Bran Muffins

A sweet morning treat!

2 1/2 Hours

Serves: 60

Medium

A delicious start to any morning, these bran muffins have the right amount of sweetness and golden raisins add a little something extra.

This is my grandma’s classic bran muffin recipe and it is a WINNER! I can’t recommend it enough. It’s fairly easy to put together and bake. It makes a huge batch so you can make one batch and enjoy them for quite a while.

A couple of notes on ingredients: In the photo above you see a container of baking powder – that’s incorrect. It should be baking soda. I realized it before I added anything to the batter, but unfortunately not before I took the picture. LOL. Also, make sure you have golden raisins, they are much better and plumper in this recipe than regular raisins. Some people also swear you need to have name brand bran flakes, too. I made this in the time of COVID so you take what you can get in the grocery store. I used Publix brand bran flakes and the muffins still turned out great.

Making the batter is fairly easy if you follow in the instructions below. You should always make sure your eggs are room temperature when baking. Room temp eggs are easy to combine with other ingredients and just behave better. A good idea is to just set your eggs out on your counter the night before you make the dough. If you forget to do that, simply put the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes or so. I also started in a stand mixer, but after adding the buttermilk, I needed a bigger bowl. This worked out well as it is at that stage that you add the flour. I suggest adding the flour in 1 cup increments. Between each addition you’ll want to just gently fold the flour into the wet mixture just until is all moistened. This will keep your muffins light and fluffy!

These bran muffins make about 5 dozen muffins so it’s a perfect recipe to make with enough to give away to friends or neighbors and still have plenty for yourself. They also freeze really well, just pull them out of the freezer a night at they’ll be perfect in the morning. Alternatively, you don’t have to make all the muffins at once. Grandma notes in her recipe that the batter with keep for 6-8 weeks in the fridge. If you have the room, a great idea is to just keep the batter in the fridge and just make a dozen fresh muffins when you’re out.

If you give this recipe a try, please let me know what you think in the comments below or share a picture with us on Instagram (@bdhbakes).

Steps:

Preheat Oven to 350º
Cream Shortening and Sugar
Combine the sugar and the shortening in a large bowl or a bowl of a stand mixer (if using). Mix together until well combined and light and fluffy.
Beat Eggs and Add
Crack eggs into a separate bowl and beat lightly. Add them to the bowl with sugar and shortening and mix on low until just combined.
Add Buttermilk
Add the quart of buttermilk and mix on low until combined. At this point, I needed to put the batter into a separate, larger bowl.
Add Flour
Add the flour to the batter one cup at a time. After the addition of each cup gently fold the flour into the wet batter with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until all the flour is moistened.
Pour Boiling Water Over Bran Flakes
To a separate, large bowl, add your bran flakes. Pour the 2 cups boiling water on top and let stand for 5 minutes.
Add All Bran and Raisins
After five minutes, add your All Bran and golden raisins. Stir to combine.
Combine Both Mixtures
Now pour the brand and raisin mixture into the batter and stir to combine.
Pour Into Muffin Tins and Bake
Using a measuring cup or ice cream scoop, fill your muffins tins with the batter. You'll want to fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes.