I've spent years making healthy easy muffins, and these bran zucchini muffins prove wholesome muffins can be delicious too. I used a classic bran muffin recipe and added garden zucchini. These muffins create a perfect balance of sweet and flavorful.
Do you have lots of summer garden zucchini to use like me? I like to make crispy dehydrator zucchini chips, moist zucchini muffins with yogurt, and an easy zucchini feta frittata. I love to make veggies into a yummy snack! Now let's make some bran zucchini muffins!
Reason to Love This Recipe
- Flavor + texture: Classic bran muffins can often be dry, but mixed with zucchini, these have the perfect balance of moistness, tenderness, and just the right amount of crumble. If you love zucchini bread, you are gonna love these muffins!
- Dairy-free + less sugar: There is no dairy in these zucchini bran muffins. These muffins also have a smaller amount of added sugar (I used brown sugar and molasses to sweeten them).
- Uses seasonal zucchini: Do you have fresh zucchini, or as some call it courgette, in your garden? Or perhaps some delicious zucchini from the overflowing farmers market stand? You don't want to miss this recipe this zucchini season. After making these muffins, use the rest of your produce in this healthy blackberry smoothie with zucchini hidden in it!
Quick Look: Bran zucchini muffins
- Equipment Needed: Muffin pan
- Time: 40 minutes
- Serves: 12 muffins
- Calories: 165 per serving
- Protein: 5 grams per serving
- Dietary Info: Dairy-free
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: Moist and delicious, unlike most bran muffins. Plus the splash of zucchini adds extra goodness.
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS CONTENT ON
Jump to:
- Reason to Love This Recipe
- Quick Look: Bran zucchini muffins
- Ingredients and ingredient Alternatives for Healthy Bran Zucchini Muffins
- Optional Additions
- What is Bran? & Nutrition of Bran
- How to Make the Best Zucchini Bran Muffins
- FAQ
- More Incredible muffins that are healthy
- Zucchini Bran Muffins
- Danika Vanderpyl, C.H.N
Ingredients and ingredient Alternatives for Healthy Bran Zucchini Muffins
Check out the ingredients needed for these yummy muffins in the photo below. Like always, I try to use ingredients that are in your kitchen already or that are easy to get! The full quantities are in the recipe card below, but read below to see why I chose certain ingredients and what swaps can be made.
- Bran: You can use wheat bran, oat bran, bran flakes, raisin bran, or all-bran cereal for these muffins. However, after testing this recipe, I found it works best to let the crunchy cereals (bran flakes, all-bran, or raisin bran) sit for 1 hour until everything is soft and mixes well.
- Zucchini: The star of these muffins is the zucchini! It will need to be grated. When I am making a big batch and don't want to grate it by hand, I put it through a food processor! You need about 2 small zucchini or 1 ½ medium zucchini. I find squeezing out extra moisture after it is grated is key for this recipe, so the muffins aren't too wet, but just moist!
- Molasses: I added a little molasses as a sweetener, but it also brings out the classic bran taste while being nutrient-dense. Molasses is high in minerals, specifically iron.
- Coconut sugar: I like to make these muffins with coconut sugar; if you don't have any, brown sugar works fine.
- Oil: You can use canola oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or olive oil (this may give it a more nutty taste).
- Milk: Any milk works for this recipe. I use almond milk.
- Vinegar: White vinegar or apple cider vinegar works. This reacts with the baking powder to create a good rise in the muffins.
- Flour: For this recipe, I have tried organic white flour and organic whole-wheat flour. Or you can make it with half whole-wheat and half white flour.
- Optional - pumpkin seeds: I found chopped pumpkin seeds (as seen in the final photo) make the muffins pretty and give an extra delightful crunch.
Optional Additions
Here are a few ways you can change and adapt this recipe to increase nutrition and flavor!
- Cinnamon: Add 1 ½ teaspoon of cinnamon to the flour mixture before adding the flour mix to the wet ingredients.
- Chocolate chips: Love the zucchini chocolate chip combo? Add ½ cup of chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips to this recipe before baking.
- Raisins: Add ½ cup of raisins to the muffins for more sweetness and a juicy bite. If my raisins are hard, I always soak them in hot water for 15 minutes before adding them.
- Apple pieces: For a fall muffin flavor, make these bran apple flavor! Add 1 finely chopped apple to these zucchini bran muffins.
- Toddler friendly (mini): Bake these muffins in a mini muffin tray to make every toddler squeal! Bake mini muffins at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 C) for about 11 minutes.
What is Bran? & Nutrition of Bran
- Bran is the outer layer on many grains (wheat, oats, barley, corn, rice). It is often removed during processing. When the bran is removed from the grain, it extends the shelf life of the flour, but it also removes much of the good nutrition of the grain!
- You can buy wheat bran, oat bran, bran flakes, raisin bran, or all-bran cereal and any of these work for these muffins.
- Bran is known for its high fiber content; it is also nutritionally high in B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and iron.
How to Make the Best Zucchini Bran Muffins
These muffins are simple to make! Follow the step-by-step photos from my kitchen to see how I make these bran zucchini muffins.
Step 1: Start by grating the zucchini with a box grater or a food processor until you get 2 cups (I found there is no need to peel the zucchini unless it is well bruised).
Step 2: Place it between paper towels or a clean tea towel, and squeeze the zucchini to remove moisture. Set aside.
Step 3: Mix together the other wet ingredients: eggs, brown sugar (or coconut sugar), molasses, oil, milk, vinegar, and bran. Let it sit for 10 minutes. If you are using any kind of bran cereal, let it sit for at least 1 hour until it is soggy and soft.
Step 4: In a small bowl, place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt, and whisk together well. Using a whisk, ensures everything is incorporated well, and there are no spots of baking soda or salt!
Step 5: Add the flour mixture and the grated zucchini to the bran mixture, and stir only until mixed (over-mixing stops the muffins from rising). In a greased muffin tray or a muffin tray with liners, place ⅓ cup of muffin batter into each muffin cup (they will be full). Sprinkle chopped pumpkin seeds on top if using!
Step 6: Bake in a preheated oven at 425 Fahrenheit (215 C) for 7 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 375 Fahrenheit (190 C) and bake for another 12-15 minutes until they are fully cooked. Remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins to fully cool on a cooling rack.
FAQ
These zucchini bran muffins are healthy. They are a good source of fiber, the bran and zucchini add extra nutrition, giving another serving of vegetables you don't even realize is there. They are low in sugar and a great healthy snack!
Yes! Zucchini bran muffins can be frozen. To prevent them from sticking together, place them on a lined cookie sheet, freeze them until solid (a few hours), then place them in a bag or container and back into the freezer. The pre-freeze keeps them from sticking together.
Yes, you can use either wheat bran, oat bran, or any bran cereal in bran muffins. If you are using bran cereal or bran flakes, I found in my testing it is denser and fibrous, the best results are if you soak these with the wet ingredients for 1 hour so it becomes soggy and mixes well.
To make your own bran, mill your wheat berries in a flour mill, then use a fine mesh sieve to separate the flour from the coarse bran. In the bowl, you will have white flour, and in your mesh strainer, you will have bran.
More Incredible muffins that are healthy
My blog is dedicated to healthy snacks I create for my family. I only share thier favorites. I make a lot of muffins for my kids. My other go-to muffin recipes are healthy orange muffins made in the blender or banana muffins with applesauce that are sweetened with maple syrup.
🌾 Love this recipe for zucchini bran muffins? I'd love it if you took 45 seconds to give a star rating and review just below the recipe. That means a lot to me and helps the growth of Beside the Mountain blog. Xx, Danika
Zucchini Bran Muffins
Equipment
- 1 muffin tray
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- ¼ cup oil olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil
- 1 cup milk any kind works
- 1 tablespoon vinegar apple cider vinegar or white
- 1 ½ cup bran wheat bran, oat bran, all bran, raisin bran, bran flakes work!
- 2 cups zucchini
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour white or whole-wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt or regular salt
Optional:
- 3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds chopped for on top
Instructions
- Start by grating the zucchini with a box grater or a food processor until you get 2 cups. Squeeze the zucchini to remove moisture, by placing it between paper towels or a clean tea towel. Set aside.
- Mix together the other wet ingredients: eggs, coconut sugar (or brown sugar), molasses, oil, milk, vinegar, and bran. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt, then stir well.
- Add the flour mixture and the grated zucchini to the bran mixture, and stir only until mixed. In a greased muffin tray or a muffin tray with liners, place ⅓ cup of muffin batter into each muffin cup (they will be full). Sprinkle chopped pumpkin seeds on top if using!
- In a preheated oven, bake the muffins at 425 Fahrenheit (215 C) for 7 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 375 Fahrenheit (190 C) and bake for another 12-15 minutes until they are fully baked.Remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins to fully cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Danika Vanderpyl, C.H.N
I create snack recipes with healthy ingredients that are mostly already in your kitchen. I'm certified in Holistic Nutrition and I care about giving my kids real food. Let me share my nutrient-dense easy snacks with you.
Alice says
I jusy baked these to use up zucchini. Bran muffins are a good to in my household and these were a hit,
Danika Vanderpyl says
Im glad these were a hit Alice. Thanks for letting me know your family enjoyed them!
Rhonni says
I made these today and was surprised at just how moist they are, but I do have a question about the nutritional facts. You have the calories at 159kcal and Servings at 12 muffins. So is that 159 calories per muffin or is that 159 calories divided by 12 muffins for a total of 13.25 calories per muffin, as that calorie count seems too good to be true? LOL
Danika Vanderpyl says
Hello Rhonni! The nutrition fact are for each muffins so they are 159 calories per muffin. Glad you found them moist!
Kathi Temple says
Yummy! Im making them again now. And a pleasant surprise to see it’s Danika’s page! I’ve met Danika, one great night when she treated us camp Cooks to a sauna and her lovely popsicles!
Danika Vanderpyl says
Hi Kathi! Glad you found this recipe! Enjoy!