Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Apple Bran Muffins

I love these delicious from-scratch Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Apple Bran Muffins and they’re great with walnuts! 

PIN Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Apple Bran Muffins!

I’m happy to be giving you this recipe for Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Apple Bran Muffins  today, since I did promise on Twitter that I’d share this recipe over the weekend, and I’m a woman who keeps her promises. Besides, I like bran muffins, and my body reminds me that eating more fiber is a good thing!

When I saw a recipe for made-from scratch pear bran muffins (with no bran cereal) in the The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook (affiliate link) it turned into one of those baking experiences where I have to make the recipe several times before I’m happy with it. Right away I switched pears for apples (because I never have pears in the house, but almost always have apples.)

I made these three times, with quite a few changes from the inspiring recipe, but I thought the final version was just right.  These muffins are just slightly sweet, and to my taste they’re much better than all those bran muffin recipes that use bran cereal as one of the main ingredients.

I originally used a mixture of sweetener and a little brown sugar in this recipe. But now I’m a fan of Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) to get that rown sugar flavor in baked goods, and that change makes them even lower in sugar. I also used a mix of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (affiliate link) and Almond Flour (affiliate link) in my muffins, but if you don’t want to buy those I’m guessing white whole wheat flour would probably work.

What Size Muffin Cups Did I Use:

In my post on Low-Carb Muffins and Breakfast Muffins I show the three sizes of silicone baking cups I have. For this recipe I used my smallest size (affiliate link), which are about 2.75 inches across and holds about 1/3 cup. If your muffin cups are bigger you’ll get fewer muffins and may need to increase the baking time.

How to Make Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Apple Bran Muffins:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the whole wheat pastry flour, almond flour, wheat bran, Golden Monkfruit Sweetener, ground cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a smaller bowl, beat the two eggs, then add buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and stir to combine.
3. Take an extra minute or two and make sure the apple is very finely diced before you add it to the liquids.  I used an apple corer, then peeled off the skin and diced up the apple pieces.
4. I also took a couple of minutes to toast the walnuts in a dry pan before I chopped them, which also adds flavor. I don’t like big chunks of walnuts in cookies or bread, so I chopped them pretty finely.
5. Mix the finely chopped apples and walnuts into the wet ingredients.
6. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just enough that all the dry ingredients are moistened.
7. Spray muffin cups or muffin pan with nonstick spray or oil, then divide the mixture among the muffin cups.  (If you use the small muffin cups like I did, they will be pretty full.
8. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out completely clean. 
9. Let muffins cool a little before eating. 
10. You can keep these muffins in the fridge for quite a few days, and I am sure they will freeze well, although I haven’t frozen any yet because I keep eating them!

More Muffins You Might Like:

• Sugar-Free Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffin
• Flourless Zucchini Muffins
• Low-Sugar Blueberry Muffins 
• Flourless Breakfast Muffins with Zucchini and Feta
• Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins

Continue to Content

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Yield: 12 small muffins

Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Apple Bran Muffins

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

I love these delicious Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Apple Bran Muffins!

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 cup wheat bran
• 6 T Golden Monkfruit Sweetener
• 1 1/2  tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 3 T grapeseed oil (or any neutral flavored oil)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 apple, peeled and cut into very small dice (1/4 inch or less)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
2. Spray muffin cups or muffin pan with nonstick spray or oil.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together whole wheat pastry flour, almond meal, wheat bran, Stevia or Splenda (or sugar), brown sugar (or more sweetener), ground cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
4. Beat eggs in smaller bowl, then stir in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
5. Remove apple core and peel the apple, then finely chop apple pieces and add to liquid ingredients.
6. Toast walnuts for 1-2 minutes in a dry pan over high heat, just until they start to become fragrant.
7. Then finely chop walnuts and add to liquid ingredients.
8. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just enough so that all the dry ingredients are moistened.
9. Use a large spoon to divide the batter among the muffin cups.
10. Bake at 350F/180C for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out completely clean.
11. Let muffins cool for a few minutes before eating.  These muffins will keep well in the fridge for quite a few days.  I am sure they would freeze well, although I haven’t frozen any yet.  To reheat, microwave for about 30 seconds.

Notes

Use any nuts of your choice if you're not a fan of walnuts.

Recipe adapted with quite a few changes from Pear Bran Muffins in The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook (affiliate link).

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 249Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 195mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 6gSugar: 5gProtein: 8g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-GlycemicDiet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
These muffins are pretty low in sugar (even though they have apple) and I’d eat them for phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. Using almond meal makes the muffins lower in carbs, but they’re probably too high in carbs for a traditional low-carb eating plan.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Bread Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

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