World’s Best Bran Muffins is not a title to be taken lightly. Once you taste these, you’ll call them by no other name! You will want to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
These tasty little baked goods are inspired by a childhood favorite. We would often have them with dinner, and leftovers would be our breakfast the next day. Seems strange, I know, to have muffins for dinner, but as kids it was the best thing ever. Still is. Try it.
Another muffin I love at dinner is this Caper-Herb Corn Muffin.
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Muffins are quick-breads, so the recipe is really easy for kids to put together and bake. This was one of our dinner duties as kids, making muffins. Instead of plain bread and butter with dinner, it was something slightly sweet on the side of our main dish.
I like using a heavier gauge muffin tin, rather than a standard pan. I find it bakes my muffins more evenly. This gold version from Calphalon is great.
If you typically don’t use muffin papers, a good non-stick muffin pan like this one from USA Pan is a necessity. You still have to grease the cups, but it just takes a little cooking spray and your muffins pop right out with a little nudge.
How to make the best bran muffins:
For most people bran muffins are a boring breakfast food. Something slightly bland that goes down in the name of fiber.
In my recipe I kept the fiber. Kept the signature bran. Added some whole wheat flour, extra brown sugar, sweet raisins and poof! The World’s Best Bran Muffins are ten times better than any muffin you’ve ever had. One secret tip is to grind the raisins (currents or dried cherries if you want to sub) in the food processor with some of the All-Bran cereal. These small bits of dried fruit add sweetness, flavor and actually absorb a bit of the liquid to help the muffins stay moist and tasty, like cake. I love cake. But, not to get side-tracked…
World’s Best Bran Muffins are delicious anytime of day!
You can definitely call this a healthy breakfast. With 3 grams of fiber each and low-fat yogurt mixed in (adds a little protein), you’re not doing so bad. If you take my advice to heart, they really do make an amazing addition to dinner, lunch, or as a snack. It’s an all-day thing for me.
Oh who wouldn’t want to put a little butter and honey on that gem!? Best bran muffins for the win! Let me know how you like these, and how brunch month goes for you!
- 2¼ cups All-Bran cereal
- ½ cup raisins dried currants or dried cherries
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups low-fat plain yogurt
- ¼ cup unsulfured molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Raw sugar crystals optional
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Heat oven to 400°F. In a food processor, finely grind half the cereal. Add raisins and blend until finely chopped. Transfer mixture to a bowl with remaining cereal, flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; set aside.
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Combine butter, eggs, yogurt, molasses and vanilla. Stir together wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
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Line muffin tin with baking cups; fill each just more than halfway. Sprinkle generously with sugar crystals, if desired. Bake until muffins spring back when touched, about 18 min. Remove from the tin and allow to cool slightly.
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You can store remaining batter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- Bran muffins are good for your heart, but too often they taste like cardboard. The challenge – to create a moist, delicious, satisfying bran muffin that still packs a healthy 3 grams of fiber. You will love what I came up with.
Try these other quick bread and muffin recipes too:
Double Chocolate Muffins
Recipe Tara Bench. Photographer Rita Maas. Prop Stylist Tiziana Agnello. Food Stylist Anne Disrude. Originally published in LHJ 03/09
Thomas Craney says
May 12, 2019 at 8:31 pmReally excellent: I did them with bran flakes, baked at 350 (25-30min). Hydrated the raisins in water before blending, used 70/30 greek/buttermilk and used all wheat flour.
I like that they are not overly sweet and I added crushed hazelnuts which worked a treat.
Thanks
Tara says
May 19, 2019 at 12:35 pmFantastic! I’m glad you made your own adjustments!
Mary Bench says
May 17, 2019 at 7:45 pmTruly the best muffin ever!
ELF says
May 27, 2019 at 3:22 pmAny idea on how to lower the salt. I am looking for low salt and low sugar. Thanks.
Tara says
June 6, 2019 at 5:32 pmYou can simply reduce or omit the salt. Salt brings out the flavor of other ingredients. So in baked goods a little salt balances everything out. If your diet can handle it, I’d also suggest trying a salt substitute that you can find at the health food store. You can also try substituting coconut sugar or a sugar substitute. I have not test this, so the result may be slightly different, but that is my suggestion!
Isa says
June 19, 2019 at 4:03 pmCannot wait to try these.
Can I add passion fruit pulp. Or other fruit to the batter instead of sultanas?
Laura says
July 29, 2019 at 7:21 amI followed the recipe and I thought they were to dry?
Tara says
August 2, 2019 at 3:12 pmOh I’m so sorry. I haven’t ever been given that feedback. It’s one of my most popular recipes. Some things you can do are make sure you are measuring your liquids in a liquid measuring cup as well as have an oven thermometer to make sure your oven isn’t running high. Thanks for leaving a comment! I hope you can enjoy some other Tara Teaspoon recipes.
Jill Ouellette says
August 4, 2019 at 6:41 pmI, too, improvised…sour cream in place of the yogrt simply becuase I was out at the time; regular flour for the entire receipe; added flax seeds. They turned out great! I think the molasses is a terrific touch. And not a lot of extra sweetness. I drizzle them with honey or pair them with fresh fruit if I desire a tad more sweet. Well done! Thank you for posting.
Sarah Alderman says
September 13, 2019 at 2:30 pmI am making these today and the mix is really, really stiff! Is is supposed to be this way? I measured everything precisely and I am a pretty experienced baker. Guess I will know after they are baked!