Homemade Bran Flakes ~ DIY Cereal from Scratch
Homemade bran flakes? Why would anyone want to do that? Honestly, DIY cereal from scratch is easy and you save money in the end. In fact, you may already have the ingredients to try this recipe right now. A bag of whole wheat flour, natural bran, some ground flax seeds and a few other easy staples are all you need to make them.
There are several versions out there on the internet, and I have found that they are all very similar. I picked and chose what I liked about many of the versions I saw, and experimented some too. In this post I want to share my very own version of homemade bran flakes. If you are curious then I hope you’ll give them a try!
Are Homemade Bran Flakes Cheaper Than Store Bought?
Yes! With whole wheat flour and natural bran as the two main ingredients, you can affordably make many batches of bran flakes to have on hand for breakfast every day if you wanted to. Just like my homemade corn flakes recipe, it costs only a few dollars to make batches and batches for a fraction of the cost of store bought cereal.
And what’s great about my version of these homemade bran flakes is that it uses very little energy to bake them. That’s because this method uses carry over heat (left over heat after turning off the oven) for most of the baking. Other recipes required as long as 50 minutes of baking. After some experimenting and a happy accident or two, I learned that this wasn’t necessary.
Can I Increase The Recipe?
You can double, triple or even quadruple the amount. If you have a large cereal loving family, then you’ll definitely want to. However you will need to make a few adjustments.
Prepare for a longer baking time for both stages of baking. Ten minutes is sufficient for the first baking of a single batch (two baking sheets), but having six or eight baking sheets may increase the timing by at least half. As long as the dough sheets dry out enough that you can rip them into flakes, then you are okay.
Also, rotate the pans occasionally. Flip them around and swap levels. Not rotating can cause uneven baking, so keep things consistent by moving the pans around while they bake.
Store your homemade bran flakes in an airtight container or jar. They will keep for several weeks and remain as crunchy as when you first made them. Not only will it become your new favourite breakfast, you may never buy bran flakes from the cereal aisle again.
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- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup natural bran
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1/4 teaspooon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons Molasses
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral tasting oil
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 300F (148C). Line 2 10"x15" baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl combine whole wheat flour, bran, flax seeds, baking soda and salt.
- In a large measuring cup combine water, molasses and vegetable oil. Whisk together to combine. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour 3/4 of the water mixture in. Stir to make a soft pliable dough, adding more of the liquid as necessary. If the dough is too dry, add a little more water.
- Divide dough in half. Remove parchment paper from baking sheets and roll each piece of dough onto them. Sprinkle with a little flour if the dough is too sticky. Roll as thin as you can; each piece of dough should cover the entire span of the paper.
- Carefully slide each sheet of dough onto the baking pans. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven, leaving the oven on. Allow to cool for a few minutes before peeling each dough sheet off the paper. Tear each one into little pieces, creating bran flakes. Return the torn flakes onto the parchment lined baking sheets and set back into the oven. Bake an additional 5 minutes, then turn oven off and allow to carry over bake until the oven cools completely, about 1 1/2 hours. Stir quickly once or twice in between. Taste to ensure that the flakes are completely crisp.
- Transfer bran flakes to an airtight container. Enjoy with milk, yogurt, fresh fruit or as a snack on its own.
Instead of molasses you can use honey, maple syrup, agave or any other sweetener. Add raisins for raisin bran, or flavour the dough with vanilla, cocoa powder or cinnamon for a new twist.