The Breakfast Club, Part Two

I hope you all had a chance to toast up some muesli last week, because this week I am adding another cereal to the list. This is a little more involved than muesli but still super simple to make. Today we shall make bran flakes! I love raisin bran type cereals, so I figured nothing could beat a fresh flake toasted right from my own oven. And it's true. These toasted flakes are spectacular. So let's start this process, shall we? I discovered this recipe from Willow Bird Baking.

First, measure out your dry ingredients. These include wheat bran, whole wheat flour, almond flour, and a little bit of sugar, baking powder and salt. I found the wheat bran by all the other weird flours. It was a steal at just about $2 bucks a bag. I didn't buy almond flour. I used my food processor to mash up my own. You could probably use other nuts interchangeable with great results. I bet pecan would be amazing...

Then pour in your milk, water and vanilla while balancing a camera in one hand. Okay, you can skip the camera part.

Mix this all together to make a squishy, wet dough.

Pat dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Top with plastic wrap, and roll into a very thin sheet. It will almost be transparent in some parts. The thinner you make it, the crunchier your flakes will be.

Remove plastic. Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Allow to cool. You have just made a giant bran flake, but we aren't done yet. The flake will be kind of leathery and bendy.

Tear your giant mama flake into little baby flakes. I did this by tearing it into three strips, stacking the strips, and tearing all three strips at once into pieces. Spread into a thin layer on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake at 275 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Allow to cool.

Pour into your bowl and enjoy! My favorite way is to mix the bran flakes with last week's muesli, top with fresh fruit and some whole milk. I can't think of a better way to start my morning. :)

What are your favorite fruits to add to cereal? Have any recipes to share with me? I love details...