Have you see the movie Inside Out yet? Tony and I saw it Saturday evening and absolutely loved it. I have to say I was really impressed with the storyline; the movie was a bit sad (for a kid’s movie) but I would still recommend it in a heartbeat. I laughed, cried, and was never bored.
Anyway what’s on your agenda this week? Me: I’m just getting back to Chicago after spending time in Alabama and am feeling a little overwhelmed. Life gets that way sometimes, especially with a move on the horizon and a few big blog projects. I apologize if I haven’t gotten back to you via email. My inbox is overflowing and it makes me panic like no other. Please know that I’m slowly working my way through it.
In times like these, it’s best to be prepared with both a big to-do list and some make ahead snacks + meals. Good thing I have a giant batch of these muffins sitting in my freezer.
My mom got me addicted to bran muffins a few years back. Every few months I go on a bran binge and make muffins nonstop with all my favorite seasonal flavors. Remember my banana and pumpkin protein versions? If you don’t, you better get on it. These muffins just happen to be my latest creation with a seasonal twist: peaches and blackberries.
Wouldn’t you agree that blackberries continue to be one of the most underrated berries out there? That changes, starting NOW. I’m convinced you’re going to love the addicting peach-blackberry combo.
Oh and the chai spices! I can’t forget to mention them. I really wanted to call these Chai-Spiced Oat Bran Muffins but then I added BOTH blackberries & peaches. Nevertheless, please get on the chai train with me because the flavor is undeniably EPIC in these muffs. I swear you don’t need any special, just a few good spices to make them taste a hint like a warm chai tea. I’m in love and I think you will be too. If you’re not a fan of chai, just skip all the spices and stick with the cinnamon.
Lastly, making these vegan was a breeze thanks to the flaxseed meal and chia seeds. Even if you aren’t vegan, an egg just isn’t necessary here. The nutritional benefits of chia and flax seeds are quite extraordinary; we’re talking healthy fats, high omega-3s, fiber and protein! All the good trendy things. You know me.
How to serve these oat bran muffins:
I personally love eating these cold, straight from the fridge with a bit of peanut butter and a tall glass of almond milk. They’re also perfect when warmed up; I might be biased but I do think they taste a bit like a peach cobbler.
If you make these, I’d love to see a photo! Simply use #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram so we can be baking buds. xo!
Blackberry Peach Oat Bran Muffins with Chia + Flax {vegan & gluten free}
Healthy oat bran muffins loaded with fresh juicy peaches, blackberries and an addicting chai-cinnamon spice. Flax and chia seeds are added to boost nutrition, plus they’re vegan and gluten free!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (olive oil also works)
- 1 1/4 cups oat flour (can also use white whole wheat if not GF)
- 3/4 cup oat bran
- 2/3 cup flaxseed meal
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 cup diced peaches (about 1 medium peach)
- 1 cup blackberries, cut in half if they are large
- OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 cup muffin pan with muffins liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray. This is to ensure the muffins do not stick! Trust me on this one.
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In a large bowl, add maple syrup, chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla, applesauce and coconut oil; stir to combine and let sit for at least 5-10 minutes to allow the chia seeds to soak and expand a bit.
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In a separate medium bowl, add oat flour, oat bran, flaxseed meal, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Next add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Gently fold in diced peaches and blackberries. Next fold in walnuts, if desired.
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Evenly divide batter among prepared muffin liners, smoothing out the tops if necessary. Bake for 17-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 12 muffins.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition does not include walnuts/pecans because they are optional. I do highly recommend them though because they add a nice little crunch!
36 comments
gorgeous photos! These looks amazing. I am digging the peach/berry combo so much.
I saw Inside Out too and loved it. I think it is so important to teach kids the language of feelings and emotions. As a school psychologist I was so happy to see this 🙂
Yes yes yes! I love muffins, and these look like they have so much flavor and texture! Pinned!
Oh my wow, these look sooooo good! I want one as I am chugging my coffee, trying to get a million things done before my little guy gets up. Do you deliver? I love that you made these gluten free with no refined sugar. MY HERO!!!! I definitely need to try these!
I adore blackberries, I’ve been putting them in everything! These muffins look wonderful, I will have to hop on the bran muffin train. Beautiful pictures too 🙂
These look so good–I can’t believe they’re egg free! I’ll definitely look into this–I have a huge batch of blackberries at home that need some love!
Drooling!! Can’t wait to try this one out 🙂
I like to eat a more-or-less granola form of these muffins, but perhaps it’s time for me to bust out the muffin tin and give this a recipe a go!
I thought Inside Out was super cute as well, but then again I’m kind of biased towards all Pixar movies 😛 And people always laugh when I tell them how much I love bran muffins, but they just don’t know what they’re missing.
Bran muffins are the best and adding summer fruit is a genius idea. They look amazing!
And I know, you are crazy busy! I’ve been following your travels and randomness on Snapchat over the past couple of weeks. You are freakin’ hilarious! That story about the tea tree oil exploding in your suitcase? Aw man, I feel for ya.
My these look amazing, what a delicious treat! Good luck with your move!
Inside out was so cute!! It probably would have been even better if I had one of these muffins while I was watching!!
YUM, these look gorgeous! Using fresh, super juicy fruit and spices is such a good way to make bran muffins a little more interesting, and I love that they are so healthy too! No guilt here!! 🙂
Oh my god these muffins look amazing. I love a healthy blueberry muffin and often make them but I never would have thought to add juicy peaches before. Thanks for the yummy idea.
I saw Inside Out too and felt a range of emotions throughout as well! Overall, I thought it was well done and sweet. These muffins look fab and I love that they incorporate chia seeds.
Wow, beautiful photos! These muffins looks great!
Oh Monique these look awesome! Love the nutrition content, love the addition of chai spices! You are just da bomb. I will gladly be your baking buddy! 😉
blackberries are the best berries around IMO! love this recipe. i bought a big ol basket of peaches on the weekend and was hoping to find a baking recipe to use some of them in 🙂
These look AMAZING, lady! LOVE.
I almost got chased with a broom for admitting I liked bran muffins as a kid over the chocolate filled ones- These look amazing! Blackberries ABE peaches? Geebuz.
Yay! I love your pumpkin oat bran muffins and happy you made a vegan version! I think this would be good with subbing the oat flour with spelt. Thanks!
A must try for me…love a healthy eating lifestyle and blueberries…can’t wait!!
I made these muffins with Italian prune plums instead of peaches and blueberries. The flavor is great but I ended up with a lot more batter than 12 muffins worth. I made 17 muffins with this recipe. I had to bake these for over 25 minutes but I am at a higher altitude so that may be the reason. Best vegan muffins I’ve had yet!
Yum!!! They are big muffins 🙂
Am I the only guy who made these? 🙂 Looks like I’m in good company! My first attempt at baking muffins and they were awesome! Baking is easy! Used blueberries instead of blackberries. Was looking for something healthy without a bunch of sugar, I’m vegan and will be making these again. You are beautiful too Monique so will love you just a little bit whenever I make these! Hope to see more wonderful vegan recipes too and I’ll definitely bake them! 🙂
I love your muffin recipes. Can’t wait to make these for the end of summer! But what is the flaxseed for in this recipe and can u replace it with anything? I have some, but not that much and like to save it for flax eggs. Plus I’m trying to avoid too grainy a texture between that and the oats and chia. I love muffins like that but my gf is a bit more picky with her vegan baked goods.
Delicious bran muffin! I used frozen and thawed sweet dark cherries and blueberries. Only used 1/3 cup of maple syrup and they were sweet enough for me with my fruit selection. Baked them in silicone muffin liners and did not spray them. Allowed them to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing them and they came out perfectly clean with a little encouragement 🙂 Got 16 muffins instead of 12…bonus! I am noticing a trend…I end up making one of your muffin recipes for meal prep each week! Keep ’em comin’! Thanks!
Yummm dark cherries + blueberries sound delicious! So glad you’re loving the muffin recipes – they’re some of my absolute favorites!!
Erica (see her reply above) and I seem to have similar experiences. My advice based on making these wonderful breakfast treats twice, follows. I offered this up before reading Erica’s comment of a year ago.
Important tips: DON’T spray muffin-cup inserts if you use parchment liners from Paper Chef, which I personally favor because of the price, which varies from venue to venue ($1.99 for 60 at Target), and ease of muffin release. These are coated with silicone and supposedly safe because they don’t react with food. A baking spray or oil spray will cause the liner to peel away from your baked muffin prematurely and make your muffins soggy.
After baking, cooling the muffins in the pan for five minutes (even 20!) is important. You want them to be firm but not overcooked, and they will continue to bake on the rack. I usually cool mine for 10-20 minutes and then let them cool entirely on a rack before removing the parchment-paper inserts and storing the muffins in a Ziploc freezer bag, which I use even if I just store the confections in the refrigerator.
If you can’t tolerate oat bran, substitute rolled oats–labeled gluten-free or, if you’re not gluten-intolerant, regular old fashioned.
Make SURE that you have all ingredients, none overripe or outdated, at the ready. Once you rinse blackberries, they will not remain firm, even if you pat them dry with and cradle them in paper towels and store them in an airtight jar in the fridge. The peaches available to us in Florida this season, organic and conventional, have gone moldy very quickly.
These are great-tasting, impressively nutritious, muffins if you make them correctly and check all ingredients carefully before you invest effort and money.
Great tips here! Glad you enjoyed these 🙂
Wow I’m so impressed that such a healthy muffin is so tasty! Most of all, texture is on point too! Admittedly, I made a lot of substitutions based on what I had on hand. I used whole wheat flour and old fashioned oats instead of oat flour and oat bran. I also mashed up 1/2 cup banana instead of the applesauce. I figured that added sweetness so I only used a little over 1/3 cup maple syrup. But the basics of this recipe remained the same and it worked very well! Thanks for giving me a quick, healthy breakfast option this week! So nutritious during pregnancy!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Such a great, nourishing breakfast 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have applesauce so I made a peach puree with an extra peach, I also didn’t have oat flour so I used whole wheat pastry flour, and I didn’t have blackberries so I used blueberries – all this to say, this recipe is versatile! Perfectly sweet (not too much) and wonderfully moist! Makes a great breakfast or afternoon pick me up! Monique always delivers!
Perfect! I’m glad those swaps worked out well 🙂
These turned out SO well!!! I made a few substitutions:
-didn’t have oat bran so I replaced it 1:1 with almond meal
-used blueberries instead of blackberries
-used only 1/3 cup maple syrup
-didn’t have ground cloves so I replaced it with a bit of garam masala and nutmeg
They are amazing!! Thank you!!
I’m glad that worked out well! Such a great snack.
This was a fail for me. I didn’t have chia or flaxseed on hand, so I threw in an egg as a substitute (even though Monique specifically says that if you don’t have those ingredients, an egg isn’t necessary, lol). I also baked this as a loaf instead of as muffins, which I would not recommend. The loaf wouldn’t bake all the way through – it was stodgy and mushy at the bottom. Learn from my error! The flavor of the bread was great, however. Next time I will likely try no fruit or different fruit, but the peach/berry combo was nice.