Silly as it may be, I think this Simple Bran Muffin Recipe may be my favorite of all the muffins.
And trust, me, there are a lot of muffins. I have over 40 muffin recipes here, and many of them include chocolate chips or a cheesecake topping! So to say that these Bran Muffins are a favorite is saying something.
I believe it stems back to my college days when the cafeteria sometimes featured a muffin like this one. I didn’t love many of the cafeteria foods, but those muffins were a favorite and I always got excited when they were serving them!
These stir together easily and you can use any brand of Bran Flakes cereal you like!
Simple Bran Muffin Recipe
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- ½ cup brown sugar or rapadura
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 3 cups Bran Flakes cereal
- ? cup raisins (optional)
- Mix together flour, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add egg, milk, and oil.
- Stir in cereal until well combined (along with raisins if you like)
- Scoop mixture into 12 paper-lined muffin tins.
- Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

One of my kids favorite ways to eat a muffin is if I cut them in half, smear butter on them, then warm them in our big air fryer. (We use our air fryer as a toaster oven as it works great to fill it with bread, bagels, or muffins and warm/toast them slightly. YUM!)
These taste great for breakfast, and also as a side dish with soup.
Are you an “add raisins to your muffins” kind of person or a “raisins don’t belong in muffins or cookies” kind of person? (Raisins are a no-go for me, except for snacks for the kids, ha!)
Laura, can you substitute Oats for the bran flakes in this bran muffin recipe? Thank you for all you do to help with keeping within our budget. You have a load of responsibility and you are an inspiration. Blessings, Betty
Your bran muffins look so good! I used to make a recipe for 6-week bran muffin batter that you kept in the fridge. I never kept mine that long but it sure was good and your post reminded me of those yummy muffins. I actually make my bran muffins with generic raisin bran. I can find it cheaper than I can find the bran flakes, and then it already has the raisins in there (which I love so that works for me).
Love your posts and especially love the “love” you share with so many.