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These high-fiber cereal bran muffins are a favorite breakfast in our family. Perfect for families on the go that want something healthy and delicious. The best part is the batter keeps in the refrigerator for up to six weeks!
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These bran muffins are delicious! They are moist and have a surprisingly sweet flavor. I’ve tasted many dry and flavorless bran muffins in my life, but, these are not your typical bran muffins. The fact that they aren’t heavily flavored makes them perfect for your favorite jam, jelly or butter, but they are very good when eaten plain too!
This recipe is sometimes referred to as “6-week Bran Muffins.” The batter for the muffins keeps in the refrigerator for up to six weeks! I have to confess it’s never lasted that long at my house because once I make the batter, I want to pull it out and make warm muffins for breakfast every morning. Once the batter is made, it is so easy to pour it into muffin tins and has warm muffins waiting for breakfast.
Ingredients in All Bran Muffins
This is the best bran muffin recipe because we only used the best ingredients. Most are pantry staples that are already in your home. Together these ingredients are perfectly combined giving you classic bran muffins for a bite-size snack or breakfast to enjoy each day!
- Baking soda – This helps puff up the muffins and give them that nice golden brown muffin top. Do not use baking powder.
- Boiling water – The baking soda and boiling water mix to help the batter have an even distribution of the baking soda. That way all the muffins rise and puff up in the oven and not just a few.
- Butter – Make sure the butter is at room temperature to help it cream a little easier with the mixer. I use unsalted butter to control the sodium content.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar gives this bran muffin a little bit of warm sweetness!
- Eggs – Binds the ingredients together and helps the muffin batter combine and bake.
- All-bran cereal – This is the Kellogg brand, flavor, and type of cereal. You can find it in the cereal aisle close to the oat and wheat bran cereals.
- Bran flakes cereal – These cereals are similar to corn flakes but they are using bran rather than corn in the ingredients.
- All purpose flour –The main texture and base of the bran muffin recipe has this dry ingredient to fill the muffin batter full.
- Buttermilk – Lends moisture, and flavor, and contributes to the light and fluffy texture. For a dairy-free option, use almond milk.
- Raisins, craisins, almonds, nuts, chopped apples or dates – Add any extra flavors and texture that you love to the batter mixture.
- Add a pinch of salt if desired
Steps for Perfect All Bran Muffins
These bran muffins are full of nutrients, taste delicious, and have all the flavor. They are simple to make by mixing the wet ingredients with the flour mixture and dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl to make a delicious bran muffin batter. Scoop and fill the muffin pans and bake. They enhance any breakfast, brunch or even lunch.
- Boil – Dissolve baking soda in 2 cups of boiling water. You can use a microwave to boil the water or just boil on the stove. Set aside to cool.
- Mix – In a large bowl, cream butter, and sugar together with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs.
- Combine – Stir in the cereals, and flour, and then add the buttermilk. When buttermilk is blended in well, add the soda water.
- Add-ins – If you are adding dried fruit or nuts, mix them in after the soda water.
- Bake – Fill greased muffin cups or use muffin liners in the muffin pan about ¾ full with muffin batter. Use cooking spray to grease the muffin pan evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or when muffin tops begin to lightly brown.
Tips and Suggestions for Healthy All Bran Muffins
As you can see in the nutrition information below the recipe, these muffins are pretty healthy. When using 2-inch muffin pan cups, each muffin is only 100 calories, compare that to a Costco muffin that packs in about 700 calories. To make these muffins even healthier, try one or more of these substitutions depending on your health needs.
- Honey or Molasses – Substitute one cup of honey for the two cups of sugar, or try a Stevia sweetener for baking.
- Olive oil – Use ½ cup olive oil or 1 cup melted coconut oil instead of 1 cup butter. The olive oil gives the muffins a slightly different taste, but, they are still very good.
- Substitute butter – To eliminate the butter, use 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce. You can also use ½ cup butter and ½ cup unsweetened applesauce.
- Replacing flour – Replace the white flour with whole wheat flour.
“These are so good!! When I’ve tried bran muffins in the past, they are usually so dry, but these are so soft & moist! Love them with nuts!”
-Natalie
Frequently Asked Questions
Bran is good for you. Original all bran muffins contain protein, fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants that can help control blood sugar, aid in digestion, and reduce cholesterol. It’s the other ingredients in addition to the bran that can interfere with how healthy the bran muffin is. But with portion control, a bran muffin is a very healthy breakfast.
Kind of! A wheat kernel is made of three parts. The first part is the bran buds, endosperm, and germ. The bran is the hard layer on the outside of the wheat kernel. It has all the nutrients and fiber. The bran is stripped away from the wheat kernel during the milling process and becomes a byproduct.
Once the homemade bran muffins are baked, place them in an airtight container for up to four days longs. Store them in a single layer or place a paper towel over them to help prevent them from becoming soggy or having a sticky muffin top.
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Freezing All Bran Muffins
Yes! If you would rather cook up all 6 dozen muffins at once and then freeze them for later use, it can be done. Follow the instructions and cook the muffins according to the direction. Let cool.
Once the muffins have completely cooked place the muffins in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Put the frozen muffins in a freezer bag and seal them as airtight as possible. Thaw on the counter, in the freezer bag, for approximately 30 minutes before serving.
More Muffin Recipes
We have more muffin recipes that are great to make ahead of breakfast for families on the go that want something nutritious. These are all great options that are filled with flavor!
How to Make All Bran Muffins
All Bran Muffins
Equipment
- Hand Mixer
Ingredients
- 5 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 4 cups All-Bran cereal
- 2 cups Bran Flakes cereal
- 5 cups flour
- 1 quart buttermilk
- Raisins, craisins, nuts, chopped dates (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Dissolve baking soda in the 2 cups of boiling water. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs.
- Stir in the cereals, flour, and then add the buttermilk.
- When buttermilk is blended in well, add the soda water.If you are adding dried fruit or nuts, mix them in after the soda water.
- Fill greased muffin tins about ¾ full with batter and bake for 25-30 minutes, or when muffin tops begin to lightly brown. Cupcake liners can also be used.
- Serve warm or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 5 months.
Notes
- This makes approximately 6 dozen muffins. Remaining batter can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.
- To freeze batches of muffins, place the completely cooked place the muffins in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Put the frozen muffins in a freezer bag and seal them as airtight as possible.
- Thaw on the counter, in the freezer bag, for approximately 30 minutes before serving.
I am all about healthy options & these will be great for grabbing on the go each morning!
These are so good!! When I’ve tried bran muffins in the past, they are usually so dry, but these are so soft & moist! Love them with nuts!
So good! Bran muffins are one of my favorite muffins! These are wonderful. 🙂 I’m thinking of using dark brown sugar instead of white sugar for the next batch. I just adore the taste of dark brown sugar in baked goods!
So good ! I normally don’t like muffins that are too “healthy” but these tasted great. Do you think it’s because of the buttermilk? I can’t tell … but something gives it a depth of flavor that just doesn’t taste like pencil shavings. Anyhow thanks for the great recipe.
These are amazing! I pop the extras in the freezer so I always have a healthy breakfast on hand.
Have you tried substituting coconut oil instead of the butter. Just curious thanks!
Can I substitute molasses for the sugar? If so, how much molasses would I use?
We haven’t used molasses in this recipe yet so I am unable to advise how much you would substitute. If you try it, let us know how it works out of you and what adjustments you made!
your cereal bran muffin recipe sounds good, can you tell me the amount of fiber in each muffin?
We are in the process of updating many of our recipe with nutrition facts. We will hopefully have that finished by the end of the year. If you need the info before then, you may type our recipe into a recipe calculator (like Livestrong) and should be able to get a good idea of how many grams of fiber is in each muffin. Hope this helps!
I am making these for the first time tonight. I substituted the honey for the sugar and the batter is really runny, is that normal?
Growing up, our house often had a batch of “6 week muffin” mix in the fridge – I even loved to sneak a spoonful raw every once in a while. The muffins were so good! I hope this is the same recipe.
This is one of our family favorites, only I make half a batch and works out great. Freeze the left over muffins to grab any morning we like.. Thanks for always sharing recipes, we enjoy them.