Gluten-Free Bran Muffins
These gluten-free bran muffins have the classic taste of traditional bran muffins, but none of the gluten. Even though they’re filled with fibre, they still have a moist, tender crumb. Serve warm with a little butter for a quick breakfast or snack.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup oat bran, certified gluten free
- ¾ cup ground flaxseed
- 1½ cups buttermilk, see note
- 1½ cups gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend (see note)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- turbinado (raw) sugar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners or grease with vegetable oil.
- Stir together the oat bran, ground flaxseed, and buttermilk in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes.
- In large bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla.
- Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined. Stir in the buttermilk mixture.
- Divide the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups.
- Optional: Top each muffin with a pinch of raw sugar.
- Bake for about 23 – 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool slightly in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Note: use a blend that contains xanthan gum, so the muffins have enough structure and stability. Make sure your blend doesn’t contain any ingredients with strong flavours, such as bean flour. If using a blend with a higher starch content, add an additional tablespoon of buttermilk. See Baking with Gluten-Free Flour for more information.
Top Tips
- Mix well – if you’re used to making muffins with wheat flour, you probably fear overmixing your muffin batter. But with gluten-free muffins, you don’t have to worry about overmixing the same way. If anything, the real risk is undermixing. Gluten-free flours don’t absorb liquids as quickly as wheat flour, so you need to give your batter a really good stir to make sure everything is really incorporated. And since there’s no gluten, you don’t have to worry about overworking the gluten strands which is what can make traditional muffins tough. If anything, gluten-free muffins benefit from the added structure a well-mixed batter provides.
- Serve warm – I find these muffins are best served warm and topped with a little butter. Reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Make it dairy free: replace the buttermilk with a non-dairy buttermilk substitute and use dairy-free chocolate chips. For a non-dairy buttermilk substitute, stir together 1 cup of plain non-dairy yogurt, ½ cup of non-dairy milk and ½ teaspoon of white or apple cider vinegar, and let sit for 5 minutes before using. I've had good success using plain coconut milk yogurt and almond milk.
- Baked muffins: 2 – 3 days in an air-tight container at room temperature. Reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Freeze: the baked muffins also freeze well – store well wrapped in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 1 month. To serve, thaw in a microwave for 20 seconds on high, and then warm in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 muffinCalories: 294kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 7gFat: 15gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 361mgFiber: 5gSugar: 20g
Nutritional information shown is an estimate only.
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