Recipe: Spray-On Bran Flakes

Introduction:

You may bake your own bread, so why not bake your own cereal? With this easy spray-on version of bran flakes, you get healthy, tasty, crunchy bran flakes that last long and cost very little (3x to 5x less). I add little sugar and some flax seeds for taste. You can definitely mix it up with more seed flours or dietary fiber to your liking.

What is bran

Bran is the hard outer layer of cereal grains such as wheat, rice, oats, and corn. Bran is rich in dietary fiber, essential fatty acids, and contains significant quantities of starch, protein, vitamins, and dietary minerals.

During the flour production process, bran is separated from the grain. The coarse chaff, or bran, is removed from the ground kernels by sifting or bolting in a rotating, meshed, cylindrical frame. This process produces refined grains, and bran becomes a byproduct.

Bran is a good source of protein, dietary fiber and a number of minerals and nutrients, and provides a lot of taste. See nutritionalvalue.org for more on oat bran.

Ingredients:

• 150g Oat bran (or any grain you like)
• 150g Whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 2 Tbsp Powdered flax seeds
• 5g Sugar (powdered or blended)
• Water (for spraying)
• Oil (for spraying)

Instructions:

1. Preheat Oven: Heat your oven to 150°C (300°F).
2. Prepare Baking Sheet: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Give it a spritz of cooking oil using a spray bottle or brush, then spray with lots of water.
3. Mix Dry Ingredients: In a bowl, mix dry ingredients.
4. Spread: Pour out the dry ingredients mixture on the wet baking sheet. Even it by hand to make a thin layer.
5. Spray with water: Fiercely spray the mixture with a strong water sprayer. It must be completely wet with no dry patches.
6. Flatten: Tap the dough to flatten and find any dry spots that may need extra water spraying.
7. Spray with oil: Spray a little bit of oil on top.
8. Bake: Pop the baking sheet in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. The time depends a lot on the amount of water you used. When slightly browned, see if you can flip the dough and bake until crisp on both sides. I do it by hand.
9. Cool flakes: Once done, let the bran flakes cool completely on the pan to crisp up. Break the baked mixture into flakes. If you are not satisfied with the crispness, bake the flakes little longer.

Notes:

• Adjust sweetness by tweaking the amount of powdered sugar to your liking, or use funky types of sugars for a caramel twist.
• Make sure the flakes are fully cooled before storing to maintain crunch.
• You need a strong water sprayer for this recipe to work well. Preferrably certified food grade.