Bran muffins may not be trendy, but a really good one is hard to beat. These are soft, lightly sweet, and just hearty enough to feel like a proper breakfast instead of a cupcake pretending to be healthy. This recipe has been on my blog since 2009, and while I still love it, I've simplified it. The original version used two types of flour and two kinds of milk, but after testing, I (and others) found you can get the same great texture with fewer ingredients. The result? A reliable, moist bran muffin that's easy to make and perfect with coffee.
What's Interesting About This Recipe
Soaked wheat bran (not cereal) keeps the muffins soft and prevents dryness, while buttermilk adds tenderness and flavor without needing multiple liquids. A mix of baking soda and baking powder gives just enough lift without making them cakey. Brown sugar and molasses add depth and that classic bran muffin taste. If you want to take these up a notch, soak the bran in hot coffee instead of water. It doesn't make the muffins taste like coffee, but it adds a deeper, slightly richer flavor-- similar to what coffee does in chocolate cake.
Ingredient Notes
Flour: Whole wheat pastry flour gives the best balance of nutrition and softness. All-purpose works too. They key is to use 140 grams, so go by weight if you have a sale.
Buttermilk: You can use all buttermilk, or substitute milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar.
Oats: Add a little texture, but you can skip them if you don't have any.
Recipe
Another Good Bran Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup wheat bran (38 grams)
- 3 tablespoons hot coffee or water (42 grams or 45 ml)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (60 grams)
- ½ cup light brown sugar (105 grams)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon mild molasses (20 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour or equivalent all-purpose (140 grams)
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant) (35 grams)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F Line 6 jumbo muffin cups with paper liners or parchment paper squares. Dampen the parchment lightly, tapping off any water, then push down into the muffin tin so that you have walls of parchment. Alternatively you can just use regular size muffin cups cupcake liners, but only fill ⅔ of the way full. If using regular muffin cups you should get 10-12 muffins.
- Combine bran and coffee (or water). Set aside.
- Melt the butter and mix it with the brown sugar, honey and molasses.
- Beat in the egg and the bran mixture.
- Mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
- Add the flour mixture, alternately with buttermilk, to the bran mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. This is a fairly fluid batter, not one you can pile. Let the muffin batter stand for 10 minutes.
- Fill the muffin cups about ¾ of the way full. Don't go all the way to the top because they need the walls of the pan for support and will bake up flat. Sprinkle with some oats to garnish (if desired).
- Set pan on a cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
Anna says
Shannon, thanks for the feedback and the tips on cutting the fat.
Shannon says
Thanks for the recipe, Anna! I made these over the weekend with excellent results. They came out moist and flavorful and not overly-sweet or bran-y like some bran muffins are. I did make quite a few changes and thought I'd post a comment for anyone interested...
I wanted to cut back the fat a little, so I used 1 TBSP butter and 3 TBSP applesauce. I also subbed 1/2 tsp almond extract for the vanilla extract, added 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds to the batter, and used all buttermilk instead of the regular milk. I ended up with enough batter for 10 decent sized muffins.
dawn says
I think I finally nailed a good Morning Glory muffin, but completely forgot about thinking about adding molasses.
Anywho, these look good. I crave a good healthy muffin for heavy-work mornings.
Sue says
These look really good. I'm so glad that Fuzz and her friend liked them!
Katrina says
I made these this morning and DID soak the bran in 1/2 cup of gingerbread hot cocoa. Besides using all whole wheat pastry flour, those are my only changes. I filled 12 muffins cups. These muffins are perfectly moist and delicious! The best bran muffins I've had.
CookiePie says
Those muffins look great -- so hearty! I love that there's coffee in them too. I'd like to try these with oat bran!
Katrina says
Ooh, maybe soaking the bran in hot cocoa, now THERE'S an idea! 😉 Seriously though, I just might make these this morning.
Trish says
One can never have enough chocolate chip cookie recipes OR bran muffin recipes in my opinion. I too like the coffee idea. Terrific.
Sara says
Mmm, these look delicious and I LOVE the idea of soaking the bran in coffee!! Genius.
Elyse says
I love a good bran muffins. It's a sweet treat that you don't feel too guilty about eating. Great job! I can't wait to try out this recipe.
Anna says
Yeah, I thought of you while I was soaking the bran in coffee ;).
Katrina says
Ahh, yum. That's an interesting concept, to soak the bran in coffee. Still, I'd use water and think these look/sounds great!