Best Honey Bran Muffins Recipe (Mimi’s Copycat)

Easy honey bran muffins a Mimi’s copycat. A bran muffin with molasses that is soft, a little chewy, sticky, and packed with amazing flavor and gooeyness, and they are on the healthy-ish side! Use oat bran or wheat.

If you are into copycat recipes, you might try my Flour’s Famous Banana Bread, Panera’s Broccoli Cheese Soup or Chipotle Chicken! Both spot on!

I enjoy giving precise details in my recipe posts to lead my readers through any questions. If you’re just here for the printable recipe, use the Jump to Recipe to head straight there!

I had to tweak the recipe slightly; the original recipe called for 4 teaspoon dry milk powder; I looked at the grocery store (truly), but honestly, I couldn’t be bothered, especially for just 4 teaspoons.

So, I did a little math conversion and came up with replacing said milk powder with cream or ½ & ½ and a little less water and wow did they turn out yummy!

Simple Ingredients for Honey Bran Muffins

• Light Brown Sugar, Honey & Molasses | You will make a glaze as well as use this in the bran muffins themselves.
• Oil | I like a heart-healthy oil like Avocado oil
• Egg | Room temperature is best, I always use large eggs
• Heavy cream or half & half | This acts as a binder
• Orange zest | Adds great flavor, take a few seconds and zest an orange.
• All-purpose flour | I use organic unbleached all-purpose flour
• Wheat Bran or Oat Bran | either can be used successfully, some readers have even used crushed bran cereal
• Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt | Make sure your leavenings are fresh!

How to make Mimi’s Honey Bran Muffins

Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C) and spray muffin tin (12 cup) with spray oil.

Step 1 | Make Honey Glaze

In a small bowl, whisk your glaze ingredients together and set aside. If using all natural cane sugar, whisk for a bit longer to break down the larger granules. Set aside.

Step 2 | Make bran muffin batter

In a separate bowl, add dry ingredients; flour, wheat bran, sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda, whisk to combine; set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, mix brown sugar, honey, molasses, and oil and mix on medium speed until smooth.

Add egg, water, cream (or half & half) and (optional) orange zest and mix until incorporated, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

Slowly add your dry ingredients with mixer on low speed until mixed.

Step 3 | Assemble and Bake

Stir glaze one more time. Then using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, scoop about ⅔ of a tablespoon of glaze into the bottom of each muffin cup, spreading it around and up the sides; this will ensure that the glaze is evenly distributed and gets all over that muffin!

Using a medium or large cookie scoop, scoop batter into muffin cups, about ⅔ full, careful not to overfill them, they do overflow a bit, but you don’t want them overflowing onto the bottom of your oven.

Bake for 20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

As soon as they are done, line a cooling rack with a piece of parchment paper and carefully flip the muffin tin over, allowing those beautiful bran muffins to escape.

They don’t look like much, but once you invert them — watch out baby!!

Eat immediately (especially yummy with a pat of butter) or cool and reheat (also with a pat of butter and maybe a drizzle of honey!).

Storage Tips

Cool completely and store in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days; it may be frozen for up to 6 months.

Variations and Substitutions for Oat Bran Muffins

• Fruit Additions: Add diced fruits such as apples, bananas, blueberries, or raisins (hello, honey raisin bran muffins) to the batter.
• Nut Additions: Chopped nuts like walnuts, almonds, or pecans can add a crunchy texture and extra protein to your muffins.
• Spice Additions: Add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger for extra warmth and flavor.
• Yogurt: Substitute some or all of the liquid in the recipe with yogurt for added moisture and richness. Tho, I haven’t tried it.
• Flour Substitutions: If you’re looking to make the muffins gluten-free, you can substitute wheat flour with alternative flours such as almond flour, coconut flour, or oat flour. Keep in mind that you may need to adjust the amount of liquid in the recipe to achieve the desired consistency.
• Egg Replacements: If you’re vegan or allergic to eggs, you can use substitutes like flaxseed meal or chia seeds mixed with water, mashed banana, applesauce, or commercial egg replacers.
• Oil Substitutions: You can use melted coconut oil, olive oil, or applesauce for a healthier option.
• Sweeteners: Try making these with Monk fruit sugar replacements.
• Buttermilk: I haven’t tried using buttermilk, you would need to change your leavening amounts, if you try it, let me know how it works.
• Whole Wheat Flour: For added fiber and nutrients, you can use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour or in combination with it, though you may need a little more liquid.

High Altitude Sticky Honey Bran Muffins

I bake at 5280 feet above sea level and adapt my recipes for others baking at high altitudes. This recipe has also been successfully tested at sea level and other altitudes. For just about everyone, the recipe stays the same, for altitudes above 7,000 feet:

• Add 2 tablespoons additional flour
• Reduce baking powder to ¾ teaspoon
• Increase cream or water by 2 teaspoons
• Increase oven temperature to 375° F (190° C) and bake for a few minutes less.

Best drinks to serve with bran muffins

Whip up a warm drink to make these oat bran muffins even more special! We suggest our Christmas chai latte (not just for Christmas), or this luscious Golden Milk latte and a personal favorite, Starbucks White Hot Chocolate.

Our favorite and most popular breakfast treats

Why is it so fun to whip up a fun treat for the family breakfast? Try our faves, these popular Panera orange scones, and our Panera Pumpkin Muffins; go healthy with this chocolate chip banana bread, or take it over the top with this Flour Banana Bread.

Please enjoy bran responsibly! —————– I crack myself up!!

Recipe lightly adapted from Lou Lou Girls.

More from The Fresh Cooky

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