That’s a great (and healthy!) muffin mix! Oats, bran, nuts, apples, and blueberries make for hearty texture and great flavor.
The issue you’re describing, dense or heavy muffins, is very common when baking with oat-based flours and bran. Oat flour, oat bran, and oatmeal contain no gluten, which means the batter lacks the elastic structure that traps air bubbles during baking.
Without enough structure, muffins rise less and feel heavy.
Incorporating some Whole Wheat Flour may help with the texture. You can also try increasing the baking powder in your recipe a bit, and beating the eggs in the recipe a little to add a lighter texture.
I appreciate your reply to add Whole Wheat Flour!! So I understand well, please let me know if I should ALSO add a little of Bob RedMill’s Vital Wheat Gluten Flour, which this package label said to add? Or is the Vital Wheat Gluten Flour itself a type of whole wheat flour? IF so, how much should be added?
Thank you so much for your guidance!
Vital wheat gluten is recommended mostly for yeast breads as it adds strength and elasticity to dough; Vital Wheat Gluten is made from wheat flour, but is not a whole wheat flour. It is concentrated gluten (protein) that has been separated from ground wheat flour.
A very small amount may be helpful in muffins (around 1/2 teaspoon or so per cup of flour) but too much may cause the muffins to be chewy instead of tender.
I appreciate this clearly written helpful page with recipes!
I was surprised not to see OATMEAL flour, which I thought is also a low net carb flour.
Even though I am not trying to lose weight as I am very thin, I try to watch sugar, sodium and fat due to poor family genes. I would like to add some variety to daily breakfast oatmeal and muesli. I have tried baking oat muffins with a combination of your brand’s oatmeal, oat bran (I love your oat bran!) and oat flour, mixed with nuts, apples and blueberries and very little sugar. While my baked muffins taste fine, they do not seem to be as airy or fluffy as the bakery ones?
Also, I love breads and would like to try bake my own with healthier flours and ingredients. All healthy bread recipes I see still incorporate regular flour. I even bought your brand’s Vital Wheat Gluten Flour, which some recipes recommend for “lightening” the bread and create a nice airy bread texture.
Thank you for guiding my healthy baking exploration!!