These All Bran Muffins with Buttermilk are made with Kellogg’s All-Bran Original Cereal, whole wheat flour and buttermilk for a delicious and healthy breakfast! The result is 24 deliciously moist, fluffy and hearty bran muffins that will bring you back for seconds and thirds! 

The smell of muffins in the morning is one of my favorite morning scents! Add the warming smell to your own home with these Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins to make your next breakfast healthy and delicious! 

All Bran Muffins with buttermilk stacked on a small wooden plate against a wooden background.

Why This Recipe Works

  • Make ahead bread and breakfast to-go. These all bran muffins with buttermilk are perfect to make ahead, freeze, and grab on the go! 
  • Light, fluffy, and tender. These healthy bran muffins are super light, fluffy and tender! First, the boiling water breaks down the cereal and helps it absorb the liquid better, making them much softer even before baking! Second, the buttermilk and baking soda combined separately activates the chemical reaction, encouraging a beautiful rise in the buttermilk bran muffins. Finally, the all bran batter sits overnight to help further soften the cereal. 
  • Packed with lots of fiber! Original All-Bran Cereal contains 12 g of fiber in each 2/3 cup. Add that with the 13 g of fiber per 1 cup of whole wheat flour and you’ll see why these all bran muffins are known for packing a fiber punch! With 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of all bran cereal, these buttermilk all bran muffins are the perfect fiber-loaded treat!  
  • Crazy delicious flavor. I’m completely obsessed with these homemade bran muffins. I made them 3 times in 2 weeks! I would literally put them in the freezer to refrain me from eating them, but that didn’t work because I would microwave them! This is the best bran muffins recipe, and you are going to love their texture and flavor! 

Ingredient Notes

All Bran Muffins ingredients portioned into glass bowls on a beige textured background.
  • Original All-Bran Cereal: It must be the original All-Bran cereal, not the flakes or berries. 
  • Boiling Water: The boiling temperature of the water helps break down the fibers in the cereal, making it absorb into the cereal better. 
  • Brown Sugar: You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar has a higher content of molasses, so that flavor will be richer and the color will be darker, but you’ll get a similar result no matter which brown sugar you use. 
  • Vegetable Oil: Using vegetable oil as the fat in the batter will help the buttermilk all bran muffins to be much more moist than if using butter. 
  • Buttermilk: These all bran muffins with buttermilk are so deliciously moist and fluffy. The baking soda (a base) is added to the buttermilk (an acid), which causes the mixture to foam. This helps activate the baking soda, making the all bran muffins super light and fluffy! 
  • Whole Wheat Flour: Surprising as it is, whole wheat flour has double the amount of fiber as white flour. 1 cup of whole wheat flour contains about 13 grams of fiber! That’s amazing! Considering the 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour in this recipe + the all bran, these all bran muffins with buttermilk are packed with fiber.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Prepare the All-Bran cereal. Add the cereal to a large bowl and pour the boiling water on top. Stir to combine and let sit for 20-30 minutes to cool and absorb the liquid. 
Hot water being poured overtop all bran.
All bran cereal soaking in water in a glass bowl.
  1. Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, add the brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined. 
A glass bowl filled with brown sugar, two eggs, and oil for making an easy bran muffin recipe.
A dark brown colored sugar mixture in a glass bowl on a brown textured background.
  1. Foam the buttermilk. Add the buttermilk to a large liquid measuring cup. Add the baking soda and whisk until the mixture gets foamy. Pour the buttermilk into the bowl with the absorbed bran cereal. 
A glass measuring cup filled with buttermilk and baking soda, with it slightly foaming.
  1. Add the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients mixture to the bowl with the bran and buttermilk mixtures. Stir until partially combined. 
  2. Add the dry ingredients. Add the salt and whole wheat four. Mix until no flour pockets are left. 
Whole wheat flour in a glass bowl on a light brown textured background.
All Bran Muffins with buttermilk batter in a glass bowl on a light brown textured background.
  1. Let the batter sit. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to rest overnight. 
  2. Bake. The next morning, remove the batter from the fridge and preheat your oven to 400°F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Using a 3-tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, portion the muffin batter into the pan. The batter should only fill 1/2 of each muffin cavity. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes to with a few moist crumbs. Remove and let sit in the muffin tin for 3-5 minutes. Turn out the muffins to cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
A muffin tin filled with all bran muffin batter.
Baked all bran muffins made with buttermilk in a 12 capacity muffin tin.

Recipe Tips

Dark muffin tins will bake faster! Keep this in mind! If yours is dark, check the muffins around 13 minutes to see if they are done.

This recipe won’t work with All Bran flakes, bran buds, or berries. Stick the the regular Original All Bran from Kellogg’s. 

Letting the batter rest is an important step because the resting time allows the flavor to deepen, the bran to soften and produces a muffin with a tender crumb and better rise. 

Mixing the baking soda with the buttermilk separately allows the ingredients to incorporate and activates the chemical reaction of the two, providing an enhanced fluffy texture in the muffins. 

I love these All-Bran muffins with buttermilk as is, but if you want to add mix-ins, 1/2 cup of raisins and chopped nuts would be two great additions. 

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

The all bran muffins batter can stay in the fridge for up to 2 weeks prior to baking, so long as the buttermilk is still good.

Store the buttermilk all bran muffins at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for 5-6 days. 

To freeze, wrap the all bran muffins in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container or Ziplock bag for up to 2 months. Remove and let thaw at room temperature or microwave. 

Brown All Bran Muffins on a wire cooling rack.

Recipe FAQs

Can I substitute bran flakes?

No you can’t. This recipe won’t work with bran flakes. The all-bran original is what you need to make this recipe. 

Are all bran muffins healthy?

Yes they are! They are made with Original All-Bran Cereal and whole wheat flour, both of which are packed with fiber and protein. 

What’s the difference between insoluble and soluble fiber?

Insoluble fiber helps prevent constipation by helping food move through the digestive tract more quickly. All-Bran cereal contains 12 g of fiber (9 g insoluble and 3 g soluble) per 2/3 cup serving. 

Four plates on a light brown textured background, each plate with two to three bran muffins on them.

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Three All Bran Muffins on a brown plate against a brown wooden background.
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4.56 from 9 votes

All Bran Muffins with Buttermilk

These All Bran Muffins are the absolute best breakfast muffins you'll ever have! Filled with all bran cereal and whole wheat flour, these muffins are hearty but so light and fluffy!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Rest Time: 6 hours 35 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 24 servings

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups All Bran cereal - must be All Bran, not the flakes or berries
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar - packed, can be light or dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Place the All Bran in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water overtop and stir to combine. Let sit for 20-30 minutes to cool and absorb the liquid. 
  • In a medium bowl add the brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Use a whisk or a fork and stir until everything is combined. Set aside. 
  • Place the buttermilk in a large liquid measuring cup. Add the baking soda to the buttermilk and with a fork, mix until it becomes foamy and begins to rise. Pour the buttermilk into the large bowl containing the bran mixture. Add the sugar, oil, and egg mixture and stir until mostly combined. Add the salt and whole wheat flour and mix until combined and no flour pockets remain. 
  • Cover the bowl and place in the fridge overnight. This step is important because this resting time allows the flavor to deepen, the bran to soften and produces a muffin with a tender crumb and better rise.
  • When ready to bake, remove the muffin batter from the fridge and Preheat oven to 400°F. 
  • Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Using a 3 T sized cookie scoop, portion the muffin batter into each muffin cavity (batter will fill about halfway). Bake for 15 minutes (see note 1) or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and let sit in the muffin tin for 3-5 minutes then turn out muffins onto a wire cooling rack. 

Notes

Dark muffin tins will bake faster! Keep this in mind! If yours is dark, check the muffins around 13 minutes bake time.
Store the buttermilk all bran muffins at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for 5-6 days. 
Yields: 24 muffins
 

Nutrition

Calories: 167kcal (8%)Carbohydrates: 27g (9%)Protein: 4g (8%)Fat: 6g (9%)Saturated Fat: 1g (5%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 18mg (6%)Sodium: 304mg (13%)Potassium: 149mg (4%)Fiber: 3g (12%)Sugar: 15g (17%)Vitamin A: 147IU (3%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 61mg (6%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
author: Whitney Wright
Course: bread, Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review on the blog post letting me know how you liked this recipe! Take a picture and tag @saltandbaker on Tik Tok, Instagram, and Facebook so I can see what you’re making!

Recipe from my good friend, Janey.