Bran Muffins
on Jan 05, 2021, Updated Jun 01, 2024
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Bran Muffins can be a tasty healthy snack or a filling grab-and-go breakfast. They are easy to make, rich in fiber, and delicious!
These classic muffins use bran cereal as the base. They are hearty and perfect for mornings when you are in a hurry.
Bran muffins are a wonderful side with brunch. Make a frittata, cook some bacon in the air fryer and cut up some seasonal fruit.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Bran muffins are quick and easy to make.
- You can add just about anything to these muffins – dried fruit, chocolate chips, or nuts.
- Make a filling snack or a great side for breakfast.
- They freeze great so you can keep them on-hand and warm them up for a quick breakfast.
Recipe Ingredients
- Bran cereal: Nature’s Path organic multi-grain bran cereal has worked well in these muffins.
- Milk
- Flour
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Egg
- Vegetable oil
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Popular Substitutions and Variations
- You can use almond, oat, or coconut milk in place of the milk in this recipe if you need the muffins to be dairy-free.
- To make these bran muffins vegan, use a non-dairy milk (almond, oat, or coconut) and an egg replacer or make a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and 2.5 tablespoons of water that sits for 5 minutes).
- Honey works great in this recipe if you would rather use it than granulated sugar. Omit the sugar and add ¼ cup of honey.
How to Make Bran Muffins
- Step #1. Mix the milk and cereal together, this gives the milk time to soften the cereal which makes the texture much better for muffins.
- Step #2. Put all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix them together.
- Step #3. Add the egg and oil to the milk and cereal mixture and stir to combine.
- Step #4. Mix the dry ingredients in with the wet ones and stir.
- Step #5. Add anything “extra” you like such as nuts, fruit, or cinnamon.
- Step #6. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Recipe FAQs
Not all bran muffins are created equal. Some are packed with sugar and artificial ingredients making them not super healthy. However, these bran muffins are good for you. They are high in fiber and have quality ingredients.
Bran cereals vary a lot, but I’ve had good luck using a variety of cereals for this recipe. Look for cereals that have wheat bran as the main ingredient. If the cereal has raisins in it, you can use that and you’ll have raisin bran muffins.
The sky’s the limit with these. You can add roughly ½ to ¾ cup of “add-ins” such as blueberries, chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans would be good), sunflower seeds or finely chopped apples just to name a few. Get creative!
Expert Tips
- Start heating the oven before you start making the bran muffin batter so it’s ready when you are.
- Using cooking spray or paper baking liners will make it easier to remove the muffins from the tin once they are baked.
- Make sure to let the bran cereal and milk mixture stand for 5 minutes so it will soften the cereal and allow it to better incorporate into the batter, resulting in moist and tender muffins.
- Be careful not to overmix the batter when combining the wet and dry ingredients. Overmixing can result in tough and dense muffins instead of light and fluffy ones.
Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups bran cereal
- 1 ¼ cup milk
- 1 ¼ cup flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line the tin with paper baking liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the bran cereal and milk. Stir to combine and let it stand for 5 minutes.
- In a separate large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a whisk to combine.
- Once cereal has softened, add the egg and oil to the milk and cereal mixture. Stir together well.
- Add flour mixture to the milk and cereal mixture and stir until just combined.
- Mixture will be thick. If you’d like to add any extras, do so at this time and gently fold them into the muffin batter.
- Portion batter evenly into 12 muffin cups (about ⅔ of the way full).
- Bake about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and no longer wet in the middle. The tops will spring back light when touched.
- Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for 3 to 5 minutes before removing them from the muffin tin. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers covered at room temperature or freeze in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
Notes
- You can use any light oil that you like for this recipe such as canola, vegetable, avocado, or even melted butter or coconut oil.
- I’ve had great luck making this recipe with egg replacer (mixed up according to the package instructions) or replacing the egg with a flax meal egg.
- You can replace the sugar in this recipe with 1/4 cup honey if you prefer.
- If you’d like to add things like fresh or dried fruit and/or nuts or seeds and/or spices like cinnamon feel free! I generally add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon if I’m using it and 1/2 to 3/4 cups of additional “add-ins”.
If using oat bran which is already ground vs the cereal how much would you use?
I didn’t test the recipe with it, I’m not sure it would be a good swap…
Great flavor, just the recipe I was looking for. So easy to make even Hubby makes them to grab before he hits the gym. Also used coconut milk, instead of real milk.
Didn’t like the little nuggets of bran I saw in store so bought Raisin Bran cereal. Used 1 cup of milk (skim was all I had) and a small Greek vanilla yogurt cup (2g). Added a splash of vanilla extract, a dash of cinnamon and about a tablespoon of molasses as well as a handful of chopped candied pecans I’ve been trying to get rid of. They turned out fantastic. Just me and hubby so made 6 large and baked longer at 375. No muffin cups just sprayed pan. Came right out. I then decided to glaze top with about a half tablespoon of melted butter mixed with a tablespoon of honey. Brushed it on while they cooled. Perfect. Yes I modified the recipe to my liking but wouldn’t have had a base to work with if not for this recipe. Thanks for that as I will make these again and again.
Love these so much! Easy way to use cereal that is about to go stale.
Could I use Kelligg’s All Bran cereal in this recipe?
Yes, it’ll work great!
I’ve made these the past 3 weekends. I use oat milk and add a splash of vanilla. I also add blueberries, pecans and a little sprinkle of turbanado sugar to the top for a little crunch. I do 6 jumbo muffins, freeze and eat all week. Soo yummy 😋
The blueberries and pecans sound amazing!
I made this recipe & doubled it with Trader Joe’s Bran Cereal. I don’t have milk on hand so replaced it with Coconut Creamer (H20 diluted to make the liquid required).
Greetings from Illinois. I changed a few things.
I used Kellogg Raisin bran cereal and 1/4 cup roasted chopped walnuts.
Also changed recipe to one cup milk and 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt. I baked at 375 deg for 15-20 minutes till toothpick in the center comes out clean.
The muffins are delicious.Thank you for the recipe!
They look amazing! Thank you for sharing a photo AND what worked for you, that’s always helpful!
I made this today! Turned out amazing. Next time I’ll use honey instead of sugar.