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Bran Cereal?

 
steward
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I like bran cereal.  I usually eat Raisin Bran.   I want something without the raisin.

Arent there other brands of bran cereal other than Raisin Bran?  Or another way to get bran?

We went to town today and Raisin Bran was the only bran cereal.

I buy online at Sam's Club though all they had was Raisin Bran, there different kinds.
 
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Anne writes:

Or another way to get bran?


Plain bran is available for less than $1 per pound in the bulk foods aisle at our grocery. I am not a boxed-breakfast-cereal connoisseur but I do use a lot of plain bran in cooking to help improve fiber intake for many otherwise low-fiber comfort foods.
For example:
Bread! I typically add 1/3 c of bran per cup of flour in most savory sourdough or quick bread recipes.
Also, when baking virtually any bread, line the bottom of bread pans with bran for an effective mold-release agent. Lining pans with bran simplifies cleanup for crumb pie crusts and many other baked casseroles as well.
Another favorite option to fortify food with bran fiber is to replace about half of the bread crumbs (or panko) with bran in baked mac & cheese or other casserole crumb topping recipes.
Easily amp up the fiber in schnitzel (or fish filets) by adding bran to the crumb mixture. Salt & pepper then pound chicken or pork or veal or beef cutlets to about 1/4 inch thickness. Dredge in flour. Dip in whisked eggs. Then coat in a favorite breadcrumb mixture fortified with bran. Sauté the cutlets in your favorite oil or fat until brown.
Have fun experimenting!
 
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I don't really eat cereal, but if I did, it would be Cracklin' Oat Bran, but I think it's far from health food. It seems like candy to me.
 
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when i was a child cracklin oat bran was my dream. i remember my mother didn't buy it often because it was expensive and then once she read the label, forget about it! i recall it tasting exactly the same as samoas girl scout cookies (similar sugar levels, probably....)

I personally love me some All Bran, which is like eating twigs, and I would probably be willing to make some sort of deal with the bad guys to get a box of Grape Nuts (not sure if those still exist). I LOVE grape nuts, and they don't exist here (All Bran does, and I occasionally shell out the cash to buy some and make muffins with it, which my family goes NUTS for).

I would also lean toward using the bran itself. I used to make bran mash for my horses, and you bet i tried some. You can make a nice hot cereal with bran. You could cut it with other things if you want more sweet/crunch/gruel/etc. I guess it kind of depends, do you like the bran taste? The fiber? The convenience of a breakfast cereal?
 
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Our preferred bran cereal is Bran Buds. I like the crunch, taste and the smaller, finer particulates. It seems to do better in my gut too. Costco is by far the best price we've found.

Pure bran cooked into oatmeal is another regular breakfast. I also try to keep a batch of bran muffins in the fridge. It's that 70's recipe where it makes around 5 dozen a batch and you can keep the batter in the fridge for a couple of weeks. We replace some of the sugar with candied orange peel and frequently add extra fresh peel zest or even chop up the peel leftover from infusing our own version of Grand Marnier. Pretty much our fave muffin and it's great that it gives the fibre!
 
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Anne, I don't know if you would be interested in hot-type cereal or just the crispy, cold breakfast cereals?.....  Due to some digestive/inflammation issues in advanced years, I've been eating 'farro' and have been liking this as both a hot and cold cereal.  I'm pretty sure it needs to be cooked initially....like farina or oatmeal, but for a longer time (~30 min)....but I stored left-overs of it in the fridge and eat this cold with added yogurt/fruit, etc.  Basically, it's a few species of ancient wheat with minimal processing, so should still have relatively high bran content.  Inflammation from it reported to be pretty low in comparison to other milled and fractionated grain products.  

If you decide to try it, see if Bob's Red Mill (RIP Bob!) brand is in any of the breakfast cereal aisles or in the baking section of Sam's.  Hopefully, they will stock it there.  Good luck!

Just now found a note that it can be eaten without cooking if soaked overnight.

 
Anne Miller
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Thanks, everyone for the information.

Dian, this is the cereal I was looking for Bran Buds.  Maybe I can get our daughter to pick it up for me in the big city.

Tereza, I looked at Grape Nut Flakes and it said multi-grain so I did not buy that.

John, I might enjoy eating a hot cereal.  I'll look at Bob's Red Mill.

I like the bran as a snack usually with dry fruit and nuts.

All this gives me something to research and ask our daughter to bring.
 
Tereza Okava
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Hey Anne: grapenuts flakes are NOT the good stuff!
If you get a chance, try Grapenuts the original- they are like, for lack of a better comparison, a bowl full of grape seeds, slightly less hard than rocks, and have a lovely malty bran sorta taste.
apparently they do still make them. nutritional info here: https://www.grapenuts.com/products/the-original/
 
Anne Miller
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I am not sure I can eat Grapenuts.

That is the reason I don't want raisins in Raisin Bran.

Back in Sep 2022, I had a corn-on-the-cob accident and I am trying really hard not to lose that tooth.  This makes eating several items very hard.
 
Tereza Okava
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Ah then definitely avoid them!!! They are not for anyone with iffy teeth, for sure!!
 
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Here in Indiana, Kroger's sells their own house brand of bran flakes, no raisins. I recently bought a box because a recipe called for them, and I ate the rest of the box over several breakfasts, with berries, banana, or yes... raisins.  

j
 
Anne Miller
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Someone resurrected this older thread with a recipe, too bad the directions were not posted:

Homemade Nutty Bran Flakes

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup almond flour (or other finely ground nuts)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water



https://permies.com/t/14184/Puff-grain-cannon-home-breakfast#248373
 
Tereza Okava
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I got it! (The blog warns it is a really small recipe and suggests making several batches in succession --- NOT doubling the recipe). I'm going to try it this weekend.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add milk and water. Stir to mix well. The resulting mixture will be a very wet “dough” (so wet, you can hardly call it a dough). Cut two sheets of parchment paper to fit two baking sheets, and set one sheet of parchment paper on the counter where you’ll be rolling — you won’t be able to transfer it without this!
Glop half of the “dough” out onto the sheet of parchment paper and flatten it by hand. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and “roll” it out (your rolling pin will almost just be smooshing it out into place) EXTREMELY THIN, almost transparent in some places. It will look like a giant bran flake — super fun!
Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the parchment carefully to a baking sheet. Cook for 10 minutes, but check often after just 5, because such a thin dough can easily burn. You’re looking for a thin, leathery cracker that is crunchy at the edges. When it’s done, remove it and allow it to cool completely. While it cools, repeat the process with the other half of the dough.
After both giant bran flakes have finished their first bake, reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees. Tear the first, cooled bran flake into regular bran flake-sized pieces (about 3/4 of an inch), spreading them out on the parchment-covered baking sheet.
Bake at the reduced temperature for 20 minutes, flipping and stirring the flakes around every 5 minutes. Repeat process with the second cooled, giant bran flake. Then allow all bran flakes to cool completely. Store well in a sealed container for up to two weeks
 
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