📖 Wheat Germ Muffins

Close up of a full wheat germ muffin on a white serving plate with a buttered muffin in the foreground.

5 from 17 votes

Nourishing and flavorful, these wheat germ muffins are great as an easy breakfast or filling snack. Enjoy warm or cool, with or without butter, honey, or jam!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: Servings

Calories: 201kcal

Author: Meredith

Equipment

Ingredients

1 large egg
⅓ Cup vegetable or canola oil
1 Cup unsweetened applesauce
½ Cup milk of choice (I use skim or 2% dairy milk)
½ Cup brown sugar (light or dark)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Cup wheat germ
1 Cup all-purpose flour
½ Cup whole wheat flour
turbinado sugar for topping batter in tins

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425°F.
Beat the egg with the oil, applesauce, milk, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Slowly add in the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, wheat germ, all-purpose flour, and whole wheat flour, mixing until just combined and a batter is formed (being careful not to over-mix. A few lumps are ok!)
Divide the batter between 12 standard-sized muffin tins.
Add a generous sprinkle of turbinado sugar to the top of each muffin.
Bake the wheat germ muffins for 15-17 minutes, until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (a few crumbs on the toothpick are ok).
Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Video

Notes

Recipe Variations and Substitutions

Replace the whole wheat flour. Substitute whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour if you don’t have whole wheat flour on hand (or if you just prefer to use all white flour). You’ll miss out on some of the extra texture whole wheat flour provides, but the recipe will still turn out perfectly fine without it.
Add a splash of vanilla extract. For added depth of flavor, feel free to add 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Add mix-ins. While I haven’t tested this recipe with different mix-ins, I think you could add up to 1 cup of flavor additions, such as blueberries, raspberries, or chocolate chips. Blueberry wheat germ muffins are commonly found at coffee shops and bakeries!

Expert Tips

Mix until just combined. Overmixing muffin batter can result in tough, dense muffins. Stop mixing as soon as the dry ingredients are fully incorporated into the wet ingredients. Remember, small lumps are ok! They’ll dissolve during baking.

Use a large cookie scoop to portion the muffin batter into the muffin pan. A large cookie scoop is the perfect size to spoon batter into standard size muffin tins.

Where to find wheat germ. Wheat germ can generally be found in the baking aisle of your local grocery store. It may also be located in the cereal aisle (check near the oatmeal!), in the bulk foods section, or with natural and organic foods. You can also purchase it online.

Nutrition