Bran muffins that aren't just good for you, but taste good too! With this recipe, you can easily have freshly baked muffins everyday!
Whip up a batch of this refrigerator muffin batter and then bake just a few every time you want a freshly baked muffin. Store any remaining batter in the refrigerator.
Revamping a classic recipe
When I first got married, my husband and I would make a version of these bran muffins. We loved them because once you mixed up the batter, you could store it in the fridge for weeks and just bake one or two muffins each day or whenever you wanted a homemade bran muffin. The recipe was called Eight Week Bran Muffins.
I finally dug out this recipe and decided it was time to bring it back, but I did make a few changes to the original recipe.
First I reduced the amount of sugar and decided to use honey instead of sugar. The original recipe called for a cup and a half of sugar! Next I used wheat bran instead of bran buds. (Bran buds are a hard pellet shaped cereal.) Finally, I used a combination of all purpose flour and white wheat flour.
After making several batches, I did play around with a few variations or add-ins, making these bran muffins even more delicious! The ones with blueberries are my favorite!
Key Ingredients
- Bran flakes - Check the cereal aisle
- Wheat Bran - Found in the baking aisle
- White Wheat Flour - a whole wheat flour made with white spring wheat
- All Purpose Flour
- Buttermilk
- Honey
Variations
You can really tailor these bran muffins to your liking. Some of my favorite include:
- Blueberries - use fresh or frozen
- Raisins - best if soaked first in hot water to help plum them. Drain before using
- Blackberries - use fresh or frozen
- Mini Chocolate Chips - okay so this kind of makes these not so healthy, but sometimes we need a little chocolate!
- Chopped Nuts - walnuts, pecans, or almonds
- Dried Cranberries
- Toasted Coconut
When adding fruit or nuts, add them to the batter when you're ready to bake. I will often fill the muffin tin with the batter and then poke my favorite berry or nut right into the batter.
The amount I add varies on what I am adding. With blueberries, I usually add 1-2 tablespoons per muffin. With raisins, add about 1 tablespoon per muffin.
Steps to make bran muffins
- Pour bran flakes into a bowl. Cover with hot water and set aside
- In another bowl, combine wheat bran, all purpose flour and white wheat flour
- Stir in baking soda and salt
- Once the bran flakes have cooled, add buttermilk, eggs, oil and honey. Stir to combine
- Add flour mixture to the wet mixture
- Bake right away or store in the refrigerator until ready to bake
To store muffin batter
This batter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to eight weeks. Make certain you place batter in a sealed container. When opening the container to use, always check your batter. Discard if moldy or has an off putting smell.
Give batter a stir before using. Then scoop up into greased or paper lined muffin tin. Bake and in no time at all, you have freshly baked muffins!
To bake
Bake muffins in a preheated 400 degree oven. If you are baking directly after mixing batter, cook for 15 minutes. When cooking after the batter has been refrigerated, increase time 3-5 minutes.
More delicious muffin recipes
Here are some more muffin recipes to try:
- Oatmeal Banana Muffins
- Apple Carrot Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Triple Chocolate Muffins
- Blackberry Muffins
- Pumpkin Apple Muffins
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Be sure to check out all my delicious muffins recipes!
Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup bran flakes
- ½ cup boiling water
- ¾ cup honey
- ½ cup oil (vegetable or canola)
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup wheat bran
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Pour bran flakes into a bowl. Cover with hot water and set aside1 cup bran flakes, ½ cup boiling water
- In another bowl, combine wheat bran, all purpose flour and white wheat flour1 cup wheat bran, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- Stir in baking soda and salt2 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Once the bran flakes have cooled, add buttermilk, eggs, oil and honey. Stir to combine½ cup oil, 2 eggs, 2 cups buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ¾ cup honey
- Add flour mixture to the wet mixture
- Bake right away or store in the refrigerator until ready to bake
- Bake muffins in a preheated 400 degree oven. Add batter to a greased or paper lined muffin tin. If you are baking directly after mixing batter, cook for 15 minutes. When cooking after the batter has been refrigerated, increase time 3-5 minutes.
Notes
- Blueberries - use fresh or frozen
- Raisins - best if soaked first in hot water to help plum them. Drain before using
- Blackberries - use fresh or frozen
- Mini Chocolate Chips - okay so this kind of makes these not so healthy, but sometimes you need a little chocolate!
- Chopped Nuts - walnuts, pecans, or almonds
- Dried Cranberries
- Toasted Coconut
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Ronnie says
I just made these this morning and the flavor was great! I added frozen wild blueberries and will definitely make again. I'm not sure why, but they stuck to my greaseproof cupcake liners. I did add 1/4 cup more flour for high altitude baking.
Kathy says
Hi Ronnie,
With cupcake liners, make certain your muffins are fully cool before removing the liner. The extra flour shouldn't have caused the issue. Next time you could try dusting the berries with a bit of flour before adding. This may keep them from sinking.
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
I would love to wake up to freshly baked muffins, especially this! We love bran in our home, especially hubby, so I know these wouldn't last long! Just what my cuppa coffee needs right about now. Have a great weekend, my friend 🙂
Kathy says
Freshly baked muffins really are a great way to start the day! Enjoy!!!
David @ Spiced says
What a cool idea to keep the batter in the fridge and then just bake off a couple muffins at a time! I could get really used to having freshly baked muffins each morning. I also love the taste of a good bran muffin, so these are right up my alley! I absolutely need to put a batch of these on the menu for this weekend!
Kathy says
Yep, everyday you can bake up just as many as you need. So fast and easy!