Raisin Bran Muffins
43 comments » 
A favorite cereal in a breakfast muffin? As Ina Garten might say, “How great is that?”
Now you all know I don’t claim to be a health nut (in fact, far from it), but for some reason Raisin Bran has always been a favorite cereal of mine. Something about those slightly sweetened flakes and sugary raisins is just perfect breakfast deliciousness. Nevermind that the word bran is actually in the name of the cereal, it has never deterred me from enjoying it. So a bran muffin that gets its bran from Raisin Bran? It might be the only bran muffin you’ll ever find me endorsing. So you know these must be faaaaabulous for me to be sharing them. And they are. How fun, right? Cereal in a muffin. Love it.
One of the best things about these muffins is that they get even better the longer you let the batter sit before baking. Now, I need to give a head nod to my Chief Culinary Consultant on this because we have differing opinions about the best way to eat cereal. Me? I use just enough milk and eat it immediately so that the cereal is still crunchy. I loathe soggy cereal. But he, on the other hand, covers the cereal with milk and lets it sit on the counter for a good 15 minutes so that it gets nice and soggy. Well, in this recipe, he definitely has the winning technique. The longer you let the batter sit, the softer the cereal in it becomes, and thus, more integrated into the muffins it is. Which increases the yum factor. If you bake the muffins right away, make sure to let the batter sit out on the counter for about 45 minutes before baking. If you want to wait, you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and it will get even better as it sits.
Score: Soggy Cereal – 1, Michelle – 0
P.S. I think this would be fantastic to try with something like Cinnamon Toast Crunch as well!
Two years ago: Cheesecake Truffles
Raisin Bran Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes (active), 45 minutes (inactive)
Cook Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2½ cups Raisin Bran cereal
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1¼ cups buttermilk
½ teaspoon vanilla extractDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and sugars. Stir in the cereal; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir until completely combined. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for at least 45 minutes (this allows the cereal to soften in the batter). If you don't want to use immediately, you can refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days.
5. When ready to bake, divide the batter between the 12 muffin tins. Sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days, and then in refrigerator for up to another week.
(Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker)
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The muffins look super good! Great photos!
I am going to try this soon! Thanks for the recipe:D
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one of my fav!
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Oh this is simply genius!! I’m going to try this with my favorite cereals!
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Ohhh yum, yum, yum! I love muffins! Especially when they’re easy
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Loving these muffins. I am trying to eat better..sort of on a healthy kick. Not sure how long it will last. Thanks for the recipe. I agree with you, though, soggy cereal sounds great in the muffins but not in the bowl..LOL.
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Great muffin recipe. I am a raisin fan:)
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And these are my husband’s favorite muffins too. I should make him some!
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I know these as Semester Muffins…
http://kitchentimes.blogspot.com/2009/09/semester-muffins.html
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Looks good!! I have come across this recipe several times and have been curious,I need to give it a go!
P.S. I’m with you on the soggy cereal…BLECK!!!
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Mmm, these look great! I’m definitely a Raisin Bran fan.
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What a creative recipe! Raisin Bran is one of my favorite cereals. I would probably love these muffins!
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I love a nice healthy muffin for breakfast! I’ve never tried making them with Raisin Bran so I’m definitely going to try this recipe.
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I had raisin bran for breakfast this morning (and love plenty of milk in my cereal)! It’s my turn for Friday Breakfast at work this week, and I think I’ll be giving these muffins a try. Thanks for sharing!
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I just read Joy’s recipe the other day and I was thinking I need to get my box of bran flakes out and make some. Delicious!
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What a great idea! My family loves Raisin Bran, so I will have to try this muffin.
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YUMMY!! Great sounding muffin :0)
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I do like things with bran in it and for some reason, I love bran muffins. This idea with the cereal seems genius to me.
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You totally grabbed my attention with the Cinnamon Toast Crunch idea. I’m totally a 6 year old when it comes to cereal preferences!
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Wish I had these muffins for breakfast! xo
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I love Raisin Bran – this looks delicious! Want one for breakfast.
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Not to bad considering I don’t care for raisins. I did add more raisins though. It’s a keeper!
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Yum!!! Raisin bran is one of my favorite cereals too, especially with added banana!!!! These look so good
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I was just thinking what I was going to do with all the cereal in my cupboard. Maybe I’ll try this
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This is such a good idea!!!
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These look awesome! You and I totally agree on the proper way to eat cereal.
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I LOVE raisin bran. It is my favorite. I can’t wait to try these.
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id love to see what these are like with cinnamon toast crunch!
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Oooooooooooh! This looks fantastic! I am putting Raisin Bran on my grocery list to make these muffins.
Whenever I go to this bakery counter, there are tons of lovely muffins to choose. Which do I decide on? The brown, boring bran one that I love. But if I can make my own from a rockin’ cereal, even better. Thanks so much for sharing! *bookmarks*.
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I have become addicted to the honey bran raisin muffin at Dunkin Donuts. It is becoming a spendy addiction. I was just thinking the other day that I need to find out how to make something similar.
And behold—I found this linked to Mom Advice’s blog. Yay!
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I made these muffins this weekend — they were delicious!
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I had raisin bran for breakfast this morning (and love plenty of milk in my cereal)! It’s my turn for Friday Breakfast at work this week, and I think I’ll be giving these muffins a try. Thanks for sharing!
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I made these muffins last night, and gave them to my daughter and husband to try. They don’t like Raisin Bran at all, so I didn’t tell them what was in them (or the name of them, of course!). My daughter loved them and thought they were apple muffins. My husband also loved them and thought they were cinnamon muffins. Only after they tasted them and confessed their love for them, did I let them in on the main ingredient. Great recipe, great muffin!!
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Made the batter for these last night and baked them in a mini muffin tin this morning for breakfast. Delicious! Kept coming back for “just one more” several times =). Thanks for the easy, tasty recipe.
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I am looking for a raisin bran (crunch!) type muffin recipe to try out tomorrow and I kind of like the look of this one. However, I have only brown sugar and regular milk. What do you think? Do you think this would still taste good?
Thanks and I think I’ve just tried to give it a whirl, so thanks again!
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Michelle on June 15th, 2011 at 10:14 am
Hi Rachel, Great! Would love to know what you did to adapt and how you liked them! Enjoy!
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This is lucky to come across this. I was trying to find a recipe for raisin bran muffins where I had everything and this meets the bill.
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I’ve made this recipe with reg bran flakes and then this morning with banana nut crunch cereal. I added cinnamon to both. DIVINE. my four, two and one year olds gobbled them up. thanks for the recipe!
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My husband loves raisin bran cereal. We both love these muffins. I added extra raisins. Sinfully healthy.
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You can avoid the waiting period if you put all your liquids on top of your cereal first and then start your dry ingredients in another bowl. The cereal gets sufficiently soggy pretty quick this way.
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