Hi. My name is Faith and I used to be a cereal addict.
No seriously. I could have eaten cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner as a child. Thankfully I had parents that didn’t let me indulge in my love of all things crunchy, sweet and dredged in cold milk three times a day. Even my grandparents called me the cereal child and would stock up on cereal whenever we came to visit. They even had those bowls with the straws attached so that I could slurp up my marshmallow or chocolate flavored milk after I finished eating.
As you can tell by the flavor of my milk, the cereal I ate growing up, and even into college, wasn’t always the healthiest. My parents didn’t ban sugary cereals in the house growing up so lucky charms (or Marshmallow Mateys as we knew it), Captain Crunch, Corn Puffs, Cocoa Puffs and Fruity Pebbles were just some of my favorite.
When I got into high school my cereal choices matured a little and I upgraded to Frosted Mini Wheats, Granola, Raisin Bran and Honey Bunches of Oats. With these more “sophisticated” cereals, I would always mix three kinds together. That way, instead of having to choose just one kind to eat, I would mix three kinds together and end up with a bowl full of different textures and flavors. Then just pour some cold milk on top and I was good to go.
Breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day. I’m a morning person and for me there’s nothing better than sitting down to a warm bowl of oatmeal in the still, quiet of the morning. I still love cereal, but rarely eat it. This is because of a few reasons. The main reason is that I’ve come to care about what ingredients I put in my body. In the past year I learned a great deal about how to read ingredient labels and was shocked to find that I had been putting a lot of junk in my body over the course of my life. It’s hard to find packaged goods at the store that don’t contain High Fructose Corn Syrup, food colorings or artificial flavors. Another reason I don’t eat cereal very often is because it doesn’t fill me up very well. A smaller bowl of oatmeal with some chia seeds, fruit and nut butter keeps me going for hours because it contains a combinations of carbohydrates, fiber and healthy fats. The last reason I don’t eat cereal much anymore is because most types are full of processed sugar, making you (or at least me!) want bowl after bowl after bowl. I love having a sweet breakfast first thing when I wake up, but I know the sugar from fresh fruit or a little maple syrup will satisfy my sweet tooth without making me want to eat sugar the rest of the day.
So in order to get the best of both worlds, I finally decided to dive into the realm of homemade cereal. To be honest, I’ve always loved bran flakes. Anything “bran” for that matter is right up my alley. Bran cereal usually has a high fiber content and less sugar which is also something I love about it. That’s how this Homemade Bran Flakes Cereal came to be. I wanted to make something that wasn’t full of sugar, but would also keep me full for hours. This cereal does the trick!
It’s perfectly crunchy and pairs beautifully with fresh fruit and Homemade Oat Milk or Almond Milk. I’m still a cereal mixer at heart, so I often mix this Homemade Bran Flakes Cereal with some of my Cinnamon Raisin Granola as well. Perfection in a bowl I tell ya!
If you’re a cereal lover too, but want to eat less processed foods, I hope that this Homemade Bran Flakes Cereal works for you! It’s become a staple in my house and it’s perfect for those days when I just want to dig into something crunchy first thing in the morning. Enjoy!
- 1 cup wheat bran
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until everything is combined and a dough forms.
- Separate the dough in half and place one half on one prepared baking sheet and the other half of the dough on the second baking sheet. Rip off a large sheet of wax paper and lay it over top of the dough on one of your baking sheet. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out as thin as you can by rolling on top of the wax paper. The dough is really sticky, so the wax paper keeps the dough from sticking to your rolling pin. You want your dough to be so thin that it almost becomes see through it. Once your dough is completely rolled out, slowly pull off the wax paper. I've found that the dough is still really sticky at this point so in order for me to get the wax paper off, I pull it back at a 180 degree angle.
- Repeat this process with the second half of the dough until you have two very thin layers of dough on your baking sheets.
- Place the baking sheets in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the dough is starting to brown in places. Watch carefully after 10 minutes, because you don't want it to burn completely and it depends on how thinly you rolled out your dough. Some brown spots are fine.
- Remove the sheets from the oven once they are done and let them cool completely.
- Reduce the heat in your oven to 275 degrees.
- After the bran sheets have cooled they will feel slightly rubbery in places and hard and crispy in others. Rip up each bran sheet into bran flakes and place all of the bran flakes back onto one of the baking sheets.
- Place the bran flakes back into the 275 degree oven and let the flakes bake for 15-20 minutes more, stirring the flakes every 5 minutes. If any of the flakes are really brown and crispy you can remove them early.
- Let the flakes cool completely after baking and store them in an air tight container.
- Serve with Homemade Almond or Oat Milk and fresh fruit!
Today I’m also linking up with Tina and Deborah for Meatless Monday!
Eat Consciously,
Faith
Based on 1 Review(s)
Faith,
I really missed cereal after switching to a nutritarian/ Whole Foods Plant Strong diet.. I leave out sweetener but it is still so amazing. I can’t believe I can make homemade bran flakes! And feel so good about what I eat. Another go to recipe for me and my husband. Thank you so much. Lisa
Lisa, this is music to my ears! I’m so glad you made and enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for commenting!
Hey I tried it today, and swapped the maple syrup and milk with coconut sugar and soya milk powder, ofcourse upped the water a bit, it turned out great! Can’t wait for tomorrow morning’s breakfast!
Hi! I’m so glad those substitutions worked out for you! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi, I’m curious about the addition of the flax seed. Is it necessary to the recipe?
Thanks
Flaxseed usually acts as a binding agent, but since the recipe doesn’t use gluten free flour, I’m sure it’d still be fine. I’ve never omitted it, however, so can’t say how it will turn out. Let me know how it works out for you if you give it a shot!