Big Bakery Bran Muffins

4 Extra-Large Muffins

  • 1½ cups plain wheat bran—not bran cereal or bran flour

  • 1 cup buttermilk

  • ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil

  • 1 large egg

  • ⅓ cup honey

  • ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon regular molasses, not blackstrap

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • Optional nuts: ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, lightly toasted and cooled; use ¾ cup for extra nutty muffins

No buttermilk? Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar into a measuring cup. Add whole milk up to the 1-cup line. Stir and wait 5–10 minutes, then use all of it. It may look slightly curdled and won’t be as thick as cultured buttermilk.

Sticky honey coating

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

  • ¼ cup honey

  • 3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon water

  • Small pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Soak the bran. Combine wheat bran with buttermilk—or your prepared substitute—and leave for 15–20 minutes.

  2. Prepare the oven and pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease four muffin wells, including their upper edges. Skip paper liners.

  3. Make the coating. Gently warm the butter, honey, brown sugar, water, and salt, stirring until melted and combined. Don’t boil it down into caramel. Reserve half for finishing. Divide the remaining half among four wells, spreading it over the bottoms and partway up the sides.

  4. Mix the wet ingredients. Whisk together oil, egg, honey, brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla. Stir in the soaked bran.

  5. Add dry ingredients. Separately whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold into the wet mixture just until the flour disappears. Fold in the optional nuts now.

  6. Fill the wells. Divide batter among four wells, keeping each approximately ¾ full, including the coating. If there’s extra, bake it separately instead of overfilling.

  7. Bake. Start checking at 25 minutes; expect approximately 28–38 minutes. The centers should spring back gently, and a toothpick inserted into the muffin—not down into the syrup—should show moist crumbs without wet batter. Loosely tent with foil if the tops darken too quickly.

  8. Turn out while warm. Rest in the pan for 5 minutes, gently loosen the edges, and carefully turn onto a rimmed plate. Don’t let the glaze cool and stick inside the wells.

  9. Finish the sticky coating. Brush the reserved glaze over the warm tops and sides, reheating it gently if needed. Add a few nut pieces if you like. Let settle 10–15 minutes before splitting.

Serve with softened butter