It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow so let’s make bran buttermilk muffins! Honestly, the last time I had bran muffins was when I was 11 years old. They were always my least favorite type of muffin but they were always on our dining table when I was in middle school. As an adult, I must say that they are an acquired taste, in my opinion. They are not bad, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t do it for me like blueberry or strawberry muffins. If you want healthy muffins, this is definitely a good option because they taste like it. You can slather these with jam or whipped cream to give it a sweeter taste.
Where can I find bran?
Bran cereal is the major ingredient in this muffin recipe because we are making bran muffins. I think bran on its own to difficult to find so using a cereal is the easiest way to extract it. I used Kellogg’s Bran Flakes for this recipe. You will soak the bran cereal in the buttermilk to make it soft. That way you can use it easily in your batter. I used buttermilk because that is what I had at home, and I thought it would give it a nice depth to the muffins. However, you can stick with regular dairy milk or even almond milk.
Tips for awesome bran muffins
Just like any other muffin recipe, it is best to separate the dry ingredients from the wet ingredients before incorporating them together. Muffins come out better when the batter is dense, so avoid over-whisking your batter. Use a spatula whenever you can to help eliminate this. This is different from making cupcakes, which are whisked a lot to make them light and fluffy. We want the opposite when making muffins.
These bran buttermilk muffins actually inspired my bran bread recipe so have a look if you need something extra. Happy Mother’s Day!
Ingredients
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1&1/2 cups bran cereal (I used Kellogg's Bran Flakes)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Mix the bran cereal with the buttermilk and leave it to soak as you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients-flour, baking powder ,baking soda, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, lemon zest together.
- In another sperate bowl whisk the wet ingredients-eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract- and combine this to the bran buttermilk mixture from step 1.
- Slowly combine the dry mixture bowl with the buttermilk mixture in the previous step.
- Pour the batter 2/3 way into a greased or lined 12-hole muffin tray.
- Bake the muffins at 350°F/175°C for 25 minutes.
- Let it cool for a few minutes before serving as they are very delicate fresh out of the oven.
Notes
Store leftovers for up to a week in the fridge in a Ziploc bag.