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
Want To Save This Recipe?
Oh yeah, added a cup of raisins and a cup of walnuts. Would have added apple chunks but we are out of apples.
Just made a batch. Substituted whole wheat flour for all purpose. Gourmet yogurt for buttermilk dark brown sugar for light brown, added 2 eggs not one and butter for oil. Coffee sugar (I’m in Namibia) for turbinado. See soon. Oh yeah we are a mike high here.
Did not like these at all. I was trying to use up some bran flakes, which is why I tried this recipe. But it was a firm NO; sorry, but I didn’t even keep them. I will stick with my excellent tried and true recipe that uses wheat bran.
I want to add blueberries for some natural sweetness—should I do that before it sits or right before baking? If I’m using frozen blueberries should I thaw them first?
fore baking, and yes if you are using frozen berries, thaw them so everything bakes evenly!
These muffins have a nice crust even without the turbinado sugar topping. I didn’t have plain bran cereal, only one with raisins. So I just used my hands to crumble the cereal in a large mixing bowl. The bran wasn’t finely crushed, but it still worked out fine in the recipe.The only additions I made were to add the zest of one small orange and a tablespoon of molasses. My oven took 20 minutes to bake these. I got 12 medium muffins out of the recipe. Not too sweet and a fluffy texture .
I love having these for breakfast instead of cereal. So tasty, so filling, and full of fiber which I really need!
Great recipe! Made 12. Chilled overnight used generic all-bran type of cereal which aren’t flakes,& whirred in ninja food processor to break up a bit. Sprinkled w reg sugar (only needed 1 tsp ttl) & baked 20 min. Perfect! My old frugal gourmet recipe made too many so this was a nice change w cinnamon flavor and made less qty. Did as other reviewer suggested and measured 1-1/3 c of bran cereal after it was whirred.
They look amazing!!
I meant 1 1/3 cups crushed..
I posted before. I keep making these. To make it easier I weighed and measured the crumbs after processing the flakes. . 3 cups of flakes = 1 1\3 cups crushed or 4.8 oz. Helpful because the bottom of the box has a lot of crumbs.
Love the recipe, I mix various cereal. I made a big mistake and added cumin, when I realised it, it was to late so I carried on with the recipe and it came out deliciously.