These Gluten Free Raisin Bran Muffins are legit – just like you would have eaten before eating gluten free. Whip up a batch to enjoy with your breakfast, or your morning coffee break.
I had my simple tried and true recipe that I used every time and it never failed me. Not once.
My husband would take them to work. My daughter gladly took them in her lunch kit to school, and my little man, who seems to think he always needs to eat, would have them as a mid-morning snack. Since going gluten-free, I have occasionally baked those muffins for my family to enjoy, but boy, to see those great muffins sitting there, and not be able to have any, was a sad thing.
So, what do I do? Anything that any muffin-depraved person would do. I take that recipe and convert it to gluten free.
Those muffins converted beautifully to gluten free Raisin Bran Muffins. The texture is bang on, and although the taste is slightly different (obviously, you can’t use wheat bran when you can’t eat wheat), the substitutions worked perfectly!
Feel free to substitute the raisins with whatever kind of fruit suits your fancy. Chopped apples and a teaspoon of cinnamon would be a great twist on these. However, I like them just as they are – which is nearly just as they were.
If you like these gluten free Raisin Bran Muffins, I think you’ll also love these muffins:
- Healthy Gluten Free Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Gluten Free Rhubarb Muffins with Cinnamon-Sugar Topping
- Gluten Free White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins with Almond Streusel Topping
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Gluten Free Raisin Bran Muffins
Enjoy your bran muffins again, only this time without the gluten. These gluten-free Raisin Bran Muffins are perfect to pack in lunches or for an afternoon snack. Add nuts, or change the fruit to suit your tastes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup ground flax seed
- 1/2 cup rice or gluten-free oat bran (substitute with more flax seed if you don't have the rice bran)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup gluten free oat, millet, or sorghum flour
- 1/3 cup brown rice flour
- 1/3 cup tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons hemp seeds (optional, I added them, more nutrition)
- 1/2 cup re-hydrated raisins (I microwave mine for 30 seconds with a little bit of water, let sit, then drain)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line muffin cups with paper liners.
Mix together the flax seed, rice bran and buttermilk. Let sit for 10 minutes (while you get everything else ready).
In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten free flour(s), xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and hemp seeds (if using). Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, egg, sugar and vanilla. Add the buttermilk/flax seed mixture & stir well.
Stir buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients, just until blended. Fold in the raisins and spoon batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Wait 5 minutes and then remove the muffins from baking pan to cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before storing in an air tight container.
Elsie says
Hi Jeanine,
These muffins look yummy. There is no substitute for a good raisin bran muffin. I have been using your earlier Raisin Rice Bran Muffin recipe with good success but it takes a lot of rice bran, which I have to go to Winnipeg to buy, so I definitely plan to try these.
Gina, Gluten Free says
Brilliant! Can't wait to try it!
betty r says
Jeanine, I'm always happy for you when you can convert a recipe to GF.
I baked bran muffins on Thursday for my son.
Elizabeth says
Looks great, I just need to go dairy free and sub something for the sugar. Hopefully it will still be good, my daughter loved bran muffins before she went wheat free/dairy free.
Peace and RAW Health,
Elizabeth
Kathy says
Love these. Any dry sugar will work. I use coconut sugar. And one can use a bit less
hope4today says
Just got an email from GFdaughter who came out to spend the weekend with us. I sent her home with some of these muffins. "Mom,those muffins you made truly are phenomenal and I would be amenable to receiving more in the future. xo" I was SO glad I trusted you enough (based on experience baking your recipes) to bake a double batch right away. Have sent some to work with DH who does not need GF who enjoyed them. Soaking the raisins is SO worth the extra few minutes!
Jeanine - The Baking Beauties says
@hope4today, Aw, that is so, so great to hear! So glad that your daughter likes them, and that she'd gladly accept more. 🙂 It's not good when you get the "you don't need to make those again".
You can soak the raisins in fruit juice (or booze) to change up the flavour a bit too.
Thanks so much for the review, nice to hear. 🙂
Sandy F. says
Oh, how I miss my banana chocolate chip muffins. They were delicious. I don’t think there is any way I could convert them over, but I’ll always have my memory of them….. 🙂
Helen J says
I made these muffins on the weekend substituting flax for the rice bran. They turned out so nice and soft and yummy. definetely a keeper.
Sharon says
These are delicious. Thank you so much, I have really missed my Bran Muffins.
Lindsay says
I love these! I usually make them with all flaxmeal because I don’t have rice bran, but today I subbed 1/2 cup GF rolled oats. They turned out so great and hearty! I may make them this way everytime. Thanks, Jeanine!
Jeanine says
Yes, they work great to sub the rice bran with more ground flax seed. Glad that the recipe works so well for you! 🙂 And the addition of GF rolled oats sounds fantastic!
Josh says
I made these last night and they are great! My celiac fiancee had been talking about how much she missed bran muffins, so I decided to give them a go! The flavor is really nice, but the texture is where it’s at! Nice and soft. In place of the rice bran, I used Nature’s Path Organic Millet Rice Cereal with Oat Bran, and just crushed it up. Worked really well. This will be a keeper for us! Thank you!
Alice says
My poor Celiac Hubby and Son miss thier Bran Muffins too and I miss making them. I’m going to try this recipe tomorrow. I love the suggestion of using Rolled Oats.
*I trust your recipes after the superb GF Bread recipe with the Ground Flax. I make two loaves a week now. Sometimes I even make it into buns that they use for burgers! THANK YOU! 🙂
Jeanine says
Thanks, Alice! It’s nice to know that I’ve earned your trust. 🙂 I’m going to make these again soon too, I even bought some rice bran for it (although ground flaxseed works great in its place too).
Christina says
I made these 2 days ago. I had really ripe bananas so I used one medium mashed banana in place of the oil. This recipe is great! The muffins are still moist 2 days later (a true feat for gluten-free), the hemp seeds give them some crunch and they go really well with cheese. Thanks, this is a keeper! Bran muffins were also my go-to choice when wheat bran was an option. Aside from those I miss the spontaneous “Hey that looks good I’ll just get one” moments at bakeries, and lemon-poppyseed. I see you have a loaf recipe for that on your site. Will give it a go!
Jeanine says
Hi Christina, glad to hear that the muffins were a success for you! I now have a lemon poppy seed muffin that may interest you. 😉 http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/2012/06/gluten-free-lemon-poppy-seed-muffins.html
Carmen says
These are absolutely fantastic! So moist and delicious. We are sugar and dairy free at our house as well, but it was easy to make the needed substitutions. They were sooo good. Thank you
Jeanine Friesen says
Glad that you were able to make those substitutions easily, Carmen! Care to share what changes to made?
Alexandra says
Hi Carman
Please will you tell me what you used to substitute for the sugar in the gluten free bran muffins?
Many thanks
Alexandra
Jennifer Hirshhorn says
What did you use as a substitute for sugar?
Thanks!!!!!
Mrs.T says
I baked these yesterday. Raisin bran muffins were always my favorite, and so I’ve been missing them. These were fantastic!!! Best gluten free muffin I have ever tried. I had flax seed on hand but it was the whole seeds and I didn’t have time to grind them. Had no rice bran — I will be getting some though — so I ended up substituting quick oats for the entire flax/bran amount. But the muffins were still wonderful.
Jeanine, you are a baking genius! So happy I found your site!
Jeanine Friesen says
Mrs. T – bless you! Thank you so much for the comment. I’m really glad that it worked well with the substitutions as well!
Sherri in Phoenix says
I just recently found your website and had printed out this recipe. Just made them and they are fabulous! I have a raisin bran muffin recipe I have been making for 40 years that are such a favorite and everyone asks for the recipe…these are WAY better! Can’t wait to try another recipe…
Jeanine Friesen says
Wow – Thank you, Sherri! Your comment means a lot to me. 🙂
Mrs.T says
Just had to pop in again and say that I tried these again using the ground flax. I still didn’t have rice bran, so used the flax for the entire amount. The muffins are fantastic!! So pleased to have something that tastes like my old favorite raisin bran muffins. My hubby and I are planning a getaway soon to a cabin up north and he always likes to bring along a few bakery muffins for a treat with coffee. So I will be making these to take along!
Thanks again … just a wonderful recipe!
Jeanine Friesen says
I think that’s just wonderful, Mrs. T! 🙂 Thanks again for letting me know how it works with those changes. I bought some gluten-free oat bran I hope to play with in this recipe soon too. Mmm…
Gwen says
I was wondering if you ever tried using the oat bran? Thinking I might give it a test with that! Thanks for all your yummy recipes 🙂
Jeanine says
Yes, I’ve made them numerous times with the gluten-free oat bran – works great!
Chris says
Great website! This recipe is excellent – thank you! I added chia seeds (1/2 cup) in addition and also an extra 1/2 cup of buttermilk and the muffins turned out great!
I hope to see your gluten free bread recipe mentioned in other posts:-)
Jeanine Friesen says
Thanks for the comments, Chris, glad to hear those changes worked so great for you!
Lisa says
I substituted Almond Milk for Buttermilk and they still tasted amazing!
Tessa@tessadomesticdiva says
Loved these! We have a flax allergy so used 1 cup rice bran (scant) and added chia meal to complete the cup. We also needed them egg and dairy free: curdled rice milk with lemon juice, and used 1/4 cup applesauce to replace the egg. I also used 1/2 cup palm sugar and 1/8 teaspoon stevia. Turned out great! Thank you!
jori says
i have been craving bran muffins ever since i went gluten free and i was seriously considering just making them the way i used to, even though i knew i would pay for it. it never occured to me there might be a recipe to satisify my longing. bless you, jeanine! you are a gf baking goddess, a font of gf baking wisdom! xoxo
Michelle says
Just made these tonight and they are out of this world!! I would seriously doubt if anyone could tell that these are gluten free. These are better than any gluten-filled muffin I’ve ever had. So addictive!! Thank you, Jeanine!! 🙂
L. Held says
Would like to know the calories per muffin.”TY
Jeanine says
Hi there! I don’t do nutritional analysis of the recipes, sorry. You can figure it out yourself though on sites like this: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp or This: http://www.fitwatch.com/database/analyzer.php
Joanna says
These muffins are amazingly good!! I made them with apples and another teaspoon of cinnamon like you suggested. Very moist and full of flavor !
Jeanine says
Glad to hear that you liked them, Joanna! It’s a very versatile recipe, the add-ins and spices can change to suit your tastes. 🙂
Lois says
These muffins are top quality and absolutely delicious! My family and friends all enjoy them and most do not know they are gluten free. The recipe is very forgiving and I have tried numerous add-ins and gf flours. My favorite has half cup of chopped dates added instead of the raisins. Thank you for all the work you do to help us celiacs enjoy the simple pleasures of good baking treats that we can eat and mostly….for passing it on!
Jeanine says
So glad to hear that they are a favourite, Lois! You’re right – they are pretty hard to mess up. 🙂 Dates sounds like a great addition!
Joan says
Jeannie,
These were AWESOME. Better than the wheat based bran muffins I made before going gluten
free. Thanks for another great recipe.
Jeanine says
So glad to hear that, Joan! Still a favourite in my house too. 🙂
Allison says
I’m a private chef who cooks for people with a variety of dietary restrictions. I made your delicious muffins today for a vegan with Celiac, but with the following changes:
1 cup organic light coconut milk mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice (instead of buttermilk)
1/3 cup coconut oil (instead of regular oil)
Ener-G egg replacer (instead of egg)
1 cup coconut sugar (instead of 2/3 cup brown sugar).
I used flax meal and oat bran, and 1/3 cup each of sorghum flour, brown rice flour and tapioca starch. My client doesn’t like raisins, so I added 1/2 cup toasted walnuts instead. And I skipped the hemp seeds.
Terrific! They’ll be gone by tomorrow!
Jeanine says
Awesome! Thanks for all the subs, Allison! I’ve made it with coconut oil and coconut sugar before without a problem, but never replacing the egg and dairy. Well done!
Lesley says
I am not celiac, but I bake for a friend that is. I had made some bran muffins for myself and she told me how much she missed eating bran muffins. So I went on a search and found your amazing recipe. Absolutely perfect! They taste like a regular bran raisin muffin and the texture is lovely. A keeper for sure! I love molasses in my bran muffins so I cut the brown sugar a little and added some molasses. Fantastic! Other friends didn’t even know they were gluten free.Thank you!
Jeanine says
yeah! So glad to hear that, Lesley! And how great of you to bake for her! Molasses – I’ll have to try that next time. This time I added a mashed banana, sometimes I add different dried fruit. Great base to tinker with, that’s for sure!
Sheileen says
Hi! I have recently found your website and have loved everything I have tried so far!! I think you have the best gf website out there! 🙂 I am in Calgary and am having troubles finding gf rice bran. Any recommendations where I might buy some? Thanks!!
Jeanine says
Thank you so much, Sheileen! I’m humbled!
I’ve bought rice bran by the box from Bulk Barn, but I know that Only Oats also sells a gluten free oat bran (also at Bulk Barn), which I actually like better than the rice bran. Works great! You’d never know they are gf!
Sheileen says
Thanks so much!! I just wanted to let you know that they don’t have either at Bulk Barn in Calgary, but I did find the oat bran at Lakeview Bakery (in case anyone else in Calgary is looking for it). Thanks again. 🙂
Nicole says
Jeanine… holy smokes. I have just had my mind blown by a bran muffin. These are TREMENDOUS, and I can eat gluten! (My son and husband, on the other hand…)
I had to make a couple minor substitutions – instead of flax, which I found mine had gone rancid, I used chia seeds (half the amount, so 1/4 cup instead of 1/2), and about 1/8 cup of regular milk to smooth out the batter just a smidge. I didn’t use raisins, but put a tiny bit of pumpkin pie spice in with the cinnamon.
Absolutely mind blowing. My teens were all over them and I’m still wanting to go back in and eat the whole tray.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. None of us knew gluten free could be so tasty, and even my son said he hated muffins before this because generally from the store, they’re bread-like and hard. These were like fluffy little bran cakes from heaven. Ha ha ha!
Thank you again. They were a snap to make and delicious to eat!
Lynne Lamarre says
Made today and they are delicious. Mine not as nice looking as your but still very acceptable. Thanks and will definitely try your other recipes.
Sheileen says
Hi Jeanine,
I’ve been making these for over a year now and we absolutely love them. Thanks so much!! My son is dairy, egg and gluten free, so I use non-dairy milk and a flax egg replacement. I was wondering if you’ve ever made a variation with banana to make a banana oat bran muffin? If not, any idea how I might do that?
Thanks so much!
Sheileen
Jeanine says
Hi Sheileen, thanks so much for the nice comment, and thanks for sharing how you substitute to make them egg and dairy free as well! Nice to know.
I haven’t played with making them banana bran muffins, but I think I would try to sub the eggs using banana – I believe you can use bananas as an egg replacer in baking… Now you’ve given me something to think about though. 🙂
Sheileen says
Thanks so much! I will try that and let you know if it turns out. I was also just thinking… any way to incorporate bran into your banana chocolate chip muffins? We make those a lot too, I was just trying to get more fibre into our diet. 🙂
Thanks again!!
Marisa Tingle says
hi! Just wanted to say thank you. I love this recipe! I too alway loved bran muffins and then struggled once we became gluten free. These are the best.
Grateful.
Marisa
Helen says
Hi Jeanine,
Can I sub white rice flour for the brown rice flour. Thanks
Jeanine says
Yes, shouldn’t be a problem!
Brenda Rochefort says
My husband made these for me this morning and they are simply amazing!
Nancy says
I just love your recipes – many many thanks! Couple of questions: Is there a substitute for the buttermilk? May I use oat milk? I have to go dairy free. Also, all I could find for flour these days is a gluten free mix with buckwheat – may I use that? I do not have rice bran but I do have some ground flax seed that has been in the back of the fridge for a few years!! (It smells okay). Sorry to seem woefully inadequate, just doing the best I can to access ingredients but it is quite a challenge at present (pandemic, of course). Thanks for your reply, in advance!
Nancy says
I see above that someone has already suggested that dairy substitute works… just wondered about the flour?
April says
I think the buckwheat could probably substitute for the sorghum (and maybe the rice?), but you would still need the tapioca (which could probably be substituted with corn starch or arrowroot flour). I use a dairy substitute, too, and it works fine! You can even make your own ‘buttermilk’ by adding a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (white vinegar or lemon juice might work, too) to your oat milk. If you have a good blender or food processor, you can make your own rice flour, too, btw. Just pop in your rice and blend until it looks like flour. Good luck!
Barbara says
I have made the muffins few times with great results. My husband is not gluten free but he loves them for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Every time I make them I think of you Jeanine.
Thank you for your gift of sharing!
The muffins are scrumptious!
Christine says
I can eat gluten but find gluten-free is much tolerable to my stomach. I love bran muffins and want to try this recipe. Can I use a gluten free flour that is a mix of the separate ingredients listed in the recipe (king arthur measure for measure gluten free flour)?
Jeanine Friesen says
Hi Christine! You’re welcome to try, but the recipe hasn’t been tested that way. For muffins, however, I think a blend would work well. If the blend already has xanthan gum, omit the amount listed in the recipe. Enjoy!
Gayle says
Hi, just wondering if you know how much fibre/fiber.. (sp?) is in 1 serving or 1 of these muffins? Thanks
Jeanine Friesen says
Sorry, Gayle, I do not.
Erika says
Thank you SO much for this recipe! We had them with salad for dinner last night and I forgot to take a picture because they all got scarfed! Even my gluten abled husband LOVED them!
Lois and Darryl says
My goodness, we love these muffins!! They are the best! Thank you for posting.
Seth says
I admit to being a bit skeptical when I found this but gave it a try this morning. OMG. These are absolutely incredible! The flavor (10.10) was exactly what I had been looking for, and the texture, while slightly softer and less chewy that my pre-GF bran muffin days, was a 9/10. This one is a keeper for sure. Thank you!
Sheryl says
Just took these out of the oven, and they look fabulous! Can’t wait to taste them! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Martha Davolt says
I am so impressed with these muffins. They are delicious. I’ve been trying out recipe after recipe, in search of a low sugar, while grain gf muffin. These are the best, so far.
I made them with half the sugar and added a little Stevia extract. Perfection.
Meg Raines says
I just made these muffins, and looks like I am a few years late to the party…but they are delicious! I didn’t have buttermilk so I used Greek yogurt mixed with oat milk, and substituted teff flour instead of brown rice flour. Delish!