Made with lots of whole grains and subtly sweetened with maple syrup, this Homemade Bran Flakes Cereal Recipe is a delicious way to start you morning!
Hi. My name is Faith and I used to be obsessed with cereal. Seriously, I could have eaten cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner as a child. 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 cereal milk after I finished eating. Even to this day I LOVE cereal.
However, I now enjoy cereal as a snack and, whenever possible, love to make a bowl of wholesome fruit cereal, dark chocolate granola with almond milk or this homemade bran flakes cereal.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe!
- I care about the ingredients I put in my body and this homemade bran flakes cereal only contains 8 ingredients, all of which you are familiar with and can pronounce.
- This recipe is perfectly sweet, using only maple syrup as a sweetener. Pair it with fresh fruit and some date-sweetened homemade almond milk and your sweet tooth will definitely be satisfied!
- If you love crunchy foods, you'll love this bran cereal. Even though the recipe doesn't contain any oil, each flake is perfectly crunchy!
- You can easily double this recipe so that you always have homemade cereal on hand.
- This cereal is super versatile. I love it on its own, on smoothie bowls, in trail-mix and of course as the base of a classic cereal bowl.
Why I Don't Eat Store-Bought Cereal Very Often
- Ingredients: 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.
- Satiety Factor: 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. This fiber-rich homemade bran flakes cereal keeps me full for ages as well!
- Processed Sugar: 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.
Ingredients
- Wheat Bran - Wheat bran is crucial in this recipe is it gives this homemade cereal that nostalgic bran flavor. Wheat bran is the hard outer layer of a wheat kernel that is usually stripped away during the milling process. It has a sweet, nutty flavor and is high in fiber.
- Whole Wheat Flour - I love the flavor of whole wheat flour paired with wheat bran. It gives this bran cereal such a rich, nutty taste.
- Ground Flaxseed - You definitely want to use ground flaxseed as they help to hold the dough together. If you only have whole flaxseeds, you can always grind them into flour using a spice grinder or high speed blender.
- Maple syrup - Any kind of liquid sweetener should work, but maple syrup is my favorite!
- Non-Dairy Milk - I love to use my homemade oat milk in this recipe to keep the cost super low!
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Wheat Bran - I haven't tried this yet, but usually oat bran can be substituted 1-to-1 for wheat bran in a recipe.
- Whole Wheat Flour - You can use white flour instead of whole wheat, but start with less water.
- Maple Syrup - Any liquid sweetener should work in this recipe, such as agave or honey, if your not vegan. Personally, I love the taste of maple syrup.
- Non-Dairy Milk - You can use any non-dairy milk in this recipe. Cashew, almond and soy would be my top choices!
- Flavors - You can add in some cinnamon or vanilla extra to the dough for extra flavor.
- Mix-ins - If you enjoy raisin bran cereal, once your homemade bran flakes have finished baking and cooling, stir some raisins into the cereal before storing everything in an airtight container.
How to Make Homemade Bran Flakes Cereal
Step 1: Mix together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Add in the wet ingredients and stir until a sticky, wet dough forms.
Step 3: Using a silicone baking mat and some wax paper, roll the dough out into a thin sheet.
Step 4: Bake the sheets of bran dough for about 10-15 minutes or until they start to get crispy around the edges.
Step 5: Remove the sheets from the oven, allow the "cracker" to cool. Reduce the oven temperature.
Step 6: Break the "cracker" up into small pieces or flakes and return the flakes to the oven to bake another 15-20 minutes, stirring them often.
Step 7: Let the bran flakes cool completely after baking them so that they get nice and crunchy!
Best Ways to Enjoy Cereal
- Dry, straight out of the container
- With creamy Homemade Oat Milk or Almond Milk poured on top
- Mixed with other kinds of cereal or homemade granola
- Baked into Vegan Raisin Bran Muffins
- On top of smoothie bowls
- Mixed with nuts and dried fruit as a trail mix
- Baked into cookies
- As the base of no-bake corn flake cookies
Expert Tips
- Wax paper really helps to get the dough super thin and not stick to everything when you are rolling it out. If you don't have wax paper, I've also used a silicone baking mat, but the dough still does stick a bit. If needed you can just add some extra flour to the dough or your rolling pin.
- Everyone will roll their dough out to different thicknesses. If your flakes still seem chewy/doughy after the baking time written in the recipe, you can always bake the flakes longer. They will get crispier as they cool as well, so keep that in mind.
Recipe FAQs
I've found the best way to store cereal is to place it in an airtight container at room temperature. Alternatively, you can keep the cereal in the bag it came in, making sure to roll the top of the bag over a few times before sealing it with a clip. If the bag or container isn't sealed properly, then the cereal will go stale. Nobody likes stale cereal!
Store-bought, unopened cereal can last for years. Scary, right?
Even opened store-bought cereal can last for months if stored properly.
When it comes to this homemade bran flakes cereal, it should last for up to a month if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If it smells weird or goes soft, then it's probably not good anymore, so just keep an eye on that!
Wheat bran is a hard, outer layer that encases the wheat kernel. It is packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, making it an incredibly nutritious addition to your diet. Although bran can be helpful for digestion and weight loss, it is often removed from wheat during the milling process. As a result, whole wheat flour contains less bran than other types of flour.
Wheat bran is a nutritious dietary fiber that offers a variety of health benefits. Wheat bran is an excellent source of insoluble fiber, which helps to keep the digestive system regular and prevent constipation. It has been shown to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Studies have also found that wheat bran can help to regulate blood sugar levels, making it an ideal food for diabetics and those with pre-diabetes.
Wheat bran is a good source of vitamins and minerals, including iron, magnesium, and zinc. Source.
More Unique Cereal Recipes!
📖 Recipe
Homemade Bran Flakes Cereal
Equipment
- Amazon Basics Silicone, Non-Stick, Food Safe Baking Mat
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup wheat bran
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
WET INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup water
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry 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 °F.
- 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 °F 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 Milk or Homemade Oat Milk and fresh fruit!
Chuck Sampson says
I made some modifications to the recipe to suit my preferences, but what I wanted to comment on was that I took all the work out of rolling the dough with a rolling pin, in exchange for using my pasta sheet roller attachment for my Kitchenaid. It worked like a charm, and you can get the dough so much more thinner than you could otherwise. One of the modification I did to the dough was to NOT have a sticky dough. I needed something that could go through the pasta roller without it sticking to it. My cereal was absolutely perfect! It had the same crunch and texture like a box cereal i.e. Raisin Bran or Wheaties. So light and crispy. I ended up using my wheat flakes to make that very expensive cereal my wife loves from Costco. The name of that cereal is called: General Mills Morning Summit Maple Berry Blend Breakfast Cereal. I was able to make that cereal from scratch with perfect results! Now I can make her favorite cereal for a few dollars, instead of almost thirteen bucks from Costco. Thank you for this recipe!!
Faith VanderMolen says
That's a brilliant idea Chuck! Sounds like you and your wife get to enjoy an amazing, homemade breakfast everyday now. Thanks so much for sharing!
Rachel says
What changes did you make?
Shanna says
Hi Chuck,
Besides the fact that u share the same name as my brother, I was interested to know what modifications u made to the recipe to get it tasting like the real thing 🙂
Gjen says
Would it be possible to substitute honey for the maple syrup and would it use the same amount?
Faith says
Hi! Thanks for your question. I haven't tried that, but I would say that it should be fine. If you give it a try, I'd love to know if it works out for you so report back!
Sarah-Beth Hatton says
Been really craving bran flakes recently but would NEVER put that amount of sugar and junk into my body now. This recipe was awesome! I subbed oat bran for the wheat bran and wholegrain spelt flour for the wheat flour (as it's what I had) and instead of maple syrup I used apple juice in place of water and (so that it would have enough liquid) added 3 tbsp of water. Mixed with raisins, dates, roasted cashews and walnuts (to help bulk it out and add sweetness) and BAM! Super crunchy, not too sweet flakes of wholesome and fruit sweetened goodness. 10/10 will make again- these are replacing muesli as my breakfast treat.
Faith says
Wow!! Your substitutions sounds incredible!! I’m inspired to make another batch soon. I’m also glad to know oat bran works instead of wheat bran as that’s what I have in the house currently. So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for sharing Sarah-Beth!
Lisa says
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
Faith says
Lisa, this is music to my ears! I’m so glad you made and enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for commenting!
Ppk says
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!
Faith says
Hi! I'm so glad those substitutions worked out for you! Thanks so much for sharing!
Dee says
Hi, I'm curious about the addition of the flax seed. Is it necessary to the recipe?
Thanks
Faith says
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!
Ashley says
Hi Faith! Can I use white granulated sugar instead of the maple syrup? If so, should I add the sugar with the dry ingredients? Thanks!
Faith says
Hi Ashley! I have never made this recipe using a dry sweetener so I honestly can't say how it would work out. The maple syrup adds in some liquid and moisture, so if you use white sugar instead, I would suggest increasing the milk in order to make up for the loss of liquid. If you do use white sugar, yes, I think adding in the white sugar with the dry ingredients would be best. I hope it works out for you!
Sinjon says
I would love to try this but we only have 1 oven in my house and the rest of the people in the family use it for stuff That I personally don't like, such as pizza, "and my least favorite fried onions ?" I admit that I too am a cereal addict and used to have it 2 meals a day, but now it's only for breakfast, and I get the best sugar free cereal I can find. "But all the flakes have sugar ?" So sadly until I get a personal microwave oven I am stuck having 100% shredded wheat, original power o's and puffed kamut. I can only hope to one day try this recipe.
Faith says
Hi! I'm sorry your can't give this recipe a try as of right now, but I'm thankful you have access to other cereals for the time being. Good luck!!
Kathy says
I do almost all my baking in my toaster oven (w/convection you don't have to worry so much about heat distribution in such a small space). If this is a somewhat long term situation, it might be worth the spurge. Or check out goodwill! (FWIW I've never noticed taste/smell transfer issues in all my years if baking. That being said, if you want to do some baking in the real oven, maybe just clean it well (ir eun self clean if it's available. Or take a risk on one batch and see how it comes out? Goid luck!
Christina says
Thank you for this recipe! It was delicious and my children proclaimed it better than store bought!
You could totally make this raisin bran or a 'crunch' with addition of homemade granola and nuts!
I do grind my own wheat berries for bread and homemade cream of wheat, etc...so I just used 2 cups of my 'homemade' instead of flour/bran combo.
My rather large brood (including a sweet girl named Faith) can easily devour a box of cereal in one sitting. It is mostly a special treat due to health, cost, not being filling...basically everything you said! But they certainly do love cereal of all kinds!
I will be doubling this and making it several times a week.
I'm going to roll it out using my pasta maker next and see if thats easier or just more clean up 🙂
Thanks again 🙂
Faith says
Oh yay! You're so welcome Christina! I'm so glad they worked for you and that your kids like it as well. I'm just about to start grinding my own wheat berries (fingers crossed) so that's good to know the cereal works with homemade flour as well. And how cool you have a daughter named Faith! How many children do you have? I hope the pasta maker works well. What a great idea!
Jason Soukup says
Hi Faith,
I have made your bran flakes twice. The first time I enjoyed them very much. Today, I decided to make a larger batch to use up some pumpkin puree I had left over from making pumpkin scones with my daughters. I first doubled your recipe. I then replaced the water with an equal volume of pumpkin puree and added 1/2 tsp vanilla to the wet ingredients. The addition of ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice (1/2 tsp each) and cinnamon (1 tsp) to the dry ingredients creates all nice fall breakfast cereal. Let's call them pumpkin spice bran flakes!
Cheers,
Jason
Faith says
Jason that's brilliant! I'm so glad this recipe worked out for you, and that you shared your new pumpkin variation! I don't have an oven here in China yet (it's coming in the mail!), but I'd love to try out your recipe when it arrived! Thanks for sharing!
Leigha @ The Yooper Girl says
It's so simple!! I've got to try this. I used to be a MAJOR cereal addict too, and I thought I was being healthy eating Special K! And definitely yes to mixing cereals. Yes. The pictures are so crisp! And that drizzle shot... #perfect 🙂
Faith says
Right?! Who knew? Ah...Special K. I loved that stuff...but was always hungry a couple hours later. Yay for a fellow mixer!!
Tina Muir says
Faith this is so awesome! I literally felt like I was reading my own words....I still am a cereal addict, and I love mixing them! I was just saying the other day that I really need to learn how to make my own! And here you are! Thanks for the recipe, and of course, thanks for joining us for meatless monday 🙂
Faith says
Glad I could help! And glad I'm not the only cereal addict out there:) I still love it even though I don't eat it as much. Thanks for hosting!!
Ginny Brown says
Another cereal addict here! So glad I found your site! Wrote down your recipe for muffins using turmeric; I'd also like to get a suggestion on making a himalayan salt and turmeric mix.
Thanks!
Ginny
Faith says
Hey Ginny!! So glad you commented! Good suggestion on the spice mixes too. Hope to hear from you again soon!
Chaitali says
Wow, I had no idea you could make homemade cereal. I had the same problem with cereal and don't eat it any more because I couldn't stop with one bowl. This seems like a great alternative. Thanks!
Faith says
I didn't either until recently! It still amazes me the things we can make at home... if we have the time:) I have a hard time stopping at one bowl too!
Sarah says
I love bran flakes! I am going to have to try this!!
Faith says
I hope you like it Sarah!
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
Wow, this looks awesome! I used to be a huge cereal eater too. (Omg in college I would eat like 3 bowls of Special K red berry in the morning.) But like you, I started caring more about the ingredients I was putting into my body and a lot of those cereals have some weird stuff in there. I never thought about making my own but I might have to try it!
Faith says
Thanks Liz! I just said the other day that I think it's impossible for me to have just one bowl of cereal, so I would have been right there with ya in college!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner says
Wow how creative! Never would have thought to make my own cereal. I used to love all of that sugary cereal back in HS but haven't had it in years. This looks great. Thanks for linking up with us today!
Faith says
Thanks Deborah! I know, I haven't had the sugary cereal for a while now too. This recipe is the perfect way for me to get my cereal fix:)