Pumpkin Spice Oat Bran Muffins [Gluten-Free]

These muffins are like a cross between pumpkin bread and bran muffins: they’re dense, tender, moist, made with both pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices, and studded with plump, juicy raisins. The use of oat flour and oat bran keeps these muffins entirely gluten-free and packed full of fiber + protein! 

Comin’ in HOT with my first pumpkin recipe of the season!

These muffins are my current everything: they’re hearty + dense like a good bran muffin should be,  full of pumpkin spice, and absolutely INSANE with a smear of butter and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup. 

They’re totally perfect for a weekend brunch, but I’m secretly loving them for an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

And, while we still technically have a week left before it’s fall (it’s currently in the mid 80’s here in New England…not sweater weather AT ALL), the flavor of these muffins is just calling to me right now, so I decided not to fight it. 

Because I’m a total pumpkin snob (it’s not one of my best qualities, but none of us are perfect, ya know?) I always prefer to make my own pumpkin puree for fall baking. To me, the taste difference is worth the few extra minutes of effort. If making your own pumpkin puree (butternut squash works well, too!) isn’t in the cards for you, organic canned pumpkin puree is totally fine: just be sure to grab a can that isn’t already sweetened or spiced. 

The real star of the show here is oats, in the form of both oat flour and oat bran. The oat bran gives the muffins their dense, textured, undeniably bran muffin consistency (I grabbed a bag on amazon <– affiliate link, but you can find it in most grocery stores, too); oat flour is made right at home by grinding rolled oats in your food processor or blender for a few seconds until they’re a whole grain flour consistency.

Could you use whole wheat flour and wheat bran here instead? Absolutely. Obviously, the muffins wouldn’t be gluten free anymore, but you’d still have muffins full of whole grain goodness. So, if you find it easier to source whole wheat flour + wheat bran over oats and oat bran, go for it! 

Let’s chat about raisins for a quick second. Are you into them? Do you think they’re sweet, juicy, tender little nuggets of love? Or are you a raisin hater? I feel like people only dislike them because they were scarred by hard, dried up, stick-to-your-teeth raisins in the bottom of cereal boxes as kids. Good, fresh, plump, sweet raisins are too perfect for me to even imagine a person not liking them. So I won’t. 

But, if you happen to be raisin-phobic, fear not: chocolate chips or nuts would work well in place of them, and you’d still have a tender, moist, hearty pumpkin bran muffin if you choose to leave them out entirely.

The best part about these muffins is that they’re made in 1-bowl in literally 30 minutes flat. You could even make the batter right in the bowl of your food processor after you grind the oats into flour: just dump all the ingredients right on top of your freshly ground oat flour and pulse to combine.

I seriously can’t get over the texture of these muffins. They are definitely a very rustic, humble looking muffin (read: they’re pretty ugly, but I’m cool with it), but the combination of pumpkin spice, sweet raisins, and super dense, moist center with a textured crumb from the oat bran is so satisfying.

I hope you’ll love it, too. 

If you’re a bran muffin lover, grab yourself some oat bran and let’s make some healthy homemade Pumpkin Spice Oat Bran Muffins! 

If you make this recipe, let me know how it turns out by leaving comment below, or taking a picture and sharing it with me on Instagram! I love seeing my recipes in your kitchen! 

Pumpkin Spice Oat Bran Muffins [Gluten-Free]

2018-09-15 10:35:45

Serves 12

These muffins are like a cross between pumpkin bread and bran muffins: they're dense, tender, moist, made with both pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices, and studded with plump, juicy raisins. The use of oat flour and oat bran keeps these muffins entirely gluten-free and packed full of fiber + protein! 

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Total Time

30 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. 1 cup pumpkin pureé
2. 1 cup milk of choice (unsweetened almond, coconut, cow's, etc)
3. 2 large eggs
4. 1/2 cup maple syrup
5. 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 2 cups rolled oats (to yield 2 cups oat flour)
8. 1 cup oat bran
9. 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice*
10. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
11. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
12. 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
13. 1/2 cup raisins (can sub chocolate chips, walnuts, pecans, etc)

Instructions

1. 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease well with oil.
2. 2. Put all wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, maple syrup, oil, vanilla) into a mixing bowl and whisk to fully combine.
3. 3. Place oats into the bowl of a food processor or blender, and pulse/blend on high for 10-20 seconds, until oats have reached the consistency of a whole grain flour. Alternately, 2 cups of oat flour or whole wheat flour may be used in place of the homemade oat flour.
4. 4. Add oat flour and all remaining ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir well to fully combine. Divide batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups, filling each fully to the top (I found using a 1/2 cup dry measuring cup portioned them out perfectly).
5. 5. Bake muffins for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and fully cooked through. Remove muffins from tin and let cool on a cooling rack before eating warm (preferably with butter) or let cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Muffins can also be frozen for up to 2 months.

Notes

1. *If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can use: 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon cloves for the 1 Tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice called for in this recipe.

By Chelsea Colbathh

Baked Greens https://www.bakedgreens.com/