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The Best Bran Muffin Recipe – delicious, perfectly moist bakery style bran muffins from scratch at home!
Try these healthy and delicious bran muffins for an easy grab-and-go breakfast.
They’re moist and packed with flavor! A delicious source of fiber. Serve with jam, butter, or marmalade for a great healthy way to start your day.
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of contents
Homemade Bran muffins
My bran muffins call for wheat bran, not cereal like many recipes; this gives them a truly classic bakery bran muffin flavor.
If you’re looking for a bran muffins recipe, this will be your go-to.
My great recipe using real bran gives these muffins fresh-from-the-bakery authentic flavor.
There’s something so comforting about bran muffins – these aren’t overly sweet but sweet enough to make it a treat.
These muffins are a great treat and also are healthy. It’s so nice to be able to grab something and run out the door without feeling guilty!
How to Make Bran Muffins From Scratch
I love how easy these bran muffins are to make!
There are a couple steps to follow to be sure they come out perfectly, every time.
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees, spray the muffin tin well. I don’t recommend using paper liners for these.
Mix together the wheat bran and buttermilk. Allow it to sit and absorb for at least 10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl beat together applesauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla until combined.
Add the bran mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Sift the all-purpose flour and the wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt onto the top of the wet ingredients, distributing them evenly.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, again until just combined.
Add a 1/2 cup of batter (I like to use my measuring cups to 8 greased muffin cups.
Sprinkle a little additional bran on top, if desired.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes before turning them out to cool further.
Tips To Perfect Bran Muffins and FAQs
Mix the ingredients until just combined. Over-mixing will result in muffins that are too dense.
Vegetable oil or another neutral cooking oil can be used instead of applesauce. Another option to add a great flavor is to try coconut oil.
I don’t recommend using paper liners with these. Because of their moist texture, they’ll stick to them and fall apart
Why Use Wheat Bran?
Wheat bran is known for its high fiber content. There are many known benefits to your health for getting enough fiber.
Wheat is made up of three parts, the bran, endosperm, and the germ.
Bran is the outer shell of the wheat, which is removed during the milling process. Although some consider bran to be more of a byproduct rather than the main event, a diet including bran can help to add fiber.
One of the great things about bran is that it adds bulk, is nutrient-dense, but low-calorie.
Although muffins and cereals are the most common places to find bran, it’s known for its slightly sweet and nutty flavor. These muffins make that great flavor front-and-center.
Bran is well-known to contribute to better digestion and heart health as a part of a well-balanced diet.
As long as you don’t have wheat sensitivity, bran is a great addition to a healthy well-rounded diet.
Healthy Choice Picky Eaters Love
If you have picky eaters in your family, getting enough fiber in their diets can be a struggle, try these muffins.
I love that these muffins contain the kind of healthy ingredients that stick with you all day. They are perfect for sustained energy for work or learning.
These delicious bran muffins seem like a special treat, especially when topped with butter or jam!
Because these bran muffins don’t contain nuts, they are a great snack to slip into lunchboxes! Although I’m not in the “trick my kids to eat healthy” club, sometimes I have to trick my kids to eat healthy.
Good eating habits that include healthy choices like these muffins will last a lifetime.
Bran Muffin FAQs
An easy substitute for buttermilk is to use a cup of milk minus one tablespoon and add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to make a full cup.
If your local store doesn’t have wheat bran, you can find it online. I get it on Amazon. One bag is enough to make two batches of these muffins.
Absolutely! Try nuts, blueberries, or nuts. I also love the taste of bran with about a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips!
Bran muffins can be stored for up to four days in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
Double-wrap them and they’ll keep in the freezer for up to three months. Allow them to thaw naturally.
Other Breakfasts You’ll Love
If you’re looking for delicious breakfast ideas to start your morning, we love making these muffins alongside our Easy Sangria Mimosas, Air Fryer Bacon, The Best Deviled Eggs, Prosciutto Egg Cups, and Triple Berry Smoothie Bowls!
Find our complete breakfast recipe archives here.
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The Best Bran Muffin Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups wheat bran
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup apple sauce
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease muffin tin with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Mix together the wheat bran and buttermilk in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the apple sauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla until combined.
- Add to the bran mixture and mix just until combined.
- Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on top of the wet ingredients.
- Then stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, until just combined.
- Add 1/2 cup of batter to 8 greased muffin cups and sprinkle some additional brand on top, if desired.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey Courtney, your applesauce and brown sugar have question marks instead of numbers in the recipe for amounts. What are they supposed to be?
Ah! Our recent software update messed it up, thanks for noticing I have updated it.
1
I’ve tried several bran muffin recipes and found them to be blan. These muffins are moist and packed with flavor. I think I found my go to recipe for bran muffins.
One of the best things about this recipe is that it calls for wheat bran and not bran cereal. The cereal itself contains sugar, which makes the muffins too sweet. Wheat bran is pure and contains no additives.