The Retro Muffins I Make Every Week

You know a recipe is a sensation when you see it not only in multiple community cookbooks, but multiple times in the same community cookbook. So-called refrigerator bran muffins were all the rage in the 1970s and 1980s; I have one cookbook offering three different (but highly similar) recipes.

The conceit of these muffins is charming: you make a giant batch of batter and enrich it with an entire box of bran flakes cereal (itself a very ‘80s artifact). Then you stash the batter in the fridge and bake fresh bran muffins as needed for weeks and weeks—hence this recipe’s other name, six-week muffins. 

A Slight Update on a Decades-Old Recipe

Though I’d never made them myself, I’m a sucker for a retro recipe, as well as a good muffin. I tried different recipes and combined the winning recipes to make an updated version that delivers tender muffins with the slight tang of buttermilk and the toasty, robust flavor of bran cereal. In the process, I ate approximately a million muffins week after week and never got sick of them. 

The batter takes minutes to mix together, and knowing there was a stash of it to bake whenever the muffin coffers were low made me feel like I had my act together for once in my adult life. Sure, our house is a minefield of abandoned projects and overdue deadlines…but we have plentiful muffins at all times, gosh darn it.

Is Weeks-Old Batter Safe?

Keeping a bowl of muffin batter in the fridge for over a month might seem ill-advised. I baked batches through all six weeks and the leavening power of the baking soda held fast that whole time, delivering springy, plump muffins. 

As for food safety, my ServSafe food handler certificate is probably curling up its edges in disapproval as I write this, but my family is still here and in robust health. If the concept of keeping batter that long freaks you out, make only half a batch and bake it all in the recommended 3-day time frame for most refrigerated batters.

The muffins you get do change in character as the batter ages. Muffins I baked on day one were bumpy and wheaty, while muffins baked in week 4 had glossy, smooth tops. Think of this recipe as an ongoing experiment, one where every batch you can make tweaks or play with add-ins. Or just bake the same batter straight up every time. Either way, you get to experience some kitchen chemistry firsthand as the ingredients in the batter evolve. 

Soak the bran:

Put the bran flakes in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them, as if you were about to eat a giant bowl of cereal. Set aside to soak.

Prep the rest of the batter:

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until homogenous in color. Add the sugar and oil and beat until combined. Fold into the big bowl with the soaked bran flakes. If using vanilla, add it now.

In a third bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, if using. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold with a spatula until all of the flour is moistened. The batter will be a bit thick, with the consistency of oatmeal, but if it’s dense and heavy, add a little more buttermilk as needed to loosen it up.

Store:

You can either bake a batch of muffins right away or refrigerate the batter and bake as needed. (Muffins that you bake right after making the batter will have a bumpier surface and a nubbier texture.)

Cover the bowl or transfer the batter to one or two large lidded containers and refrigerate for up to 6 weeks. It may darken on the surface after a week, which is okay. Note: if you’re concerned about food safely, bake all of the batter within 3 to 5 days.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Bake:

If the batter has been in the fridge for more than a few hours, stir it well. (If it’s gotten thick as it sat in the fridge, you can mix in a little water or milk to make it less stiff.) If you’d like to include add-ins, separate out 3 cups of batter for every dozen muffins and add no more than 1 1/2 cups add-ins.

Grease your muffin tin(s) well and fill 2/3 full (I like using an ice cream scoop for this). Bake until the tops are lightly browned and spring back when you press them gently with your fingertip, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in their tins for about 5 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool.

Baked muffins will keep at room temperature in a plastic bag or loosely covered container for about 3 to 4 days. You can freeze the baked muffins for up to 1 week.

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