These raisin bran muffins are packed with wheat bran, juicy raisins, and applesauce. Our recipe is quick, wholesome, and delicious.
We love these homemade bran muffins! They’re perfect for busy mornings or as a quick afternoon snack. We usually bake a batch on the weekend and snack on them all week long.
Muffins from a local bakery inspired this recipe, and I’m so happy they did! They turn out moist and incredibly tasty. If you’re looking for more muffin recipes, check out our banana blueberry muffins or these vanilla peach muffins. This recipe is also included in our list of healthy breakfasts!
Key Ingredients
- Wheat Bran: This is the outer layer of the wheat kernel, packed with nutrients, and adds a lovely texture to these muffins. I soak it in hot water before adding it to the batter to make the muffins super tender. I usually buy the bag from Bob’s Red Mill.
- Raisins: We plump them in hot water before adding them to the batter. You can substitute other dried fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries, or cherries.
- Applesauce: This keeps the muffins moist and flavorful. I prefer homemade applesauce, but unsweetened store-bought works, too. You could even try mashed bananas for a fun twist!
- Whole Wheat Flour: While you can use all-purpose flour, I love the added flavor and fiber of whole wheat.
- Brown Sugar and Molasses: These provide sweetness to balance the flour and wheat bran, and the molasses adds a delicious, rich flavor.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder: This batter is substantial, so we need both to help the muffins rise properly.
- Cinnamon, Vanilla, and Orange Zest: This combo makes our muffins delicious. I especially love the orange zest in this recipe.
- Eggs: They add structure and help the muffins rise. Flax eggs can be used as a substitute if needed.
- Buttermilk: I really love these bran muffins when made with buttermilk. Its tangy flavor makes them taste amazing and keeps them moist. You can make your own by mixing milk with lemon juice and letting it sit for a few minutes (see the tips below our recipe for exact amounts).
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Raisin Bran Muffins
Tip 1: Mix wheat bran with water. The secret to keeping these muffins moist is to hydrate the wheat bran with hot water before mixing it with the other muffin ingredients. It only takes a few minutes, but it makes a big difference (you can see how much it puffs up in the second photo).
Tip 2: Plump up the raisins. While you are hydrating the wheat bran, do the same with your raisins (I do this when making our oatmeal raisin cookies, too). The water plumps them up and keeps them soft and juicy in the muffins after baking.
Tip 3: Cream butter, sugar, and orange zest. This adds a lovely texture to our muffins and, because you’re adding the orange zest, a fantastic flavor. I use a hand-held electric mixer, but a stand mixer would do the trick nicely, too.
Tip 4: Mixing the batter. Once your butter and sugar mixture is light and fluffy, beat in the eggs (one at a time to make sure they are well incorporated), as well as the applesauce, molasses, and vanilla. Then alternate adding the buttermilk and the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices). Finally, finish with the drained raisins and the hydrated wheat bran.
Note that you will drain the excess water from the raisins, but add both the hydrated bran and any remaining water from the bowl.
More Muffin Recipes
Easy Raisin Bran Muffins
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These delicious bran muffins are full of healthy ingredients like wheat bran, raisins, and applesauce. For extra moist and juicy raisins in your muffins, I soak them in hot water before adding them to the batter. This simple step makes a big difference in the final texture!
You Will Need
1 ½ cups wheat bran (95 g)
½ cup raisins (80 g)
⅔ cup boiling water, divided (158 ml)
2 cups (260g) whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature (113 g)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed (213 g)
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
2 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened applesauce, try homemade applesauce (128 g)
2 tablespoons molasses, unsulphured (40 g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk (236 ml)
Directions
1Prep: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 18 standard muffin cups with paper liners.
2Hydrate the bran and raisins: Grab 2 small bowls. In the first bowl, combine the wheat bran with ⅓ cup of boiling water, stirring well to mix. In the second bowl, combine the raisins and ⅓ cup of boiling water. Set both bowls aside.
3Prepare dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
4Make batter: In a separate large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and orange zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low, then mix in the applesauce, molasses, and vanilla.
5Add half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until mostly incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then mix in half of the buttermilk. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk.
6Drain raisins and discard the water. Do not drain wheat bran. Fold both the drained raisins and the wheat bran mixture into the batter.
7Bake muffins: Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Keep muffins in an airtight container lined with paper towels up to 4 days. Individually wrap for freezing (freeze up to 3 months).
- Buttermilk substitute: Combine 1 cup of milk (dairy or non-dairy) with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice. Set aside for 10 minutes before using the recipe above.
- Measuring your flour: Fluff the flour in its container and gently scoop it into your measuring cup until slightly mounded. Then, level off the top with a knife for accurate measuring. Or, use a scale and measure the flour by weight (in grams) for even more accuracy.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
These are the best! So glad I found this recipe, it’s my favourite muffin!
Made these muffins today and they are delicious! As someone else said I could not find bran raisin muffins in bakeries anymore. I was thrilled to find this recipe that doesn’t use raisin bran cereal.I did make one change to the recipe. I used sorghum in place of the molasses and it gave them such a rich flavor. Also loved the flavor from the orange zest. This recipe is a keeper!
Love this recipe! Great ingredients and flavour!! I baked at 375 for 16-17 minutes and the inside is good although a bit crumbly and the top is slightly hard. How do I get a very soft muffin on top and also inside without crumbling? At 15 minutes the toothpick doesn’t come out clean so I left it for about 17 minutes.
I am glad you trusted your gut on bake time. The toothpick trick is really helpful. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sorry, I wasn’t that clear. I meant to ask how do I get a moist muffin inside and at the top? 16-17 minutes is too dry and crumbly at 375. 15 minutes the toothpick doesnt come out clean. Another thing, am I supposed to put 1/3 cup of hot water in with 1 1/2 cups of wheat bran? When I did that there wasn’t enough water to absorb all of the wheat bran. I used the other 1/3 cup of water for the raisins. I love the flavour and ingredients, just want to get it moist. Any tips? Thanks!
Hi there, You want to use about half of the hot water (1/3 cup) for the wheat bran (which helps hydrate it, adding to the muffins moisture), and then the remaining water for the raisins. The raisins are then drained of their water before adding them to the muffin batter. The sugar, applesauce, and buttermilk also help a lot with the muffin’s moisture. Did you change any of these ingredients? Finally, when measuring your flour, use the grams measurement or use the spoon and level method for adding the flour to your measuring cup. (Fluff the flour in its container then use a spoon to add it to your measuring cup. Finally, level it off with a flat edge). Hope that helps!
H! Thanks for your message. I didn’t change any of the ingredients and I followed the instructions exactly as written. I haven’t tried the spoon flour method yet, thx for the tip. So to clarify.is the 1/3 cup of hot water supposed to get all of the 1 1/2 cup of wheat bran soaked? Some of the bran is still dry while some soaks up the water. Is that ok? And when I drain the raisins after soaking with the other 1/3 cup of water does that water get tossed or incorporated into the batter after the raisins are drained? Thanks – I want to make these again and will wait to hear back first before I try again! 🙂
Hi again! I spent some time on the recipe today to make all of this more clear. Hopefully it helps. To answer your questions, yes, you will mix 1/3 cup boiling water with the bran (1 1/2 cups). Stir it and set aside for a bit. If some of the bran is still dry, that’s okay, but most of it will become hydrated. When draining the water from the raisins, you discard the raisin water.
I have been making these muffins every two weeks for 3 months. We have them everyday for breckfast. I told my sister about them and so now I have a question. I used Kellogg’s All-Bran Buds but she wonders about Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran. Bob’s is cheaper but she is afraid to try it since I used Kellogg’s. Will Bob’s Red Mill Work just as well? I would like to use the later as it’s cheaper. Thank you for a wonderful recipe and any help you can give me.
I used Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran and they turned out fine. When I added the hot water to it the wheat bran was barely moist after mixing and was a bit crumbly. However, the muffins were delicious!
Hi Robbyn, So happy you enjoy the recipe! Bob’s Red Mill wheat bran should work just fine.
I read the recipe & it ‘sounded’ so good that I doubled the recipe! It didn’t disappoint!! It is delicious!!! 😋
That’s amazing Barb! So happy you found our recipe.
These muffins were absolutely delicious. I’m so glad I only had to try. this as my first recipe for bran muffins & did not need to try any additional brand muffin recipes..I am happy with these…and I gave some away. However I ate most of them ! I do have one question.Can I look at the grated orange rind as an optional item ? As much as I like orange flavoring, i’m not sure that I liked it in these muffins for myself.I see everybody else liked it though..thanks very much
Hi Diane, You can leave out the orange without any other changes to the recipe.
I have to say that baking is not my talent. Generally it is nothing short of a disaster. Thank goodness I found this recipe. I actually made muffins are delicious and moist. Hurray!! I did not add the orange zest and substituted plain yogurt with a little milk to thin it instead of buttermilk, but that did not have any adverse effects. Thank you – I am so pleased with the result
Yay! We are so happy everything turned out so well for you!
I was concerned about not noticing the wheat germ in your recipe as a dry ingredient and adding it way beforehand…however it did not effect the muffins.. they are so yummy !! I’m very happy that I found this wonderful recipe that you created, because I can never find raisin bran muffins in any supermarket or any other kind of market that I go to. They just don’t sell them. They’ll sell corn muffins, blueberry muffins, pumpkin muffins ..anything but these muffins. Therefore now I can make my own.
I’m so happy I found your recipe! I love Raisin Bran muffins and wanted to give making them a try. I literally just took them out of the oven and my daughter and I had one while still hot and fresh. SO SO YUMMY!! I divided the ingredients in half to make a smaller batch, since this was my first try and the batter made 12 muffins. I baked it for exactly 18mins and they are perfect and moist. The 15 min mark was still a bit soft in the center. Thanks again!! I will definitely be making this again!
I never write a review but must for this one. The muffins are absolutely delicious, not too sweet, and so moist. I will definitely save this recipe and will do it again. For the reader, I weighed my flour and bran instead of measuring to make sure the muffin was not going to be dense.
So happy you found us, Chantal! Thanks for coming back!
Super moist muffin. I have made these a couple of times and well worth all the bowls.I do add more raisins as we love more of them in our muffins. Next time I may try dried cranberries, should be complimented by the orange zest.
Love you idea to add dried cranberries and orange zest! Yum!
I love this muffin recipe! I have played around with the spices a little bit, and my hubby says it’s the closest thing to the old A&P spice cake. I use oat bran, and double the raisin amount too!
So glad you enjoy it Linda! Thanks for sharing.
So good! I feel it needs at least 1 cup raisins, maybe more to be the best ever, that’s why 4 stars instead of 5. But otherwise a keeper! Thank you!
Made these muffins several times. They are scrumptious! I have one every morning with a cup of coffee. Thank you for a delicious muffin recipe.
We are so glad that you enjoyed your muffins 🙂
Tasty, moist and delicious. I used grated lemon. Very little, but perfect taste.
Is there a way to substitute the molasses? I live in the UK and it’s not easy to find here. Can’t wait to make these!
Try a dark honey or treacle.
made the bran muffins they were excellant! really moist
I was worried about the muffins coming out right. They were delicious. The hint of orange is perfect.
These were delicious! Used mashed banana instead of applesauce!! Yummy!!!
I’m in 6500 altitude. Suggestions for high altitudes
Hi Denise, You may find the muffins need a little longer to bake. I’d stick with the recipe as written (it’s pretty flexible), but if you feel you need to, you can increase the flour and buttermilk by 1 to 2 tablespoons.
I did make them. And I was wrong about the omission of baking soda from the ingredients list. The muffins were perfectly delicious. I’ll do this one again and again
Delicious muffins very light with a taste of orange
Any suggestions on how best to make these mini muffins?
Hi Sandy, Use a mini muffin tin. The bake time will be less so keep an eye on them. I’d check at 8 minutes, but expect they will take around 10 minutes to bake.
These are the BEST moist muffins!! I have made them twice for our church breakfast and everyone wants the recipe. They are the best I have ever made.
I would Iike to make these into raisin carrot muffins. How would you recommend I do that?
We’d try just adding some grated carrot — the recipe should not need to change much at all.
can we have printer friendly………please?….’sound great ,cant wait!
How many jumbo muffins does this recipe make.
I’d think 9 to 12
There is a grey “Print” button located in the recipe box (where we state ingredients and directions). By clicking that, you will be directed to a printer-friendly recipe.