stick a toothpick into the centre to tell if they're cooked. If it comes out clean or with just a couple of crumbs, you're good to go. Get those babies out of the oven! But if it comes out wet and covered in batter, close the oven door and give them another 3 minutes. Trial and error. Trial and error.

Healthy double chocolate bran muffins in their tin, fresh from the oven

There are a couple of things I need to tell you about these healthy double chocolate bran muffins before you rush into your kitchen to make them. First - don't use cupcake wrappers. These healthy muffins are made with hardly any fat. So if you use cupcake liners, they'll stick to them and there'll be more muffin on your paper than in your tummy. And nobody wants that.

I use a non-stick virgin coconut oil cooking spray to grease my muffin mould. But you can use any type of non-stick cooking spray, oil or even butter. Anything edible and slippery that will help your muffins pop right out of the pan.
A healthy double chocolate bran muffin with a bite taken out

The other thing I need to tell you about these muffins is that they're not very sweet. My boyfriend loves them (he's pretty much the benchmark for me to decide whether my healthy recipes are safe enough to share in the world where not everyone loves chia seed bars and acai bowls) but he does douse them in a decent dose of Golden Syrup.

I, on the other hand, love these healthy double chocolate bran muffins just as they are. Insanely light for a healthy bran muffin, yet definitely filling enough to call breakfast and with just the right amount of melty dark chocolate chips to satisfy my sweet tooth. Yum!

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📖 Recipe

Closeup of a healthy double chocolate bran muffin

Healthy Double Chocolate Bran Muffins

These healthy double chocolate bran muffins are about to turn your world upside down. Miles away from the dry, crumbly bran muffins you've had in the past. These babies are super light, crazy moist and so unbelievably yummy that you'll never believe they're good for you. Whoever said breakfast muffins are empty-calorie frostingless-cupcakes has never tried my chocolate bran muffins!
4.80 from 5 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6 muffins
Calories: 175kcal

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup oat bran
  • ¾ cup whole wheat flour (substitute with ¾ cup gluten-free flour + 1 teaspoon xantham gum for GF)
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1 medium egg
  • ½ cup applesauce
  • ¼ cup milk (you can use any kind of dairy or non-dairy milk)
  • 1 tablespoon oil (you can use any kind of oil)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400F/200C and grease a six-mould muffin or cupcake tin. In a large bowl, stir all the ingredients together thoroughly, until everything is totally combined and there are no dry pockets. 
  • Scoop the batter into the greased muffin tin moulds and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Leave the muffins to cool on a wire rack before eating or storing. 

Notes

Store these muffins inside an airtight container or Ziploc bag in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 175kcal

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About Nicola

I’m Nicola, the face behind Happy Healthy Motivated – your go-to guide to becoming your best you!
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  1. Shannon {Cozy Country Living}

    These muffins look delicious! I love any kind of chocolate muffin, especially if it's healthier!

  2. Beverly

    Wow, these look yummy! Who doesn't like chocolate for breakfast?
    Now it is healthier.Yeah!
    Bev

  3. Kimberlee

    I can't wait to try these - maybe tomorrow so I can take them at the end of the week when I meet my friend for knitting at Starbucks. I loved your other recipe and have made it several times and took her one of those and she loved it too. I also shared your blog and link to the recipe with her.

  4. Joy @ Yesterfood

    Nicky, these are pure genius- you made healthy look delicious! I am so glad you shared these with us at Treasure Box Tuesday- I am sharing on Facebook this afternoon at 6:00 p.m. CST! 🙂

  5. aprila

    these look so good. Thanks for the recipe. Thanks for linking up at Tell Me About It Tuesday. We hope you hop over and share with us again next week.

  6. Laura@Baking in Pyjamas

    Those look delicious! I love the chips sticking out of the top, I could eat one right now. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!

  7. Ragenna Tudor

    My muffins fell in the center and over ran the cup, also it made 17 small muffins. What did I do wrong?

  8. Robbyn Boulanger

    "1/4 tablespoon plus 2 cup brown sugar"??? This is definitely a typo of some kind (considering there's not even one whole cup of flour in the recipe...) just can't figure out what the intended quantity should be.

    • Nicola

      Hey Robbyn! The correct amount is 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. The recipe card plugin has mixed the numbers up. I can't fix it right now because I'm travelling and I don't have access to a computer, but now you know. Enjoy the muffins! ????

  9. Eldaka Terrell

    I just read the comment about the brown sugar. I should have known better than to put that much in, but I did. I'll have to make them again with the correct amount of brown sugar.

  10. Eldaka Terrell

    So, I finally got the recipe right and I must say. These muffins are not only healthy, they are delicious. I'm adding them to my weekly baking. Thank You for such a wonderful recipe.

    • Nicola

      Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Eldaka! It's been quite a while since I made these muffins myself. You've inspired me to make a new batch this week!

      • Allison

        Want to try this. Is oat bran the cracklings oat bran cereal? That’s what came up when I searched. If so do I crush it?

  11. GiGi Eats

    OMG I think these actually look BETTER THAN bakery - because I am pretty sure bakeries DO NOT normally use apple sauce in their recipes!! I am no chocolate girl, but these do look insanely delicious!

    • Nicola

      Thank you so much, GiGi! I'm 99.99% sure normal bakeries definitely don't use applesauce and I bet their muffins come in at 3x as many calories as these ones, if not more! Glad to see that they're even tempting for non-chocoholics 🙂

  12. Normajean

    These muffins are delicious! So much better than I thought they would be. I followed the recipe as written except I added a half a teaspoon of orange extract since I like orange with my chocolate. I was able to get eight regular size muffins out of this recipe, and yes they are so good.

  13. Callie

    Very tasty! I make them vegan w flax egg and it works well.

  14. Mary

    I haven't made these yet but they look good. Just wondering if I can sub the flour for oat bran so it's completely oat bran? I've seen different recipes with just oat bran and just wondering if I could do that with this one?

  15. Mark Bogdan

    THE MUFFINS WERE QUITE GOOD. HOWEVER, MY WIFE NEEDED A LOW CARB VERSION, SO I REDUCED THE 3/4C OF OAT BRAN (WHICH I LIKE) TO 1/4C AND ADDED 1/4C OF RICE FLOUR. I ALSO REPLACED THE 3/4C OF WHOLE WHEAT FLOWER WITH 1C 0F ALMOND FLOUR. DID NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE, BUT DID USE SMALL DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS. THE MUFFINS WERE GREAT AND LOWERER IN CARBS.

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