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Grandma’s classic bran muffin recipe is a quick breakfast or snack, and a perfect companion for a hot cup of coffee or tea. Moist, fluffy, and sweetened with molasses and raisins, the bran muffins are a satisfying and delicious treat with fresh fruit, yogurt, eggs, and more!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love these Old Fashioned Bran Muffins
- How to Keep Bran Muffins Moist
- Ingredients
- How to Make Bran Muffins
- Serving Suggestions
- Storage
- Recipe Variations
- Tips for the Best Bran Muffins Recipe
- The Best Bran Muffin Recipe Recipe
Why You’ll Love these Old Fashioned Bran Muffins
They might not be as glamorous as streusel-topped blueberry muffins or as decadent as bakery-style chocolate chip muffins, but classic bran muffins have stood the test of time — for a good reason! Grandma’s bran muffin recipe is an ideal addition to the breakfast or brunch table, and also works well for a sweet afternoon snack.
They’re hearty and satisfying, but they won’t weigh you down. They’re delicious, easy to stir together quickly, and very freezer-friendly. Best of all, you can customize them to suit your individual tastes. For instance, add fresh or frozen blueberries, stir in some nuts or warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, or keep them simple — just as I’ve shown here!
How to Keep Bran Muffins Moist
There are a variety of factors that contribute to moist muffins with a light and fluffy inside:
- Use full-fat sour cream.The acid in the thick, rich, sour cream yields a muffin with a moist, tender crumb. The fat in the sour cream also contributes moisture to the batter.
- Two different types of fat.The oil and the sour cream both contribute fat to the muffins. Don’t skimp on the fat in these bakery-style treats!
- Do not over-mix the batter.You want it to come together so that everything is combined, but then stop stirring. Mixing too much activates the gluten in the flour and results in dry, dense muffins.
- Don’t over-bake the muffins and don’t let them cool in the pan.Leaving them in the oven for too long can dry out the muffins. Similarly, it’s important to remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool so that they don’t continue cooking in the hot muffin pan.
Is eating bran muffins good for you?
Bran muffins include many good-for-you nutrients (like fiber, protein, and various vitamins and minerals), so they can be a healthy addition to just about any diet. Like most muffins, there is a fair amount of sugar in this recipe, so I would enjoy them in moderation — and pair them with a protein-packed side (such as eggs, milk, or Greek yogurt) as well as fruit for a satisfying, well-balanced breakfast.
Each muffin includes about270 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein, 8 grams of fat, and 49 grams of carbohydrates, so the bran muffins arenot low-carb or Keto-friendly. They’re also not vegan,because they include sour cream and eggs.
Ingredients
What are bran muffins made of? This particular recipe takes advantage of All-Bran cereal, as well as a handful of other pantry staples, for a quick recipe that comes together in minutes.
This is just an overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for our favorite bran muffin recipe. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step baking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- All-Bran Original cereal: an easy way to incorporate wheat bran into the muffin batter, since regular oat bran or wheat bran can be hard to find in some stores. You can probably substitute with Fiber One, raisin bran cereal, or bran flakes cereal instead, but I have not tested this recipe with those other varieties.
- All-purpose flour: the base of the muffins.
- Baking soda: the leavening agent that helps the muffins rise.
- Salt: to balance the sweetness and enhance the other flavors in the muffins.
- Sour cream: provides an acidic element that helps the muffins rise. It also gives them a moist, tender texture, while keeping the batter thick so that the muffins rise high and have a nice dome. Use a full-fat sour cream (not light) for the best flavor and texture. You can also substitute with a full-fat Greek-style plain yogurt. Buttermilk would accomplish a similar result; however, it’s thinner than the sour cream, so your muffins will not rise as high.
- Vegetable oil: keeps the bran muffins nice and moist. If you prefer, you can substitute with melted butter.
- Eggs: give the muffins structure.
- Light brown sugar: for just the right amount of sweetness.
- Molasses or sorghum: a sweeter that also adds rich, bold flavor.
- Vanilla extract: for even more flavor.
- Raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries: these are optional, so leave them out if you don’t care for them. You can also use chopped nuts instead.
How to Make Bran Muffins
Our favorite bran muffin recipe is very easy to mix together! I’ve included the detailed step-by-step directions in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post, but here’s the quick version:
- Process half of the cereal into a fine crumb. You can do this with a food processor (I love my mini version for small jobs like this), or you can do so by hand with a meat mallet or rolling pin.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients in a medium bowl, and then soak the cereal in the wet ingredients for about 5 minutes to soften.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then fold in the raisins.
- Divide the batter between paper-lined or greased muffin cups.
- Bake!
Serving Suggestions
These delicious old fashioned bran muffins are such a versatile little treat — especially when paired withbutter, cream cheese, peanut butter, honey, or jam.My mom always serves them with apple butter! You can offer them for a quickgrab-and-go breakfast on busy mornings; pile some in a basket as a part of aspecial brunch buffet; or set out a few with a glass of milk, a cup of tea, or a mug of coffee for anafternoon snack.
For a more elaborate brunch spread, try pairing the muffins with any of these other morning dishes:
- Fruit Salador just a platter of fresh melon and berries
- Fruit Smoothies
- Southern Shrimp and Grits
- Candied Bacon
- Crustless Quiche with Spinach
- Ham and Cheese Baked OmeletorBaked Western Omelet
- Sausage Breakfast Casserole
- Quiche Lorraine
- Easy Frittata with Cheddar and Chives
- Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
- “Country Comfort” Smoked Sausage Casserole
Storage
Allow the muffins to cool completely. Muffins are best enjoyed on the day that they’re made. Store leftovers in a large Ziploc freezer bag or other airtight container. The muffins will last for2-3 days at room temperature, or you canfreeze them for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
If the muffins are frozen, allow them to sit on the counter for a few minutes while youpreheat the oven to 350°F. Frozen muffins will require about 10-12 minutes in the oven; room temperature muffins will only need about 5 minutes to warm through. Alternatively, you canmicrowave one muffin at a time for 15-30 secondsor just until warm.
Recipe Variations
- Can Bran flakes substitute for All Bran? I have only tested this recipe with All-Bran Original cereal, so I cannot guarantee that the muffins will turn out well with other bran cereals. If you give it a try, please let us know!
- Swap out the vegetable oil and use an equal amount of melted butter or canola oil. Melted coconut oil would probably work well, too.
- Replace the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt.
- For even more whole grains, substitute half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.
- Try other mix-in’s. For instance, diced apples, chopped dates, dried currants, chopped dried apricots, dried blueberries, or chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts would all be good. For softer raisins or dried fruit in your muffins, soak them in boiling water before mixing into the batter.
- Make blueberry bran muffins by folding in 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Mini Muffins:bake the batter inmini muffin tinsin a 350°F oven for about12-15 minutes.
Tips for the Best Bran Muffins Recipe
- Properly measure the flourby fluffing the flour with a fork, and then spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. Donotuse the measuring cup to scoop the flour directly out of the canister. This will pack the flour too tightly in the measuring cups, resulting in more flour than you need, which in turn yields dry, dense muffins.
- Start with room temperature ingredients.The room temp sour cream and eggs will blend more easily into the batter.
- The key to a perfect muffinisjust barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but some lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender!
- Fill the muffin cupsto the top. I like to use an ice cream scoop to make sure that each cup has an equal amount of batter, ensuring that the muffins bake evenly in the oven.
- To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin and make sure it comes out clean. Don’t cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
More Muffin Recipes to Try
Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins
35 minutes mins
One-Bowl Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
35 minutes mins
Farmhouse Blackberry Muffins
29 minutes mins
The Best Bran Muffin Recipe
5 from 3 votes
Prep: 15 minutes minutes
Cook: 18 minutes minutes
Total: 33 minutes minutes
Servings 12 muffins
Calories 271 kcal
Grandma's classic bran muffins are a quick breakfast or snack, and a perfect companion for a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups All-Bran Original cereal, divided
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups sour cream, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons molasses or sorghum
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries
Instructions
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 400°F.
Take about half of the All Bran cereal, place it in a food processor, and process until finely ground. Alternatively, you can place half of the cereal in a large Ziploc bag, and use a rolling pin or meat mallet to crush the cereal into fine crumbs. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, oil, eggs, brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla extract.
Stir in the crushed cereal and the remaining whole cereal. Let the mixture sit until the cereal is evenly moistened, about 5 minutes.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just until combined; do not over-mix. Gently fold in the raisins, cranberries, or cherries.
Divide the batter into greased or paper-lined standard muffin cups, filling each cup to the top.
Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Notes
- Can Bran flakes substitute for All Bran? I have only tested this recipe with All-Bran Original cereal, so I cannot guarantee that the muffins will turn out well with other bran cereals. If you give it a try, please let us know!
- Swap out the vegetable oil and use an equal amount of melted butter or canola oil. Melted coconut oil would probably work well, too.
- Replace the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt.
- For even more whole grains, substitute half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.
- Try other mix-in’s. For instance, diced apples, chopped dates, dried currants, chopped dried apricots, dried blueberries, or chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts would all be good.
- Make blueberry bran muffins by folding in 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Mini Muffins:bake the batter inmini muffin tinsin a 350°F oven for about12-15 minutes.
- Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen.
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffinCalories: 271kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 5gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 339mgPotassium: 380mgFiber: 5gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 452IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 110mgIron: 4mg
Keyword: bran muffin recipe, bran muffins, classic bran muffins, old fashioned bran muffins
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Author: Blair Lonergan
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