This is the Best Bran Muffins Recipe ever! Moist, packed with flavor and easy to make, this recipe starts with bran cereal and be prepped the night before!
It’s great to have classic muffin recipes that always turn out great, so make sure to try my Blueberry Muffins and my Banana Muffins too!
Bran Muffins Don’t Have To Be Boring!
Forget what you have always thought about Bran Muffins. Yep, let all that go. If you grew up in a house where Bran Muffins meant dry, tasteless, “healthy” muffins we’re about to push all that to the side and start fresh. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I won’t say these aren’t healthier than a chocolate chip muffin…they certainly have more protein and fiber which is awesome. BUT I won’t bog you down or try and to trick you into thinking they’re health food. Especially if you spread on some butter which I believe is a non-negotiable. Plus, the Nutrition Facts are there in plain site below the recipe for all to see.
They aren’t a bad option AT ALL. In fact, I feel confident serving these to my children for breakfast knowing that their bellies will be full because Bran Muffins are a rather hearty muffin option if we’re playing the comparison game.
But my long-winded point here is to forget anything you thought you knew about Bran Muffins and make these. You will not be disappointed. The texture is dense, but moist. The flavor is subtly sweet in the best way possible, and the addition of turbinado sugar on top adds the perfect crunch!
This Bran Muffin Recipe Is From the Cookbook Midwest Made!
This is one of the many fantastic recipes from the book Midwest Made by Shauna Sever. I became online friends with Shauna many years ago and she has knocked it out of the park with her books like Marshmallow Madness, Real Sweet, and Pure Vanilla. Midwest Made is her latest and it’s a cozy blanket of a book filled with food from my childhood.
There were so many recipes in this book that I wanted to feature, but I get asked SO frequently for a delicious Bran Muffin recipe, I knew it was the one I had to make first. And I was right. You guys are going to LOVE these muffins!
How Do You Make Bran Muffins?
This muffin recipe is ultra easy and you don’t need any special or fancy ingredients…no specific flours, or health-food-style ingredients. You make them all in one bowl, which is always a bonus and the “secret” bran ingredient is one you might not expect!
Do You Use Cereal In Bran Muffins?
The answer here is yes! Like I said, there are no fancy bran flour or bran meal in this recipe, it’s regular old bran cereal that you can easily (and cheaply) find in any supermarket! You might even have a box of it in your pantry that you need to use up and this is the PERFECT way to do so!
You could even use Raisin Bran and pick out the raisins before you crush the cereal. You can easily add the raisins back into the batter later if you would like to make a Raisin Bran Muffin! How good does that sound?
I simply pulverize the cereal in my blender or food processor. You could also use a zip-top bag and a rolling pin, just make sure you crush them up finely!
How To Measure the Cereal:
I’ve gotten this question many times in the comments to this recipe, so I want to edit this to add that you measure the 3 cups of cereal out, THEN crush it.
The recipe is written 3 cups bran flake cereal, finely crushed. Otherwise it would have been written 3 cups finely crushed cereal 🙂 Hope this helps clarify this recipe and other recipes moving forward!
This Bran Muffin Recipe Can Be Prepped the Night Before!
One of the things that I absolutely love about this recipe is that you can prep it the night before. You need to let the batter rest for at least 4 hours, but overnight works too! The cereal needs time to soften up and absorb the moisture.
Is the Batter Supposed To Be THAT Thick?
Yep! After the batter rests it will be very thick. When you scoop it into your muffin tins it will be like a fluffy ice cream! And go ahead and fill those muffin tins up…while the batter rises while it bakes it doesn’t “spill” over like a traditional muffin. It puffs up and creates a crackly texture, which along with the turbinado sugar creates a lovely crunchy top.
What Else Can I Add To Bran Muffins?
This is a recipe begging for add-ins, so get creative! Here are a few starter ideas and I would add about a cup of any of these:
- Raisins
- Fresh Fruits like blueberries, diced apples, or raspberries
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Chocolate Chips
Looking For More Muffins Recipes? Try These:
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Bran Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Chilling Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 muffins 1x
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Breakfast
Description
Moist, flavor-packed bran muffins are a classic and this recipe is the best ever! They’re soft in the middle and crunchy on top, filled with subtle sweetness and spice.
Ingredients
- 3 cups bran flake cereal, finely crushed (*see note)
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Combine the cereal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into a large bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to blend well. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. The batter will become very thick.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line your muffin tin with 10 paper liners and set aside.
- Divide the batter evenly among the liners, filling them completely. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in tin for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Measure 3 cups of the the Bran Cereal and THEN crush it. You won’t have a total of 3 cups of crushed cereal. The measurement is for pre-crushed.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 254
- Sugar: 18.1 g
- Sodium: 398.1 mg
- Fat: 9.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.6 g
- Fiber: 1.7 g
- Protein: 4.5 g
- Cholesterol: 21.3 mg
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Like many of the other commentors, I also used three cups of crushed bran cereal. I’m leaving one star for the author not going back and editing her recipe to clarify after seeing that so many people were making the same mistake.
Hi! In the post it’s specified to crush the cereal after measuring it 🙂 Sorry you missed that! I just added a note in the recipe card as well for those who missed it in the post above. Thanks for your feedback!
I tried this recipe along with other jbran muffin recipes and this one was tops! Moist, delicious. I did substitute applesause for oil, and I added what my family likes. Nuts to some , chips to others. They loved them. So moist. Great recipe I will keep.
Why only 10 muffins, my muffin tins come in 6 or 12? Couldn’t something be added to make up the other 2? LOL
I made these exactly as written. They came out perfectly. I used an ice cream scoop to put them in the pan. Made exactly 10 and perfectly shaped. Love how the sugar on top added crunch. MIcrowaved one briefly on defrost mode the next morning. It was still moist and warm. Will definitively make again.
This might be a dumb question but are you supposed to crush the cereal before or after measuring out 3 cups?
The cereal is measured before it’s crushed 🙂
This recipe was a triumph in the face of adversity!
We very suddenly ran into the realization that we hadn’t gone for groceries, and were low on… everything. The store had already closed, and would be closed the next day for Canada day, and there was nothing for breakfast! Naturally, it was muffin time.
The first issue came up with buttermilk – I’m used to substituting with milk and lemon juice, but found that we had no lemon! Uh oh. Some hasty googling later, and I was using up the last of a container of sour cream. No problem, right?
1/3 cup of oil… we were entirely out of oil. It was on the grocery list that was still waiting patiently to be dealt with. More hasty googling – a bit frantic this time – and applesauce went into the mix.
Can you guess the next issue? I should have! No eggs! Flax egg , it is! At this point I feel like I’m just throwing random things in my kitchen into the bowl!
I turn on the oven, and realize…. the batter has to sit for at least 4 hours. It’s already 9:30pm, and I’m not staying up past midnight for muffins! Lacking plastic wrap(also on the list), the mix went into a tupperware container, and into the fridge. For what turned out to be 14 hours. WHOOPS.
You’d think at this point it would be smooth sailing, BUT NO! Where are my muffin tins? I checked every cupboard, and behind every appliance, and they remained stubbornly missing. OKAY, that’s FINE, one more substitution! No more muffins! Now it’s a bran loaf!
The mix went into the loaf pan, and into the oven for what ended up being about 40 minutes before the hangry caught up with me and I hit a “good enough” point of the toothpick coming out… well, mostly clean.
And after all that struggle, it was WORTH IT. The bran loaf is delicious. My next hardship is going to be making sure we don’t eat it all today so that there’s breakfast for tomorrow, too!
Oh my gosh what an experience!!! But I’m SO glad it all worked out in the end!
I just made these but I didn’t read all these comments before – I measured 3 cups of bran AFTER I crushed them… probably why my muffins were so dry and crumbly. Oh well – guess I’ll have to bake again!
Could these muffins be frozen?
I did the same thing! Next time, I’ll just measure 3 cups of cereal and THEN crush it. Duh!
Turned out beautiful. I didnt fridge it first though.
Do you have to refrigerate before baking? I don;t see the reason. I wanted to bake them right away. Thanks
So nice to prep the night before. These muffins were delicious with diced apples added. I want to try adding peaches next.