Healthy Chocolate Wheat Bran Muffins! Perfect for a quick breakfast, a grab-and-go snack, or a kid-friendly treat, these muffins deliver texture, depth, and a comforting chocolate kiss in every bite.
These delicious Healthy Chocolate Wheat Bran Muffins are a delightful powerhouse of wholesome ingredients and rich flavor. Crafted with hearty whole wheat flour and wheat bran, they bring a nourishing backbone that keeps you fueled for the day, while studded chocolate chips satisfy your sweet tooth. Expect a moist, tender crumb and a light sweetness that balances cocoa notes without overpowering the wheat-forward goodness.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
These chocolatey muffins are so delicious that they disappear from the kitchen in a flash. The kids devoured them, begging for one more as soon as the plate hit the counter, and Dad chimes in with a triumphant verdict after polishing off three: a must-have for weekly rotation.
With a soft, moist center and a chocolatey edge, these muffins strike the perfect balance between indulgence and everyday nourishment. They’re easy to bake, kid-approved, and crafted to satisfy cravings without steering you away from your wellness goals.
Give this recipe a try, and you’ll add a cozy, crowd-pleasing favorite to your baking repertoire.
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: These Healthy Chocolate Wheat Bran Muffins are healthy and delicious, filled with whole wheat flour, wheat bran, chocolatey goodness and chocolate chips. They are moist, lightly sweet, and have fantastic texture.
- Sweetness: These muffins are lightly sweet.
- Coconut Sugar: We used coconut sugar, but other dry sugars like date sugar, maple sugar or other dry sugars will work great in this recipe.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips: The vegan chocolate chips are optional, but they do add extra sweetness and moisture. You can leave them out and the muffins will still be very yummy but less sweet. The muffins will still be perfectly moist.
- Tahini: The tahini is optional, but it is a natural complement to chocolate. Be sure to use a ‘runny’ tahini, not a thick and clumpy tahini. This will help evenly distribute the tahini throughout the batter.
- Instant Coffee/Freeze-Dried Coffee: The instant coffee is optional. It does bring out a more intense chocolate flavor. Do not use regular coffee. Regular coffee will not work and will create a gritty texture. Do not used brewed coffee unless you plan to scale back on an equal portion of plant milk.
- Oven Temperature Switch: Start the oven at 400F for the first 7 minutes, this allows the muffins to quickly crest and puff up creating that beautiful muffin dome.
- Measuring Flour: Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off. Do not pack it in and do not scoop it in. Do the same with the wheat bran.
- Wheat Bran Substitutions: We have not tested any substitutions for the wheat bran. This recipe was specifically created to use wheat bran.
- Whole Wheat Flour Substitutions: These muffins were specifically designed to use whole wheat flour and wheat bran. We do not have any substitutions to offer.
- Gluten Free: This recipe is not gluten free. There are no substitutions to offer to make them gluten free.
- Resting the Muffins before Baking: Resting the muffin batter for at least 5 minutes (up to 10 minutes) before baking allows the flour to fully hydrate. This makes for a tender crumb.
- Cookie Scoop or Ice Cream Scoop: If you have a medium-sized cookie scoop or a small ice cream scoop, use that to fill the muffin liners. Otherwise, after filling the batter, if the tops look a tad bit “choppy”, then try to smooth out the tops a little by using a warm, wet spoon to avoid the choppy peaks and valleys that may occur when dropping batter with a spoon as the batter is thick. This is not required, but it does help the muffins look prettier and rounder when using a spoon to smooth out the muffins. In other words, the muffins will rise, but they will keep pretty much the same form coming out of the oven as when you put them in the oven.
- Health Benefits of Wheat Bran: Wheat bran is the nutrient-dense, hard outer layer of the wheat kernel, separated during the milling process. It is exceptionally high in insoluble fiber and packed with nutrients like magnesium, selenium, phosphorus, and iron. Often used to boost fiber intake, it has a light, flaky texture and a mild, sweet-nutty flavor. It can also help manage blood sugar, reduce cholesterol, support heart health, and aids in relieving constipation.
- Wheat Bran Helps Relieve Constipation: Wheat bran relieves constipation by increasing stool water content making it easier to pass. It is highly effective. Because of wheat bran’s effectiveness it promotes the growth of bifidobacterium, a healthy bacteria found in the gut which is linked to a decreased risk of colon cancer.
- Muffin Paper Liners: We used natural cupcake liners.
- Muffins Sticking to Liners: Because we do not use oil on the Whole Food Plant Based Diet, the muffins will slightly stick to the paper liners after baking; however, the longer you wait to eat them (several hours), the less they will stick. They don’t stick enough to be concerned, but we do want you to know that they can stick and you will lose a tiny bit of the muffin to the liner.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days at room temperature. Store in a covered air-tight container.
These muffins freeze well.
Pantry Products:
- Whole Wheat Flour: We used Sunrise Flour Mill Organic Heritage Whole Wheat Flour. Feel free to use your favorite whole wheat flour.
- Wheat Bran: We used Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran. Feel free to use your favorite wheat bran.
- Tahini: We used Ziyad Premium Tahini (Sesame Paste). Feel free to use your favorite brand of tahini.
- Unsweetened Cocoa (Cacao) Powder: We used Navitas Organic Cacao Powder. Feel free to use your favorite unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips: We used Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks and Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips in separate kitchen trials. You can use your favorite dark or semi-sweet vegan chocolate or mini or regular-sized chocolate chips.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Muffin tin (holds 12 regular-sized muffins)
- Paper muffin liners
- Medium-sized cookie scoop (optional)
If you try these delicious muffins, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Healthy Chocolate Wheat Bran Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 19-21 Minutes
- Total Time: 35 Minutes
- Yield: 12 Muffins 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These delicious Healthy Chocolate Wheat Bran Muffins are a delightful powerhouse of wholesome ingredients and rich flavor.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups organic whole wheat flour *
- 1 cup wheat bran *
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or cacao powder) *
- ½ cup coconut sugar (or other dry sugar) *
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ to 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional) *
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Wet Ingredients:
- ½ cup + 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup unsweetened plain plant milk
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon tahini (optional) *
Optional Other Ingredients:
- 1 cup vegan mini chocolate chips, divided *
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, center rack.
- Line the muffin tin with 12 paper liners, set aside.
- Place the all the Dry Ingredients into a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine.
- Add all the Wet Ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly by hand to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Stir in the ¾ cup mini chocolate chips, reserving ¼ cup for decorating the tops.
- Carefully and evenly spoon the batter into the paper-lined muffin tin up to the top.
- If needed, smooth out the tops with a wet, warm spoon.
- Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining chocolate chips. Slightly press the chocolate chips into the batter to adhere.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes (up to 10 minutes) on the counter.
- Place in a 400 F preheated oven for 7 minutes, then after 7 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 350 F for 12 to 13 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins and move them to a cooling rack. Allow to cool for 30 to 45 minutes on the cooling rack, then enjoy! Store at room temperature in an air-tight container.
Notes
Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Servings: Makes 12 regular-sized muffins
Nutritional Facts: Without the optional chocolate chips – Calories: 154 Fat: 2g Carbs: 35.9g Protein: 3.8g
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