Grape Nuts Muffins With Cranberries (Vegan)

These Grape Nuts Muffins With Cranberries are sweet, tart and have a delicious crunch thanks to the cereal. The hearty muffins are perfect for breakfast, snack, or dessert.

These muffins came about when I had a box of Grape Nuts cereal and was wondering if I could use them in a recipe. While Grape Nuts can be part of a nutritious breakfast, I wanted to use them in another way.

Muffins were the perfect choice! Grape Nuts are healthy and delicious and are a great way to give muffins a crunchy texture.

I like making these Grape Nuts Muffins with Craisins (dried and sweetened cranberries). If you want to use fresh cranberries, you would need to increase the amount of sugar to about 1 cup of sugar as they are very tart.

Making the Grape Nuts Muffins

To start, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a muffin pan but spraying with non-stick oil spray. Set it aside while you gather all of your ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Make sure you are using ripe bananas.

Add the non-dairy milk, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, oil, and sugar to the mashed bananas and stir with a fork to combine. You can also whisk it. I use unsweetened soy milk or oat milk, but almond milk would work well too.

Next, add the dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder and salt) to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Do not over mix as this will make the muffins too dense.

Fold in the Craisins and Grape Nuts with a rubber spatula.

Fill the muffin tin about ⅔ full. Bake in the preheated oven for about 23 minutes.

Take the muffins out of the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 3 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Will the Cereal Get Soggy?

When I first tried out these muffins, I was worried that the Grape Nuts would get soggy. I baked a regular muffin pan full as well as a partial mini-muffin pan full so the batter wouldn't sit. The Grape Nuts were nice and crunchy.

The second batch I made I let the batter sit for about 30 minutes to see if the Grape Nuts would become soft and soggy. Surprisingly, they were still crunchy.

FAQ

Can I use brown sugar or coconut sugar instead of white sugar?

I haven't tried it but either of those sugars would work fine.

Can these muffins be made with whole wheat flour?

Yes. If you want to include more whole grains in these muffins, you can use a mixture of whole wheat flour and white flour. I'd try for a 50/50 split.

What's the best type of oil to use in this recipe?

Vegetable oil, sunflower oil or canola oil work great as they are very neutral oils with little flavor. You can also use coconut oil but it will give the muffins a light coconut flavor.

Don't these muffins need a flax egg or other egg replacer?

No, there's no flax needed for these yummy muffins.

Can I sub out the oil?

You can substitute the oil for unsweetened applesauce but it will affect the texture a bit.

Summary

These Grape Nuts Muffins with Cranberries are a quick and easy recipe! These flavorful muffins are perfect for a vegan brunch or a hearty breakfast. My kids also love them as an afternoon snack.

Looking for other vegan muffin and bread recipes? Check out:

• Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Vegan Muffins
• The Best Lemon Blueberry Vegan Muffins
• Easy Vegan Banana Bread With Pears