From-Scratch Bran Muffins
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
These From-Scratch Bran Muffins blend wholesome goodness with Southern charm, featuring the hearty goodness of wheat bran with just the right amount of sweetness. Ideal for an elegant yet nourishing breakfast or snack!
There’s something special about baking from scratch, and these bran muffins really hit the spot. With a bit of Southern flair, they combine the hearty goodness of wheat bran with just the right amount of sweet. Every bite is a perfect mix of wholesome texture and light sweetness, making them great for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
Whether you’re having friends over for brunch or just want to jazz up your morning, these muffins will do the trick. They’ve got that rustic, homemade charm that pairs perfectly with a pat of butter or a drizzle of local honey. So, fire up the oven and gather your ingredients—these bran muffins are ready to bring a touch of Southern comfort to your kitchen.
These can be made plain, or you can add in your favorites mix-ins. They can be made only slightly sweet for a dinner bread or muffin-sweet for a breakfast muffin or dessert. So roll up your sleeves and let’s get baking!
What You’ll Need to Make From-Scratch Bran Muffins:
Ingredients:
- Wheat Bran
- Vegetable Oil (or melted butter)
- Self Rising Flour*
- Buttermilk**
- Vanilla
- Egg
- Brown Sugar
- Dried Cranberries and Walnuts – but you can use different add ins if you prefer them to the cranberries and walnuts!
*If you don’t have self rising flour, see my FAQ page on how to make your own
**If you want to make your own buttermilk, here is an easy way. For each cup of milk, add 1-2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and allow to sit for five minutes before using.
How to Make From-Scratch Bran Muffins:
Place your wheat bran and buttermilk in a bowl and stir well. It will look kind of like sawdust paste 🙂
Add in egg, oil (or melted butter), brown sugar, and vanilla and stir well once more.
Add all remaining ingredients, including your choice of mix-ins! Stir until it’s well combined.
Spoon out into 12 muffin cups in a muffin tin.
You can either line them with muffin papers or just spray your muffin tin with cooking spray. I have done both but I usually put these in muffin papers because I like to freeze them and it just makes it a little easier.
Sometimes I like to keep a few of the toppings back and add them on the top of the scooped out batter so that you can see the toppings more aesthetically on the top of the muffins!! It’s a great way to make them look even prettier on a plate 🙂
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned on the top. Allow to cool for a few minutes in muffin pan and then remove to cool completely on a towel lined counter or platter. Can serve warm, of course!
Aren’t they beautiful?!
I love to serve mine warm with butter. Add some honey on there for even more sweet if you want! They are sooo good!!
Enjoy!!!
How to Store From-Scratch Bran Muffins:
I like to freeze my muffins! First, cool them completely. Place the muffins in zipper seal gallon sized bags and freeze. Thaw them by wrapping in paper towel and heating in the microwave until heated through, about 45 seconds or so.
What else can I mix in to my bran muffins?
Get started customizing by adding 1/2 to 1 cup of any of the following or a combination of the following:
- chopped nuts of your choice (pecans, walnuts, peanuts, etc)
- Dried Cranberries, raisins, dried blueberries, chopped dried peaches, chopped dried apples, etc
- finely chopped fresh apple
- fresh grated carrots
- Seriously, pretty much anything you’ve got a hankering for!
More Recipes You’ll Love:
Ingredients
- 1 +1/2 cups wheat bran*
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup self rising flour
- 3/4 brown sugar Dark or light, your preference. Use 1 cup if you prefer them sweeter
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup chopped nuts - I'm using walnuts.
Instructions
- In large mixing bowl, stir together bran and buttermilk.
- Add in egg, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir well to combine.
- Add in flour, cranberries, and nuts and any other add ins you want. Stir well until completely moist.
- Bake at 375 for twenty minutes, or until golden.
I can remember the muffin/cupcake tins that we had when I was growing up. They all looked well used which also means well loved. Those pristine pans in the dolled up food photos say FIRST TIME and NEVER REALLY USED! 😉 If I have a hard to find item that I’d like to have in my pantry, I first try out my local grocery–they do have a Red Mill section–and then I try Amazon for comparison. If I just want a little bit, I’ll buy the small Red Mill package. If I anticipate that I’ll use a lot of the product, Amazon is a great place to find larger packages.
I love Bran Muffins, Christy, thank you for a different twist to how I’ve made them in the past:)
I love Piccadilly! I really think they have the best vegetables in Huntsville. Their stuffed peppers are THE best I’ve ever had!
Love Blue Plate, too – especially their tomatoes, onions and cucumbers. I would love to know how they make theirs.
Can you tell I love to eat???
Hey Erika! The Tomato, onion, and cucumber stuff at blue plate is an old recipe, I call it Fire and Ice Salad and my recipe is here! https://www.southernplate.com/2009/06/fire-and-ice-salad-and-southern-plate-cookbooks.html
I kinda love to eat, too! lol
Gratefully,
Christy
Thanks for the recipe link!
I love bran muffins. I buy the wheat bran at Fresh Market and freeze so that I have it on hand. Our local stores don’t always carry it.
I would love for someone to calculate the calories for me.
I recommend myfitnesspal.com. They have free calorie calculators and it’s really easy to use. They also have a free app.
LOL, love the muffin tin, mine are actually in much worse shape, but that only means that so much love has been made in them.
Oh and my Big Lots has had the red mill products a lot recently and they freeze well.
Awesome!!!!!! Nothing better than finding what you need at a great price! lol
Gratefully,
Christy
I love this recipe, however I prefer to use the mini muffin pans, for some reason I think that they are sweeter tasting in the small version. Yes I know it is in my head but I like it that way.
I have a lot of things like that in my head, too, but they help me get through the day!
Gratefully,
Christy 🙂
When I looked at the picture with the muffin tin, I thought “That is a well used muffing tin. Looks like mine”. Looks good, I will have to try this.
Thanks for the post.
HA! I love you Susan! That’s what I told Mama “Everyone has a muffin tin that looks like that, Mama.” lol.
Thank you Susan!
Gratefully
Christy
Christy, you are just so stinkin cute. I love your sense of humor and down home way of writing. I grew up much the same way as you and have fond memories from cooking with mama in the kitchen. Cooking just ain’t fun if you have to fuss over it too much. I’m always a little intimidated by those folks whose kitchen is spotless and every pan looks like it came right from the store. Bless your heart and keep up on sharing your divine dishes and your sweet inspiration.
My mom made bran muffins all the time. Reading this post made me think about mom this morning. I should get ingredients to make them. She used allbran cereal and raisins. Thanks for the memory this morning.