Cranberry Bran Muffins

These hearty muffins are full of fiber and good ingredients! These cranberry bran muffins are extra special because they are buttermilk bran muffins made with juicy, tart cranberries! You’ll love them!

WELL it has been a minute! I have never taken this much time in between posts! I decided to take a break around Christmas to get some life things done, and behind the scenes blog work. This includes a new computer – yay! I’m beginning my journey on a MacBook – I’ve always used a PC but so far I’m loving the Mac. Definitely a learning curve though.

That being said, I hope you’ve had a fabulous start to 2023 and are feeling ready for some new recipes over here on the blog! These cranberry bran muffins were actually a product of 2022 but it’s taken me this long to publish them. They’re delicious though, so read on!

What ingredients do you need to make these cranberry bran muffins?

First of all, you need to understand the KEY ingredient to these muffins, and it’s surprisingly, not bran! These muffins NEED buttermilk to be soft and fluffy and delicious. You can absolutely make your own buttermilk, but I highly recommend the store-bought kind, or at least leaving your homemade buttermilk overnight before using it in the recipe. It’ll work much better!

For homemade buttermilk: Combine 1 1/2 cups milk with 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice. Stir it together and let it sit for at least 30 minutes, but preferably overnight.

Muffin Ingredients:

• bran
• cups buttermilk (see above)
• all-purpose flour
• whole wheat flour
• baking powder
• cinnamon
• baking soda
• salt
• honey
• molasses
• egg
• melted butter
• cranberries

Do you have to use fresh cranberries in this recipe?

You do not have to use fresh cranberries in these muffins! You could easily use frozen. I often have a package of frozen cranberries in the freezer for recipes like this, although in the winter I do use fresh cranberries as they’re so readily available!

How do you make these buttermilk bran muffins?

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F and either spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line the muffin pan with parchment liners. Stir together the bran and buttermilk, letting the mixture soak for 10 minutes before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

2. In another large mixing bowl, whisk together both of the flours, the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. To the bran and buttermilk mixture, add the honey, molasses, egg and melted butter. Stir together, then add in the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

3. Add the cranberries, and if using fresh, stir very gently in order not to break the berries. Scoop the muffin batter into each muffin cavity, filling them about 3/4 full. Sprinkle a bit of coarse sugar on top of the batter prior to baking.

4. Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan before removing each one from the pan and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Can you use bran cereal for this recipe?

You could use All-Bran or a similar cereal for this recipe, but the muffins will definitely be chunkier and perhaps not as moist. I always use the 100% bran. You’ll find it in the cereal aisle near the large oats, or even in the baking aisle.

How long do these muffins stay fresh?

At room temperature, these muffins will stay moist and fresh for 2-3 days, in an airtight container. You can also store them in the freezer for up to 2 months, thawing overnight.

Some of my other favourite muffin recipes from the blog:

We love muffins around here! These ones are always a hit with the kids:

• healthy banana carrot muffins
• healthy chocolate banana muffins
• green monster muffins
• Nutella muffins

Cranberry Bran Muffins

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5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

3.5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Katherine | Love In My Oven
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x

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Description

These hearty muffins are full of fiber and good ingredients! These cranberry bran muffins are extra special because they are buttermilk bran muffins made with juicy, tart cranberries! You’ll love them!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 cups bran
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk*
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 1/2 cup cranberries**

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F and spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line the muffin pan with parchment muffins liners. Stir together bran and buttermilk mixture and allow it to soak for up to 10 minutes.
2. In another large mixing bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. To the bran and buttermilk mixture, add the honey, molasses, egg and melted butter. Stir together, then add in the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
3. Add the cranberries, stirring very gently if using fresh cranberries to avoid breaking the berries. Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling about 3/4 full. Sprinkle a bit of sugar on top of each muffin before baking in the oven for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Muffins will stay fresh in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 2-3 days. You can also freeze the muffins for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight before enjoying.

Notes

*I highly recommend store-bought buttermilk but you can also make your own. See the blog post for directions.

**You can use fresh or frozen. They work equally as well

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Category: muffins
• Method: oven bake
• Cuisine: american

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