Banana Bran Muffins Recipe
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Banana Bran Muffins are a healthy, easy-to-make, deliciously tender muffin made with bran cereal and bananas. And seasoned perfectly with hints of cinnamon and vanilla.
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Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or even teatime.
What to Love About Banana Bran Muffins
- Simple, pantry ingredients
- A good-for-you muffin with healthy protein and fiber
- Moist, tender, and utterly delicious
Banana Bran Muffins
I’ve been making bran muffins for years. They’re healthy, delicious with that nutty flavor, and make for a wonderful grab-and-go breakfast.
But the addition of banana to that ever-popular bran muffin takes it to a different level. It lends a beautiful, sweet, and tender texture to an already favorite classic.
If you’re a fan of bran muffins, you’ll love these.
Banana Bran Muffin Ingredients
Simple pantry ingredients for these equally simple to make bran muffins.
Specific measures are in the recipe card below.
- Bananas: Be sure to choose ripe bananas for best flavor
- Bran cereal: Most bran flake cereal will work in this recipe like All-Bran flakes or Trader Joe’s Organic Bran Flakes.
- All-purpose flour
- Milk: Dairy or non-dairy
- Baking powder + salt
- Cinnamon
- Large eggs
- Cooking oil
- Brown sugar:
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Banana Bran Muffins
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and lightly coat a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
Step 1: Soak Bran Flakes
In a bowl, soak the bran flakes in milk for 30 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Step 2: Combine ingredients
In the bowl with soaked bran flakes, add the oil and brown sugar, then stir in the eggs, and vanilla; stir until smooth.
Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture; along with the mashed bananas.
Step 3: Bake the muffins
Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups and bake at 425° for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the heat to 350° and bake for another 12 to 13 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool a few minutes before removing the bran muffins to a cooling rack.
Banana Bran Muffins FAQs
Any bran cereal will work here. I’m using store-brand bran flakes cereal which I roughly crush before adding to the mashed bananas.
Nutritional information will change depending on which cereal you use. For example, the store-brand cereal I’m using has 5g of both fiber and sugar. Whereas Raisin Brand contains 4g of fiber and 20g of sugar.
I’ve written this recipe using two different oven temperatures. Begin by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes before reducing the temperature to 350 degrees to finish baking.
I’ve found this method allows muffins to develop that beautiful domed top we all love.
These banana bran muffins can be stored at room temperature for a couple of days or in the refrigerator for longer.
To freeze the muffins, store in a freezer, air-tight container, like a ziplock bag, for 3 months or so. Thaw in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.
I love these bran muffins and bake them often with the base recipe. But sometimes it’s fun to add variety. These ingredients make excellent additions:
Chopped nuts
Dried fruit (raisins, dates)
Shredded vegetables like carrots or zucchini
Shredded coconut
More of our Favorite Muffin Recipes
- Cinnamon Apple Bran Muffins
- Zucchini Spice Muffins
- Rhubarb Muffins with Butter Cinnamon Streusel
- Whole Wheat Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins
- Easy Banana Ginger Muffins
- Pantry Style Morning Glory Muffins
- Coffee Shop Worthy Coconut Pumpkin Pecan Muffins
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Banana Bran Muffins Recipe
Banana Bran Muffins are a healthy, easy-to-make, deliciously tender muffin made with bran cereal and bananas. And seasoned perfectly with hints of cinnamon and vanilla.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups bran flakes, crushed
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cooking oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup raisins, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, soak bran flakes in the milk of choice for 30 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare a 12-cup standard muffin tin with liners or spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl with the milk and bran flakes, whisk in the oil, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and eggs until combined.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, mashed bananas, and raisins if using, until incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups and bake at 425° for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the heat to 350° and bake for another 12 to 13 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 267mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 2gSugar: 11gProtein: 4g
I make these Bran muffins almost weekly! They are so good, and I often give them to friends too! They’re easy to make!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoy them– I make them often too!
About the bran flakes, I measured 1.5 cups, and then I crushed them. Was I supposed to crush enough flakes to make 1.5 cups? Thanks,
Hi Janet— I do it both ways. If the bran flakes and especially large, I like to break them up before soaking. They do break down quite a bit in the soaking process.
I made these again this morning and wanted to give you an ingredient update… I only had 1 banana and wanted to use white whole wheat flour. While 2 bananas would have been better, they worked beautifully and were so healthy and delicious!
Absolutely delicious! I used Raisin Bran cereal in place of Bran flakes. Super moist and totally addictive! Just a note about step 3, you mention adding milk along with oil, brown sugar etc. I think that may be a typo as the milk is added in the beginning to the bran flakes, right?
Ugh! Yes, that’s right! I’m so glad you enjoyed them though— and thank you for trying them ❤️.
If I substitute whole wheat or maybe half whole, do I have to change anything else? And I want to make the small size muffins. How long would I bake them?
Hi Louise, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when converting this recipe to mini muffins. First of all, it should make about 36 mini muffins.
Secondly, when mashing the banana, be sure it is mashed completely and that the bran flakes are also mashed thoroughly as well.
On whole wheat flour: If you substitute 100% whole wheat flour, the muffins, with the bran flakes, could become a bit grainy. I might consider substituting half whole wheat.
And on baking time, you should plan on 10 to 13 minutes, checking them at about 9 minutes, and then every minute after until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. They can overbake quickly, so keep an eye on them!
Thank you for your question!!
These are great, Stephanie, thanks for sharing! I used whole wheat flour, applesauce instead of oil, and added cranberries and it worked out great. I’ll try some zucchini now. 🙂
Love your adaptations! Especially the cranberries. I also love substituting whole wheat flour in almost everything. Thank you for letting me know how you liked it and the changes you made :)!
The recipes look interesting, and they have some healthy ingredients, making it a healthy sweet dish and good food to consume.
Those who are health conscious can definitely try this recipe to satisfy their sweet tooth. It’s also easy to make and can be enjoyed anytime. Thank you for sharing this blog with us.
Thank you, Nancy.