Make-Ahead Refrigerator Bran Muffins
This easy recipe for healthy, whole grain bran muffins is a huge family favorite! The batter can be kept in the fridge for up to a month, which means you’ll only ever be a few minutes away from warm, fresh-from-the oven bran muffins!
It’s no secret that we love breakfast around here.
If you ask me, breakfast is the only thing worth waking up for (says the matriarch of a family filled with other morning-haters).
I’ve talked my head off about this before, but during the week, I try to get a quick and easy, warm breakfast in the kids’ tummies before sending them off to school, relying on cold cereal as a backup for the extra chaotic days.
I don’t get fancy on school mornings. There aren’t any pancakes in the shape of a unicorn.
There’s not a single slice of French toast garnished with strawberries and artfully dusted powdered sugar.
It’s all about healthy, hearty survival around here.
Functionally delicious. That’s what I like to call it.
Here are a few of our go-to, easy breakfasts:
Overnight Buckwheat Waffles or Pancakes
Whole Wheat Make-Ahead Pancake Mix
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancake Mix
Overnight Raised Waffles
Overnight Steel Cut Oats
Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
Amid all those breakfast options (and even more of our favorite breakfast recipes here), excitement never gets quite as high as when these make-ahead refrigerator bran muffins show up to the party.
I’ll admit (and you can give me a hearty amen, cause I know you’re all thinking it), the bran muffin batter isn’t necessarily the most appealing-looking thing on the planet.
But humble looks aside, these bran muffins are stellar. Promise.
Out of all the muffin recipes on my site (yes, even the sweet treatsy ones), these bran muffins are my kids all-time favorites.
And to be honest, they might be my faves, too.
Ever so lightly sweet and packed with bran and other whole grains, these bran muffins are simple to make and so delicious.
The best part? You can mix up the one-bowl batter and store it in the refrigerator for up to 30 days!
That means you can have fresh, warm-from-the-oven bran muffins whenever you want with hardly any effort.
Bake two at a time!
No wait, how about 24?
It doesn’t matter, because that batter was born to be patient and wait.
When you are ready to bake some bran muffins, give the batter a good stir and start scooping.
To make quick, even work of the scooping, I use this cookie scoop for this batter (and actually most other muffin recipes, too). It’s the perfect size.
Sometimes, though, even knowing the batter is ok to stay unbaked in the fridge, I still bake all the muffins at once.
I let them cool and then toss them in large ziploc bags to go in the freezer.
I know it only takes a few minutes to bake a muffin, but there are some mornings where baking a muffin might be the thing that puts my time-sensitive person over the edge.
Pulling a few bran muffins out of the freezer and quickly warming in the microwave for less than a minute? Yeah, we can do that.
Or rather, my kids can totally do that.
Occasionally we dig out the cute honey bear from the pantry to drizzle on these bran muffins, but most often, we keep it simple.
Warm muffin + sweet cream butter = bran muffin perfection.
Soft and tender, these bran muffins are amazing.
Considering I grew up eating bran muffins very similar to this at least weekly and loved every bite, it’s no surprise I’m looping my kids into the same breakfast cycle.
When recipes are this easy and stress-free and still produce such delicious results, you really can’t help but love them.
Have you made these bran muffins before?
They are a long-standing favorite for my family and I know for many of you, as well.
Humble in appearance but magnificent in taste, these bran muffins are the best of the best.
I hope you love them!
Make-Ahead Refrigerator Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 cups (about 227 g) wheat bran flakes or plain wheat bran
- 2 cups (about 113 g) bran buds, (look like little pebbles) or all-bran (look like little twigs)
- 2 cups boiling water
- 4 cups (1 quart) buttermilk, (or equal parts sour cream and milk whisked together)
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, melted
- ½ cup (113 g) unsweetened applesauce
- 2 cups (425 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 cups (about 710 g) whole wheat flour
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl with a tight fitting lid (needed if you aren’t baking the muffin batter right away), add the wheat bran flakes or wheat bran and the bran buds or all-bran.
- Pour the boiling water over the top, and mix well. Stir every couple of minutes while the mixture cools to room temperature. The mixture will be thick and sticky; it’s ok if there are a few dry patches.
- After the mixture cools to warm room temperature, add the buttermilk, melted butter, applesauce, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until ingredients are combined.
- The batter can be baked right away or stored in the refrigerator, covered well, for up to a month to bake as needed. Give the batter a good stir before using if it has been refrigerated.
- To bake, scoop the batter into greased or lined muffin tins, filling 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees (350 degrees for dark coated muffin tins) for about 14-16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
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Recipe originally posted September 2010; updated with new photos, commentary and recipe notes.
these are also great for individual servings–microwave 1/4 cup in a mug or bowl for 1-2 minutes, and voila!-one quick muffin!!
Excellent muffins. The whole family loved them. Just informationally, we used Great Value (Walmart) Bran Flakes and All Bran Buds, and half white wheat, half whole wheat flour. DELICIOUS. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Wow. Super easy and so yummy. I’m a health nut when it comes to my kids and this was excellent. My 4 yr old daughter basically made them and they were perfect.
I am adding this to my healthier approach to getting my kids to eat better. So I guess it will start with me. My question for you is will this recipe work if I substitute the buttermilk. I know the buttermilk helps to keep the muffins moist. My youngest has an allergy to milk in comparison to the those with peanut allergies. I was wondering if I could use soy milk as a substitute?
Brenda – I don’t use soy milk so I’m not sure how it substitutes in baking. You’ll probably have to play around with the recipe and see how it turns out using the soy milk. Good luck!
For those looking for bran flakes and buds without HFCS or other funky stuff, I noticed both at Trader Joes today (the ingredient list looked nice and straightfoward). Anyway, I just pulled my first batch out of the oven and they are mighty tasty. The kids are enjoying their after-school snack. Thanks for another great recipe!!
Thanks Melanie. I actually just ran to the store and bought the flakes. These turned out so good! There’s a place in Utah called Rainbow Gardens that have awesome muffins and I think these taste just like them! Thanks for the recipe!
Melanie – I’ve never tried it that way but it’s definitely worth a try. I think you might miss out on a little texture differences but if you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Hi Melanie,
I was looking for a healthy muffin for school breakfast and this is perfect! I was wondering if it would work if I just used 6 cups of All Bran (the twigs) instead of the 2 different types? Thanks again for this recipe. It looks perfect!
In an effort to learn some baking skills before leaving home my 18 year old is baking one new thing a day for 30 days (lucky me!). He made these today and we LOVE them! So easy and quick and super tasty. He’s going to play around with adding cinnamon and raisins to the next lot. Can’t wait! 🙂
Melanie – I totally messed up when I made these this morning. I used 4 cups of wheat bran and 2 cups of the bran flakes! oops! But, they turned out great! My hubby ate a few hot out of the oven and loved them. Then, my picky five year olds and 1 1/2 year old each ate 2 for lunch! I bought “unprocessed wheat bran” instead of the all-bran cereal (why does everything have to have high fructose corn syrup in it? ahh!). Then, I used whole wheat pastry flour. It worked great, and I’m so glad I have batter in the fridge for tomorrow! Thanks for the healthy recipe!
These were so good! My 3-year-old and 21-month-old even liked them, and I love the fact you can mix up a huge batch and bake them fresh every morning for a month (if the mix lasts that long!) Thanks as always for the great recipes.
I make these often. We love them. I make the batter plain and then sometimes add goodies as I bake some up. We like dried cranberries or raisins but I must admit are favorite is semi-sweet chocolate chips. If I don’t add chocolate they are wonderful hot with a little cream cheese. 🙂
Thank you so much for such a fantastic and quick breakfast recipe. I am a big fan of bran muffins but haven’t had a good one in a long time. I made these this morning before church and they were so moist and delicious and came out as good as I imagined. This batter will certainly become a staple in our fridge right beside your equally wonderful oatmeal pancake mix! I just ate another one for an afternoon snack and it was still just as moist and yummy. It feels great making healthy homemade meals for my family without a big fuss or mess. I plan to make some mini muffins to freeze for a quick afternoon snack for my kiddos. (Idea stolen from my sister-in-law. 🙂 )
Heather – isn’t it great when something healthy tastes good, too? Love the mini muffins idea!
I’m so torn. My 2 year old loves these muffins. I still prefer my old recipe loaded down with sugar :-X BUT after making them morning after morning for my son, they did grow on me and I actually liked them the more I ate them. So next time I make them I have no idea which recipe I want to use.
Just a side note, after like 2 weeks, my batter was a funny color ontop. It was like a greyish color instead of brown, but once I scooped into the batter it was the regular color. It made me leery of eating it! Is that normal?
Haley – I’m glad these muffins have grown on you. My batter also develops a weird-ish color but I just mix it all around and use it anyway.
Mel, where can I find bran buds? I am opposed to all-bran and Wheaties since they have so many additives, including corn syrup. Is there a way to just use more wheat bran? I live in Japan, and some specific ingredients are hard to find. I did convince a visitor to bring a whole bunch of wheat bran. 🙂
Hi Anne – I don’t blame you for avoiding the other cereals. I admire you, actually! To be honest, the bran buds might have just as many additives. I’ve never looked closely. Really, though, you could try using all wheat bran. My sister has done that before. It makes the muffins a bit more dense than normal but she loves them that way.
Having never tried bran muffins before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the sweetness and moistness were great! We loved them. Thanks for the recipe(s).
SJ – glad you liked your first try with bran muffins!
Thanks for this recipe. We’ve been enjoying them all week, it makes me happy to see my 18 month old eating such a healthy breakfast 🙂
Thanks, Nicole!
Oh and one more thing: I used my Bosch to mix everything. I had started the first parts in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, but decided quickly that it was going to take too much effort (my Bosch has made me the laziest person on the planet), so I just dumped it all into the mixer with my wire beaters. Fabulous, and nothing but clean-up of the mixer for me, as far as “work” goes!
Fabulous fabulous. Made these to help with the Thanksgiving pie/junk-food overload. I halved the recipe, and did a couple things different: made my own buttermilk (added 2T lemon juice to 2c 1% milk); used a little less than the full amount of sugar. They are still plenty sweet, and I’ll try even less sugar next time. I also didn’t have any wheat bran flakes, but I did have Raisin Bran, which is pretty much the same thing. I just used that, so our muffins also have the occasional raisin in them. Used All-Bran cereal (twigs).
I baked them and after they cool I’ll wrap each one into plastic wrap, and then freeze them in a large ziplock for a fast breakfast/snack. That is, if I have any left…the little 2.5 year old around here has eaten 3 in a row!
These are just fabulous! Thanks for another good one!
Julianne – so glad you like these muffins and thanks for including your variations. I’m glad the little bug likes them, too!
I just made these for the first time yesterday and had teriffic results. I used 4c wheat bran and 2c All Bran cereal. My super picky, wheat bread hater husband even declared them “awesome”! I baked a dozen and he ate half right out of the oven and took another for breakfast this morning. I was SO tempted to tell him just how healthy they were but didn’t for fear that he wouldn’t touch them in the future 🙂 Your pancake mix recipe with the whole wheat flour substitution is already a regular breakfast/snack in our house and I have a feeling these muffins will be a staple as well. THANKS!
Amy – so glad you liked this recipe! Thanks for including your changes. And kudos to winning over your husband with them!
I have been making these and love them! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks, Heidi!
I just made these this morning and they are delicious! I have never made bran muffins before so I was a little hesitant – but I trusted you and I am so glad I gave it a try! Major comfort food!
Jess – glad you liked these despite your initial hesitations!
I have been looking for the perfect bran muffin recipe so I have to try this!
Just made these for breakfast and they are so delicious! I usually do not like bran muffins (cardboard as I refer to them), but these are so moist and yummy. This is a keeper. Thanks, Mel!!
Glad you liked them, Lani! Thanks for checking in to let me know!
I have to admit I was skeptical. I made just a 1/2 batch. These are wonderful. All three of my boys and even my husband said they were good (not an easy accomplishment). I did make them with splenda rather than sugar and saved about 30 calories per muffin. Thanks for the fun new recipe.
Nanci – I’m glad these muffins proved their worth since you were skeptical at first! Thanks for checking in to let me know you liked them!
I love bran muffins too, perfect way to use the homemade applesauce I just made!
Just wondering what we could use instead of all the white sugar. I love the recipe but really want them even more healthy without white sugar. Any suggestions?
Oh, and I did make these and my kids had them for breakfast this morning. I just cannot have white sugar!
Thank you.
Carla – I’m not an expert on sugar substitutions but if you are concerned about the sugar content, you might try substituting splenda like another commenter mentioned or just decreasing the sugar to 1 cup or 1 1/2 cups.
A cookbook I own has a recipe for bran muffins that can be stored in the refrigerator for six-weeks. I’ve never tried them, but I’m just mentioning it because 30 days really is realistic for a lot of refrigerator bran muffins.
That said, I’ve never been tempted to try a bran muffin recip before–but I’m running out to get all the stuff today because you’ve sold me. I’m so excited!
This is an answer to my prayers! I can’t wait to get a batch in my fridge & in my oven! This year I have a kindergartener and a preschooler – the mornings are a struggle for ME, actually, to get it all done and out the door in time -anything QUICK for breakfast is usually sugary and full of fat… THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
As a huge fan of your pancake mix, and a lover of bran muffins, I can’t wait to give these a try. They will be perfect for my daughter who has cheer practice before school and has not been making time for breakfast. Thanks Mel!
Hi Mel, I just wanted to clarify…you said your sister exclusively uses the wheat bran in place of the flakes, which is what I want to do. Does she still use the bran buds or all wheat bran? Thanks, can’t wait to try them!
Hi Patti – my sister Em uses wheat bran in place of the flakes and still uses the bran buds – so in reference to the actual amounts she uses 4 cups wheat bran and 2 cups bran buds or all-bran. Hope that helps!
I plugged this recipe into a recipe calculator (http://www.sparkrecipes.com/) is the one I used and I used Kellogg’s brand products for entering the wheat bran and all bran ingredients. I was mostly curious on the fiber and sugar content per muffin. Here are the results for those interested. Also, I am also really interested in the microwave option….I have individual silicone muffin cups that would work great for that and then my husband who leaves the house before we are up could just pop one in the microwave on his way out….Jennie, any more on this?
Nutrition Facts-Condensed Version of just the main info…gives you more in depth on each vitamin as well…
User Entered Recipe
48 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories
124.9
Total Fat
2.9 g
Saturated Fat
1.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat
0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat
0.7 g
Cholesterol
22.8 mg
Sodium
201.4 mg
Potassium
56.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate
23.3 g
Dietary Fiber
2.9 g
Sugars
9.6 g
Protein
3.6 g
Michelle – thanks for the nutritional info!
Thank you for taking the time to provide this very detailed and informative nutritional facts. Very helpful.
I’m not a baking person, but I sure would love to have one of your muffins.
I’m glad you mentioned that these freeze well. They sound wonderful!
These look wonderful. I can’t wait to try them. Yum!
I don’t mean to sound like a skeptic, but 30 DAYS! REALLY?!? If it is true this is amazing.
Megan – I know, 30 days sounds extreme, but it really works. I will say this, though, the batter starts taking on a dark, nasty-ish hue after a few days, even. If you can get over that, the muffins still taste great and actually, I never have the batter in my fridge that long. Usually within a week or two we’ve used it up and I am making another batch.
These sound perfect for rushed mornings. I just found out that I’m going to have to head into school SUPER early this month, and these sound like the perfect solution for a rushed breakfast. Thanks!
YOu had me at “hello”. I’m adding bran buds to my grocery list right now and can’t wait to try this.
What a great recipe. Healthy and perfect for those mornings when you don’t have a lot of time for making breakfast but still want something delicious and homemade to eat.
This might be a silly question, but do you use regular apple sauce or the no sugar added apple sauce? I actually love bran muffins and I can’t wait to try some of these!
Erin – that is not a silly question and I appreciate you giving me the chance to clarify. I always use the no-sugar added applesauce. I’ll edit the recipe to reflect that!
I had some apples no one was eating, so I threw them (with the cores sliced out) into my pressure cooker- skins on and everything. Them blended them with a hand blender- applesauce!!! I used it in the muffins and they turned out delicious! Thank you, Mel for the amazing recipe.
These look delicious! I’m excited to try them! I can’t tell however, if the ones in your pictures are mini or regular size muffins. I would prefer to make mini muffins, as they’re just the right size for my 2-year-old. Would the cook time need to be adjusted for the smaller muffin?
Tracey – the ones I made are regular sized muffins. I’m sure they would work equally well as mini muffins but I would bake them for 8-9 minutes and check often to make sure they don’t overbake.
If these are like the ones we had growing up, you can microwave them too. I’ll have to check my mom’s recipe.
Jennie
Oh, I want to try these. One question though, do you know if they freeze well? Don’t want to be baking every morning and we are now an empty nest : (
Lani, actually, these freeze great! I will sometimes make up a batch and then after the muffins have cooled, I pop them in a freezer-safe ziploc bag. They reheat well in the microwave for 30-ish seconds.
We love muffins here! For awhile, the only thing my two year old would eat for breakfast was muffins. My kids love mini muffins in there lunch too. Their favorite kind right now are your pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I can’t wait to try these.
Oh, I can’t wait to try these! Like Kim, I’ve never had a bran muffin that I particularly liked, so I’m excited about these. They sound great, and keeping the batter in the fridge is a fantastic idea.
I don’t know if I ever commented to say I LOVE your oatmeal pancake mix too!! I feel so much better making that for my 2 year old than a boxed mix (even if we do often put some chocolate chips in them lol). There is always a batch of the mix in our fridge. We do find that we need 1 1/4 cups of the mix though… I know you said it would thicken upon standing, but for us, without that extra 1/4 cup of mix, we end up with something more like crepes than pancakes… we’re right be the ocean, so maybe it’s an altitude/humidity difference or something??? Who knows. Regardless, as long as we add that extra 1/4 cup, they are always super! 🙂
Im going to make these today after I go to the store! My toddler is obsessed with mini muffins right now, so I am trying to come up with healthy varities! I hope these will turn out well as mini muffins!
What kind of bran flakes and bran buds do you use?
For all those inquiring about what kind of bran I use – I almost always buy the Kellogg’s brand of bran flakes and bran buds or twigs (All-bran) and have also had good results using Wheaties as the bran flakes. However, my sister makes these muffins exclusively with wheat bran (a fine, flaky substance you can find in bulk in the natural foods aisles oftentimes) in place of the bran flakes and she uses the Bob’s Red Mill brand. It is a very versatile recipe in that way, but I do encourage finding a good quality bran product no matter what brand it is since that is definitely the focus of the recipe.
Is there a way to make these muffins dairy-free?
Not sure since I haven’t tried it. Someone else may have done it (and left a comment in the thread). Otherwise, you’ll have to experiment. Good luck!
I have made them with Aldi bran flakes and All Bran buds. They are so good! And my kiddos and I have happy tummys when we eat these.
Ooo I agree, those do look delicious! And nothing better than when a food can be fast AND healthy!
I have to say that I have never eaten a bran muffin that I LOVED. They are always dry and taste like cardboard! Your recipe looks like the exeption to the rule! You have never steered my wrong, so I will give them a try. I love that you can keep the batter in the fridge! Thanks for sharing, Melanie!
Oh- and I would love to know what brand of bran flakes you used, too. The quality of the bran is obviously the most important part of this recipe.
What kind of bran flakes do you use? Also, I tried the lime/cilantro rice last night and it was wonderful!!! Thanks for the great recipes.
Ah! Healthy muffins! I need these in my life. I’m obsessed with muffins.