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Super moist and delicious, these super easy One-Bowl Honey-Glazed Bran Muffins roll out of the oven with rounded, bakery-style, tops!
I found a little treasure, polished it up just a bit and couldn't wait to share it with you! These are the best bran muffins we've ever had and I love that they're decently healthy too.
A healthy breakfast option
If you check out the ingredient list for most muffins, you'll quickly discover that they're really (what I call) "cake in disguise". With 100% all-purpose flour, lots of sugar, and often a mountain of buttery crumble, there's minimal worthwhile nutrition.
On the contrary, these Buttermilk Bran Muffins have whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, lots of wheat bran, eggs, buttermilk, oil, raisins and a relatively small amount of sugar in the cast of characters, making them much more suitable for a healthy breakfast. The cool thing about these little guys is that, with all the fiber in these bran muffins, along with 3 eggs, I've found that they keep me satiated for hours.
A needle in a haystack
I've actually been looking for a good bran muffin recipe for a long time, but every time I've looked online, I've been disappointed with the results. Either the muffins look dry and/or flat or the ingredient list includes a stick of butter and/or very little bran.
This time I was determined to find a recipe that not only looked good but was also decently healthy. It took a while, but when I spotted these muffins and checked out the ingredient list, I thought I might have a winner. And when the post described that they were "easy, incredibly moist and that they never fail to produce "nice high “bakery shop” style muffins", I knew I had to try them.
A bran muffin dream come true
I whipped up a batch and could hardly wait to see the results. The aroma was wonderful as the muffins baked and, when I peeked into the oven to see if they were done, I did a little happy dance. Just as promised, the muffins had risen up with beautiful domed tops.
And the flavor? Even better than I had hoped; super moist and delicious with a bit of caramel flavor from the molasses and brown sugar.
An easy gourmet touch
For a pretty, shiny presentation and a touch of extra sweetness, I added a honey-butter glaze. It's super easy; just a dollop of honey combined with melted butter and brushed on the muffins as they emerge from the oven. The glaze is optional as the muffins will be delicious without it; but it does add a beautiful shiny (quite fancy) finish.
One last note... this recipe makes 16 average size muffins. If you prefer large muffins, just divide the batter between 12 muffin cups. Another option is to make a small loaf of bread with the extra batter. Just grease a mini bread pan, pour in the remaining batter and bake it alongside the muffins. This makes a wonderful gift to share with a friend, neighbor, co-worker, etc.
So, if you're looking for a treasure to add to your recipe collection, here it is! Whip up a batch of these One Bowl Buttermilk Bran Muffins and share in the comments below how you liked them. We always appreciate having reviews from readers!
Café Tips for making these One Bowl Buttermilk Bran Muffins
- Wheat bran is inexpensive and available at most grocery stores, but it can be a little tricky to find. Most stores that carry Bob's Red Mill products will carry it and will stock it near the oatmeal or in the flour section. Health food stores will often carry it in bulk. If you can't find wheat bran, check with your store manager or order it online and have it delivered to your door.
- No buttermilk? No worries! To make your own buttermilk, place 3 tablespoons of vinegar or fresh lemon juice into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add milk (I like to use whole milk, but use whatever you have) to measure 1 ½ cups. Stir the mixture and allow it to sit for 5 minutes, then add to the batter in lieu of buttermilk.
- These bran muffins freeze well. Allow the muffins to cool completely, then freeze on a sheet pan, uncovered, for 1 hour. Once frozen, place muffins in a ziplock bag or airtight freezer container. Pull out as many as you want and allow to thaw before serving.
- Golden raisins, dried currants or dried cranberries are all delicious substitutes for the raisins.
- Add a teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves to the batter for a spiced bran muffin.
- This is a somewhat unusual muffin recipe in that you fill the muffin tins almost full rather than ⅔ or ¾ full like most muffin recipes recommend (if you're making just 12 muffins, fill the cups right to the top.)
- When you spray the muffin pan as you prep for this recipe, spray generously and also around the top edge of each muffin cup as well so they'll be super easy to remove from the pan.
- You can make this batter the night before, store it in the fridge then bake up the muffins in the morning.
- The honey-butter glaze is optional, but it's super delicious and only adds 10 calories per muffin. It will make enough to glaze the top of each muffin. If you want to glaze the whole muffin (it's delicious!) double the glaze amounts.
- If my raisins are dry, I like to plump them up before adding them to the batter. To plump, just combine the raisins with 2 teaspoons of water in a small microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a plate or with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes, then proceed with recipe.
- In the market for a muffin pan? I LOVE this OXO Good Grip Muffin/Cupcake Pan. It's so well made and I've had mine for several year and they still look like brand new.
If you love bran muffins, you might want to also check out these Healthy Banana Bran Muffins. They're sans refined sugar and also have lots of delicious flavor!
And a fun and wonderful adaptation of these same muffins are our Honey-Glazed Blueberry Muffins, also SO good!
This Honey-Glazed Bran Muffin recipe was originally published in April of 2018. With well over 1200 recipes in the Café arsenal, this one was too good to be lost in the archives. So we spiffed it up and updated things a bit for your baking pleasure!
Thought for the day:
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful
Hebrews 10:23
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
Super moist and delicious, these easy muffins roll out of the oven with high rounded bakery-style, tops!
- ½ cup mild-flavored oil sunflower, grapeseed, canola, corn, vegetable, or avocado oils will all work
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cup wheat bran
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon butter
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 16 muffin cups with non-stick spray for average size muffins OR grease 12 muffin cups (standard size) for large muffins. (Or see tip above for making a small loaf of bread in addition to 12 muffins.)
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Whisk together oil, sugar and eggs in a large bowl until well blended. Add molasses, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir to combine.
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Sprinkle bran, flours, baking powder and baking soda over the top. Stir just until all of the flour mixture is incorporated (do not overmix). Add raisins and stir to combine.
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Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling almost to the top. Bake for 12-15 minutes until firm to touch and a tester comes out clean.
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Allow to sit in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a cool rack.
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Combine melted butter and honey in a small bowl. Stir well to combine. Brush mixture over the top surface of warm muffins.
For more detailed instructions and lots of tips check out the Café Tips above in the post.
Adapted from: Red Cottage Chronicles
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JANIS says
MADE THESE MUFFINS THIS MORNING FIRST TIME TRYING THIS RECIPE. WOW! WOW! THEY ARE DELISIOUS! VERY MOIST AND THE GLAZE ON TOP ADDS A GREAT TOUCH. THESE MUFFINS DO NOT HAVE LOTS OF SUGAR AND THAT IS PERFECT. THEY ARE A DEFINITE TRY. YOU WILL LOVE THEM.
THESE ARE A FIVE STAR PLUS
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Janis!
Carol says
I have never been successful at making muffins … until today! I did have to bake mine about 10 minutes longer but they are SO worth the wait. Thanks to this recipe I can put muffins into my breakfast rotation guilt (and failure) free!
Chris Scheuer says
Yay 👏🙌👏 Thanks for sharing your results, Carol!
Lou says
Ok
I reread recipe and it is both—-sorry.
But now I need to ask- could I use all purpose flour instead of wheat flour?
Thanks Chris
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lou, you could definitely use all-purpose for the wheat portion. I like to use white whole wheat flour which makes them a little lighter but regular WW, white WW and AP will all work.
Lou says
Hi Chris
Is it wheat bran or wheat flour?
Janelle says
Great recipe! Made these for breakfast with my daycare kiddos this morning and everyone loved it. They said "we get cupcakes?!" I didn't have molasses so I used pure maple syrup instead and we replaced the raisins with shredded carrots. Turned out great and healthy too!
Chris Scheuer says
I love that, Janelle! Thanks so much for letting us know!
Rosie Cz. says
Absolutely delicious!!! The honey-butter glaze takes it over the top!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for letting us know, Rosie!
Dianne says
OMG! Thank you SOOO MUCH for this recipe!🙏 These are the BEST Vran Muffins I have ever made or had from a Bakery.. This is my go-to recipe every time time now.. Im gonna try makibg them with kess fat and less sugar cuz Im trying to lose weight..
Chris Scheuer says
I'm so glad, Dianne!
sharon says
Sooo very good. Hard to find the right balance of taste, texture and fat loftiness with a bran muffin and this was perfection. I did add a bit of spice and baked in jumbo cups (at 450F for first 5min to get the lift!) Definitely making these again, and often.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your review, Sharon!
Sophia B says
This is my go-to recipe. I make these muffins almost every week…they’re that good. Super moist and tasty. This recipe comes out perfect every time. Every. Time.
I do make the following changes - reduce fat by cutting oil by half and subbing in unsweetened applesauce for rest and reducing sugar to 1/3 cup total when making a double batch. I once made a batch without any brown sugar… yup, not doing that again. Needs just a little sugar. Make sure to add in cinnamon, ground ginger and all spice for richness in flavour. I look forward to having a bran muffin as my morning snack daily. Thanks for the recipe.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your results, Sophia!
Linda Mole says
Okay, so I messed up. Got wheat germ instead of wheat bran. I decided to make them anyway. I also added a cup of chopped walnuts with the raisins. These are so good. My husband even liked them; boy was I surprised. Thanks for such a good recipe. It will be going in my box. I will get wheat bran next time.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your results, Linda!
Sandra Ann Smith says
They are both fantastic---BB Buttermilk Bran---and BBB Buttermilk Blueberry Bran! I tend to prefer the raisin vs blueberry, but both are keepers. Thank you for the big clue on wheat bran---excellent addition.
Sandra
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Sandra!
Dominique says
These are the best bran muffins I have ever made! I did not have all the ingredients on hand and I had to improvise. I had dried blueberries, peanut oil , and I reconstituted heavy cream powder with an added tablespoon of vinegar to make a buttermilk substitute. I also added a pan with some water to the oven, not sure if that helped but the muffins came out with a nice dome shape. Delicious!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your results, Dominique!
Stephanie L says
Delicious. Used chopped dates instead out of preference over raisins. They did not dome. I use convection and fresh leaveners. I think that is a common issue with many bakers that I'd love to figure out. I will try to bump initial temp maybe and use top of the oven next time. There will definitely be a next time. Easy and yummy! Thanks.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Stephanie, thanks for sharing your results.
Try them next time on regular bake rather than convection. I've never made these muffins without them having a nice dome but I don't use convection as I feel a lot of readers might not have the same results as I do if I'm using convection and they're not.
So happy you enjoyed them!
Myrna says
Thank you for sharing this recipe Chris. I just want to ask if oat bran would work instead of wheat bran?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Myrna, oat bran is denser than wheat bran. I haven't tried these muffins with oat bran but I'm afraid they wouldn't be the same.
Janette Smith says
This has been my "go-to" recipe for bran muffins for two years. I soak my raisins in dark rum overnight. When I'm ready to make the muffins, I drain the raisins and pour the rum into my measuring cup, add some sour cream, and then complete the buttermilk measurement with milk (or buttermilk if I have it). They are delicious!
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your results, Janette!
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Melinda!
Malinda Price says
Chris, these were the most delicious bran muffins I have ever made! Thanks for your website!
Suzanne Carroll says
I love a good muffin and this recipe is yummy!
I also appreciate all the tips!
Thanks for sharing.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Suzanne!