Everything Zucchini Bran Muffins
A delicious zucchini bran muffins recipe made with shredded zucchini and carrots, unbleached flour, ground flaxseed, oat bran, raisins, and walnuts. This healthier muffin recipe is simple and incredibly delicious!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Unbleached all-purpose flour– you can also use spelt flour or wheat flour
- Ground golden flaxseed
- Oat bran
- Brown sugar– you can substitute Truvia brown sugar blend to cut calories and sugar
- Leavening ingredients: baking soda and baking powder
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Milk-whole milk recommended
- Eggs– lightly beaten
- Vanilla– go with a good-quality vanilla extract
- Unsweetened applesauce– or full-fat Greek yogurt
- Carrots-finely shredded
- Zucchini– finely shredded
- Raisins
- Walnuts
How To Make Zucchini Bran Muffins
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, oat bran, ground flaxseed, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
Step 3. Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and applesauce (or Greek yogurt) to the flour mixture stirring until well combined. Stir in shredded carrots, zucchini, raisins, and chopped nuts.
Step 4. Scoop batter into muffin tins sprayed with non-stick cooking spray until 3/4 full.
Step 5. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in tins for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Recipe Tip
A baker’s tip: Full-fat Greek yogurt is an excellent substitute for the applesauce in the recipe. I have made them both ways and love each variation. To cut sugar and calories, I’ve used the Truvia brown sugar blend as an alternative to brown sugar with great results. To make them fancy, you can also sprinkle a little raw sugar on top of the muffin before they go in the oven for a nice, sweet crunch.
Storage Tips
Store muffins in an airtight container in a single layer on top of a layer of paper towels for up to four days. If you cannot eat the muffins right away, wrap cooled muffins in plastic wrap, and place them in a sealed freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or pop into the microwave for a quick thaw. This way, you always have homemade muffins and bread on hand.
If you’re in a muffin mood, don’t miss these Nutella Swirl Banana Muffins because…well…Nutella… and healthy & moist Avocado Pumpkin Muffins!
More Delicious Muffin Recipes
Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins (Paleo-Friendly)
Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
If you love this bran zucchini muffin recipe I would be so grateful if you could leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below. I love reading your comments and feedback!
Stay posted on my latest cooking adventures through social media @ Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. Don’t forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes!
Update: This post was originally published in April 2011, and has been updated to improve the reader experience. This delicious recipe remains the same. 🙂
Everything Zucchini Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour *can also use spelt or wheat flour
- 3/4 cup oat bran
- 3/4 cup ground golden flaxseed
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar *can also use Truvia brown sugar blend to cut the sugar and calories
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3/4 cup whole milk *make sure that you use whole milk since there is no additional fat in the recipe
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce -or full-fat Greek yogurt *see notes
- 1 cup finely shredded carrots
- 1 cup finely shredded zucchini
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 cup chopped walnuts *can also use pecans or almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, oat bran, ground flax seed, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Stir until no lumps remain.
- Add eggs, milk, vanilla and apple sauce to the flour mixture stirring until well combined.
- Stir in shredded carrots, zucchini, raisins, and chopped nuts until just combined.
- Scoop batter into muffin tins sprayed with non-stick spray (or lined with parchment liners) until 3/4 full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in tins for 5 minutes before transferring muffins to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
- Boursin Tomato Pasta (Healthy & High Protein) - June 9, 2025
- Tropical Banana Pineapple Protein Shake - June 3, 2025
- Double Chocolate Avocado Muffins - May 28, 2025
These sound delicious!!! I love being able to sneak in the veggies too – so glad you shared!
thank you! Yes, I am a fan of veggies in baked goods, especially zucchini:)
Have you ever tried making these gluten-free free? Before going completely gluten-free, I would use your recipe and cut half of the all-purpose flour with my gluten-free free blend—but now, I need them to be entirely gluten-free. Any suggestions on proper exchanges? I appreciate any ideas!
-Christie 🙂
Christie! I’m so sorry, I completely missed this comment! I have had great success with the King Arthur brand all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. That should be a great sub for this recipe. I find that GF baked goods don’t stay fresh as long as regular muffins at room temp, but I just stick them in the freezer for up to 3 months and pop one out when I need it.
These are delicious!! I’ve made them about 4 times now and love them. I enjoy freezing them and pulling them out to enjoy regularly. This is the best hearty bran muffin recipe I’ve come across. Definitely a keeper.
Thank you for the feedback, Stephanie! I’m so glad that you love them as much as we do!
Could one use wheat bran instead of oat bran?
Hi Evangeline! Yes, that would be a great swap. I’d love to know how they turn out!
These are wonderful. I baked in small bread tins. Yummy
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe Shirleen! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
I made these for fellowship at church. They were a HIT!
Love it! Thank you so much for the feedback Carole! 🙂
this is my “go to” healthy start pre workout. carrys me through 2 hours on the bike!
I think that these muffins are even better after they’ve been frozen and thawed. It’s such a great recipe to batch and freeze for hiking, traveling, etc. So glad that you love them!