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These Montana All Bran Muffins are hearty, healthy and full of fiber. In my humble opinion, this is the best Bran Muffin recipe there is! I have adapted this recipe from one that was made by the cooks on my grandparents cattle ranch in the Big Hole Valley, Montana for their crews. It makes a LOT of muffins, but the best part is that you can store the batter in the fridge for up to a month! Not only that, the muffins themselves freeze beautifully. It is perfect make ahead breakfast option, or healthy snack!
Ingredients
- All Bran Cereal- This recipe uses a whole box of cereal! Make sure you get the original kind and not the Bran Buds. You can use either, but the O.G. with the bran, "sticks" is the best for this recipe.
- Boiling Hot Water- You will use 2 Cups of boiling water to soak 2 cups of cereal to use as part of the base.
- Flour- Just all-purpose flour is perfect.
- Shortening- I use the Crisco sticks. One stick is all you need.
- Buttermilk- One quart of Buttermilk goes into this recipe.
- Baking Soda
- Sea Salt
- Eggs- Use large eggs or larger if you can.
- Sugar- White sugar give these muffins a little sweetness and a nice crisp on the muffin top!
- Dates- I buy the fresh Medjool Dates and pit them and chop them up. You can certainly use raisins if you know your guests are not anti-raisin!
How to Make These Muffins
These muffins are super easy, but they do have several steps. You will need a really large mixing bowl, to mix it all together, as well as another bowl for just the dry ingredients and one for creaming the sugar, shortening and eggs.
Start by boiling 2 cups of water. Once it is boiling, add it to your largest bowl with 2 cups of the All Bran Cereal. Let it sit for 20 minutes and get soggy while you grease the muffin tin and prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a separate bowl, cream the sugar, and shortening. Add the eggs one at a time and beat each one until it is fully incorporated.
In another bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda and the rest of the box of the All Bran Cereal.
Now, alternate adding the flour mix, the buttermilk and the creamed sugar and shortening mix to the large bowl with the soggy cereal. Keep mixing while you add the dates.
Roll up your sleeves and use a nice solid wooden spoon to stir each mix in completely. You can skip your arms workout today, because this batter is thick! You are going to get those guns burning!
Once everything is mixed together, fill each muffin tin full to the top with muffin batter.
Pop them in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they are crisp and golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
How to Store the Extra Batter
As mentioned, this recipe makes a LOT of muffins. The best part about it is that the batter can be covered and stored in the fridge for up to a month! Then, just use what you need as you want muffins and you will always have hot and fresh Bran Muffins.
Another option is to bake them all at once, and then freeze the extra muffins in a sealed zip top freezer bag or container and pull them out as needed.
Options
These muffins are a great base for add ins other than the dates that are called for in this recipe. Feel free to add raisins, chocolate chips, berries or nuts instead of the dates for a delicious fiber filled muffin!
You can also easily make these into mini-muffins. Simply fill a mini muffin tin with batter and bake at 350ยฐF for 10-15 minutes, until they are poofed up and golden brown. Making mini muffins will yield TONS of muffins with this recipe!!
These All Bran Muffins are a great addition to a brunch. Add these beautiful Candied Bacon Roses and some fresh fruit for an elegant, easy breakfast that your guests will love!
More Brunch and Breakfast Recipes
- Citrus Glazed Orange Cardamom Cake- A big slice of this with a cup of coffee or tea...Mmmmmmm!
- Dutch Baby with Cranberry Orange Compote- An easy but special breakfast treat!
- Candied Bacon Roses- A delicious and beautiful addition to a brunch board.
- Pumpkin Muffins- Spicy and flavorful, full of all the warm pumpkin spice flavors.
- Easy Pear Jam- So good and so easy!
I hope you enjoy this recipe for these yummy Montana Bran Muffins! I would love to hear from you in the comments at the very bottom! Thank you and thank you for visiting Mollie in Montana~*! โฅ๏ธ
๐ Recipe
Montana Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 18.6 oz Box All Bran Cereal
- 2 cups Boiling water
- 1 Quart Buttermilk
- 5 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 5 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 Cup Shortening
- 3 Cups Sugar
- 1 ยฝ Cups Chopped Dates
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 425โ
- In your LARGEST bowl, pour 2 Cups boiling water over 2 Cups All Bran Cereal and let it sit for 20 minutes while you combine the other ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, cream the shortening, and Sugar.
- Slowly add the eggs one at a time into the shortening and sugar mixture, creaming well after each egg. Continue creaming it until it is fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and the rest of the box of All Bran cereal (about 4 cups).
- Now, alternate between adding the shortening mix, the flour mix and the buttermilk into the large bowl with the boiling water/cereal mix.
- Stir well after each addition. It will get thick, so use a sturdy spoon.
- Once it is stirred really well, spoon into a muffin tin. Either grease the muffin tin really well, or use cupcake wrappers so that they don't stick.
- Bake at 425โ for 15-20 minutes, until top is crisp and golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
- Serve hot with lots of butter! Enjoy!
Notes
Notes:
- These are refrigerator muffins which means you can keep the batter in the fridge for up to a month and use it to make fresh muffins as needed!
- These muffins also freeze really well! If you would rather not store the batter, just use it all up and then stick the muffins you'd like to save in a zip top bag or sealed container and freeze!
- Feel free to add raisins, chocolate chips, walnutes, dried cranberries or berries (I used huckleberries in my latest batch- YUM!)ย instead of dates!
Abby Salsman says
Bran muffins are my favorite! I love th option of keeping the batter in the fridge and baking fresh each morning.
mollieinmontana says
Mmmm, I love Bran Muffins too...and fresh from the oven are the best! ๐