Oat Bran Muffins (No Flour, Gluten-Free with Sugar-Free Option)
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These oat bran muffins are hearty, naturally gluten-free, and made without any flour. They’re a simple, healthy muffin recipe that can be made sugar-free, lightly sweetened, or even vegan depending on your needs.
They are soft and satisfying (not dry) and are perfect for quick breakfasts, snacks, or meal prep.
While I like to have my kids eat veggies for snacks as much as possible, I try to have other healthy snacks on hand as well.
While we really love these “Almond Joy” Bars, Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, Raw Chocolate Fudge Brownies, Bean Fudge, and Chocolate Truffles, we love these oat bran muffins for many reasons.
And I hope you will too.
You can see here that these oat bran muffins are soft and hearty—not dry.
In our household, we go back and forth between making these oat bran muffins sweetened and unsweetened. Either version is delicious.
This recipe is very forgiving and easy to adjust. In fact, the last time I made them I added too much liquid and added no sweetener or vanilla or cinnamon.
I had to cook them a bit longer since they were more moist, but my kids said that they tasted better than usual! And with no sweetener—imagine that!
This recipe is a revised version of one found on Whole Approach, a sadly now defunct website. That site was such a support to me when I first started dealing with what we thought was systemic candida in our household.
They're simple but have a very pleasant heartiness that is very satisfying.
In fact, once I made both these and my Baked Oatmeal (which I consider to be a really yummy treat) and my youngest asked for these instead of the cake pretty much every time he wanted a snack.
Why You’ll Love These Oat Bran Muffins
These oat bran muffins are sure to be a favorite in your home as they are in ours. This recipe is great because it's:
- no flour needed
- gluten-free
- can be sugar-free
- high fiber
- freezer-friendly
- flexible (muffins, mini, or muffin tops)
- tastes as a savory muffin or sweet
How to Serve
These vegan oat bran muffins are great plain, with almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or pumpkin seed butter and sometimes a little sweetener like a bit of honey or yacon syrup.
They're also great with just butter or really any kind of spread.
In order to counteract the phytates in the oat bran, I typically plan to make these a day or half a day in advance and soak the bran overnight.
Recipe Variations
Here are some great ways to make variations on this oh-so-flexible recipe.
Add the following to 1 batch:
- Pumpkin Puree (15 ounces: adds 1 carb to each muffin)
- Applesauce (1.5 cups: adds 1.5 carbs to each muffin)
- Banana (1 cup: adds 2 carbs per muffin)
Other possible add ins:
- Chocolate chips
- Coconut shreds
- Nuts
- Dried Fruit
These muffins can also be made mini size (I love them this way!) or you can even skip the muffin tins with their fussy clean up and just drop some dollops on a baking stone or tray and make muffin tops!
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Multiple Batches: Baking multiple batches at once is a great way to save time. In the case of these muffins, double or triple the recipe and mix the oat bran and liquids in a bowl (and sweeteners, if using), then add 1 tablespoon lemon juice or organic apple cider vinegar or about 1 teaspoon of vitamin C powder to the mix and let it all soak for at least 7 – 12 hours. Then proceed with the recipe.
- Baking Powder: If you would like to make your own baking powder, see my Aluminum and Corn-Free Baking Powder.
- Egg Substitute: My Powdered Egg Replacer is a great option for a homemade egg substitute.
- Sweetener Options: This recipe was developed to work for the candida diet and initially called for vegetable glycerin as the sweetener. You can use another liquid sweetener if you like. Other low-carb options are keto honey, liquid allulose. You can also use a granulated sweetener, but you'll want to subtract about 1/8 cup water from each batch. See my post on How to Substitute Sweeteners for more information. This sugar-free maple syrup works great. This Sugar-free Simple Syrup is another great liquid sweetener option.
- Coconut Oil: Butter, organic ghee, or organic palm shortening can be substituted for the coconut oil.
More Healthy Treats
Looking for other “sure to satisfy” recipes (all with special diet options)? How about:
– Baked Oatmeal such a great make ahead breakfast, snack, or treat
– Pumpkin Snickerdoodles a fun twist on a classic cookie
– Soft Pumpkin Cookies these taste interestingly like the Enjoy Life Brand
– Quick Whole Grain Drop Biscuits
– Buckwheat Crepes these are even great for “on the fly” sandwiches!
Oat Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups oat bran
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2–1 teaspoon salt (start with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust to taste. Use less for unsweetened muffins.)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional; omit for unsweetened version)
- 2 eggs (or equivalent substitute)
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional; omit for unsweetened version)
Optional Sweeteners (choose one)
- 2—4 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup for lightly sweet muffins)
- 2—4 tablespoons allulose syrup (or other sugar-free syrup; add a pinch of stevia if desired for more sweetness)
- 1/3 cup vegetable glycerin (plus 1/16 teaspoon stevia extract, for lightly sweet but lower carb)
Optional Add Ins
- 1/4 cup nuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 °F.
- Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, including any sweetener you’re using. (Add stevia here as well, if using.)
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Let the batter soak overnight or for 24 hours if desired, for better digestibility.
- Add nuts if using.
- Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins (mini or regular size), or for a simpler option, drop onto a prepared baking sheet or stone.
- Bake for 10–20 minutes, depending on size, until the centers are set and the tops are lightly golden.
Notes
- Sweetener Options: The original recipe uses glycerin plus a small amount of stevia. Honey or maple syrup work well on their own. Sugar-free syrups are less sweet, so you can add a pinch of stevia if desired.
- Sweetness & Texture: These muffins are only lightly sweet, even when a sweetener is used. The unsweetened version is slightly more dense; for a softer texture, add 1–2 tablespoons of additional water or oil.
- Oat Bran Note: Different brands of oat bran absorb liquid differently. If your batter seems too thick, add a little more water. If too thin, let it sit a few minutes to thicken. Be sure to use oat bran—not oat bran cereal.
- Egg-Free Option: Use a powdered egg replacer or flax egg. Both work well.
- Oil Substitutions: Coconut oil can be replaced with butter, ghee, or palm shortening.
- Soaking (Optional): For improved digestibility, soak the oat bran with liquid and a little acid (like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar) for 7–12 hours before baking.
- Mini Muffins or Muffin Tops: You can bake these as mini muffins or scoop onto a baking sheet for muffin tops. Adjust baking time as needed.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
I'd love to hear what you think about these muffins!
Hi Adrienne! Quick question about soaking the mixture overnight. Any idea if it would be okay nutrition wise to soak it with the pumpkin/ applesauce/banana and keep it in the fridge instead of on the counter? I find it SO stiff and difficult to finish mixing up the batter the next day with the rest of the ingredients. I thought maybe if I put one of those out will make it less dense and easier to mix. Not sure if that effects the benefits of soaking though? Any idea?
Hi Megan! It should be fine in fact applesauce would only help because of the acid in it. Hope that helps!
I like and NEED Cornbread Muffins due to my OXYLATE DIET. I have yet to make Oat Bran Muffins.
Thank you for your interest,
Bonnie.
Hello Bonnie. I’m sorry you are dealing with the oxalate issue. By the way, I have been looking at this and I think there are underlying health issues causing people to need to eat this way. I don’t think it’s smart to eat high oxalate but that’s my sense right now. If you’d like you can join my healthy living group and we can talk about it more. I might do a post about it as well. Do you have a good corn bread muffin recipe that you like? And does it have wheat in it? I’m asking because wheat is high oxalates as well.
I found I did not like these with the glycerin. When I was baking with glycerin years ago, it was said that it’s best done with a combination of glycerin and stevia. I wish I had remembered this. I was trying to recreate my mom’s that she always made, but probably with sugar. I might try with honey. But I also remember that you were supposed to liwer the heat by 25 degrees and add baking soda then.
Hi there. I’m so sorry for the delay. I just edited the recipe to have a glycerin/stevia mix. I liked them with the glycerin but hopefully this is better. Did you try them again? Thanks for reading and for sharing your thoughts!
Hi Adrienne, Did I miss your notes on sweetener options?
Hi there! I’m glad you asked this. I was thinking about updating sweetener information for this post. Would you prefer a granulated or liquid?
Either or both!
Hi again, Jill! So sorry for the delay – I have some notes in the text of the post and also in the Notes section of the recipe card. Let me know if that helps and I hope you like them!
The information was basically there before. I tried to edit it a bit to make it more clear, but please do let me know if you think it should be made more clear. Thanks in advance!
Question: I am going to make these but am wondering if I can use Hodson Mill old fashioned oat bran hot cereal instead of Oat Bran? Also, if I do, do I still have to soak it overnight? Thanks. Cindy
Hi there. A cereal is going to behave very differently from plain oat bran. I’m not sure how it would turn out so if you want to experiment I would just do 1/2 batch perhaps or be willing to eat a mistake :). Thanks for reading!
Hi again – I would have to really think about the soaking…I don’t know! I think it should help.
WOW!! These are super tasty!! You’ve made me a very happy girl the last couple days! I’m not sure if they were supposed to rise while baking but I had used 2 gelatin eggs (I have gluten cross reactivity to eggs), I don’t really bake anything but cookies sometimes (other wise I can’t have any lol) but this recipe is going to be made ALL the time! I only had 1 tsp of vanilla extract left so also used 1 tsp of almond extract and skipped the liquid sweetener subbing 8 teeny tiny scoops of concentrated 100% stevia extract. For fun, walnuts and spirulina were added and yes the muffins became green lol.
Thank you SOO much for sharing this, I already see several other recipes I can make from your site just from looking at a couple and that never happens! (I have a lot of dietary restrictions lol.) I haven’t had a muffin since 2016 so this is truly awesome.
Gosh – it’s been way too long since I’ve made them but I recall that they do rise some but not that much. Using this egg replacer will cause them to rise more because of the leavening agents in there.
I’m sooo glad you liked them! Your changes sound great. I love how easy they are to amend. What are your restrictions? As you can see we had a lot BUT my son is now able to eat dairy after a lifetime of being deathly allergic to it. Such a miracle. You can read a short bit about our story here: wholenewmom.com/about-me/
Hi,
I’m trying to avoid sweeteners, I made the recipe substituting the vegetable glycerine with molasses because it’s not very sweet, the cake came out a very nice texture but the molasses flavor was a bit too strong, now I’m making it with 1/3 cup less molasses but the batter seems to dry :/ is there anything I could use in place of a liquid sweetener to keep it moist and cakey, but not too sweet?
Hi there! Sure there are options…I would consider perhaps pumpkin puree or possibly even cooked squash. I’m thinking..maybe unsweetened applesauce too. Hope that helps and so glad you liked them!
Thanks!
You’re so welcome!
Just wondering how 28 g of carbs in one muffin is low carb? Am I reading this wrong?
Hi there. I believe that I wrote “lower carb” since bran is a lower carb ingredient than whole grain and I use a lower carb sweetener. Please do let me know if you read differently and thanks for reading!