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Weight Watchers Recipe of the Day: Low-Fat Banana Bran Muffins
A while back, I joined a small group of bloggers devoting the first Friday of each month to the recipes of Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa).
I adapted these low fat banana bran muffins from a recipe in Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again (affiliate link).
You can also find the original recipe on the Food Network.
Ingredients
- Unprocessed bran
- Buttermilk
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Unsulfured molasses
- Orange zest
- Vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Raisins
- Banana
- Chopped walnuts
How to Make Chunky Low-Fat Banana Bran Muffins, Step-by-Step
Step 1: Gather and prepare all ingredients. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F degrees. Line a 6-cup muffin tin (affiliate link) with paper liners and set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the bran and buttermilk and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the butter, brown sugar, egg, molasses, orange zest, vanilla and salt until well blended.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda until well combined.
Step 4: Add the flour mixture to the buttermilk mixture and stir just until combined. Don’t over mix of your muffins will be tough! Gently fold in the bananas, raisins and walnuts with a spatula.
Step 5: With an ice cream scoop (affiliate link) or large spoon, evenly divide the batter among the six muffin cups, filling them until full.
Step 6: Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 7: Remove from the oven and place the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool. Let the muffins cool completely in the pan. Once cool, gently remove them to a plate.
How Many Calories and WW Points in Low-Fat Banana Bran Muffins?
According to my calculations, each of these bran muffins has about 225 calories.
To see your WW Points for this recipe, track it in the WW App!
(You must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)
9 SmartPoints (Green plan)
8 SmartPoints (Blue plan)
8 SmartPoints (Purple plan)
6 PointsPlus (Old plan)
Recipe Notes
A girl of unusual tastes, I’ve loved bran muffins for as long as I can remember. So, it’s no surprise that I love these too.
Moist, dense and flavorful with chunks of nuts, raisins, and banana, the flavors of orange zest and molasses really came through.
I made a quarter batch, enough batter for 6 muffins. And to shave a few calories, I cut back on the chunky additions.
If you’re not crazy about bran or molasses, you’d probably be better off trying a different recipe.
I still like the old bran muffin recipe from the back of the Kellogg’s bran cereal box too!
Served with a little yogurt and fruit, it made for a deliciously sweet and satisfying breakfast.
The is definitely the kind of moist, dense, fiber-rich muffin that will keep you full for a while.
If you’ve made these Banana Bran Muffins, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Ina’s Chunky Low Fat Banana Bran Muffins (Small Batch)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unprocesed bran
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup raisins, plumped in warm water and then drained well, if dry
- 1/2 cup large-diced bananas (1/2 large banana)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- Line 6 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, combine the bran and buttermilk and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the butter, brown sugar, egg, molasses, orange zest, vanilla and salt until well blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the buttermilk mixture and stir just until combined. Don’t over mix it or your muffins will be tough! Gently fold in the bananas, raisins and walnuts with a rubber spatula (affiliate link).
- With an ice cream scoop (affiliate link) or large spoon, evenly divide the batter among the six muffin cups, filling them till full.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and place the muffin tin on a rack to cool. Let the muffins cool in the pans. When cool, gently remove them to a plate.
Notes
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.) 9 SmartPoints (Green plan) 8 SmartPoints (Blue plan) 8 SmartPoints (Purple plan) 6 PointsPlus (Old plan) Moist, dense and flavorful with chunks of nuts, raisins, and banana, the flavors of orange zest and molasses really came through. I made a quarter batch, enough batter for 6 muffins. And to shave a few calories, I cut back on the chunky additions.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Source: adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again (affiliate link) by Ina Garten
