Hold the raisins

Good Morning! You open the cupboard and pull out a box of bran flake and sugar-crusted raisin mixture, claiming to have two full scoops of raisins in every box. For a college assignment, a group of students and I analyzed this product to establish the meaning of this claim. We discovered that, in fact, based on percent of raisin volume and weight per box, the amount of raisin varied greatly enough, even of the same package size, that there was no consistency at all. No two scoop sizes were alike. 

That aside, have you ever checked out the ingredient list on the various flakes of branny goodness? Ever notice that even the most basic version have fun chemicals like BHT and caramel coloring. Sounds delicious! Time to eat!

Unless, of course, you want to keep it natural. How? Make some of your own! Is it simple? Yes! Does it take some time? Also, yes. Is it worth it? Right now, for me, yes. I found a recipe here at 48 Homemade Breakfast Cereals > Willow Bird Baking.

She writes for a while about all kinds of cereals and has lovely pictures and when you get to the very bottom, you find this recipe (that I have taken the liberty to shorten and modify):

Bran Flakes

Recipe by: Adapted from Mr. Breakfast and now from Willow Bird Baking
Yields: about 3-4 servings (But doubling or quadrupling is a good idea,)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup almond flour (or other finely ground nuts or ground flax)
Some honey (a Tablespoon is noticeably sweet, 3 T is really! sweet)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (though I'm not convinced it lightens it at all)
1/4 teaspoon salt, if you want
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients well. then add the wet. Cut 2 sheets to fit a baking tray or cookie sheet and place half the mixture on each sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and roll until thin and evenish.

Remove the plastic and transfer paper to the baking sheet. Heat oven to 350 F. Cook for 5-10 minutes, checking for a flexible, lightly browned leather like flake, slightly browned on the edges. It can burn quickly, so pay attention. Allow it to cool and repeat until dough is used.

Reduce the heat to 275 and break each flake into smaller flakes, like bran flake size. Spread them out on a sheet and cook for about 20 mins, stirring occasionally. Cool and eat up, because they only last for 2 weeks, according to the original site. Chances are, you won't need to worry about them lasting that long.


She gives the nutrition info as follows:

Nutritional Info: Serving size: about 1/4 of total yield Calories: 146.3, Fat: 5g, Sodium: 185mg, Carbs: 24.5g, Fiber: 6g, Sugars: 8g, Protein: 5.5g

Fun variations: Add cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, try different nuts, use juice in place of the milk and/or water. If your sweet tooth demands try it with chocolate chips (mix in the cereal bowl, probably not while cooking.) Also, combine with other cereals or add fruit to serve. It's tasty!

Am I extreme? Probably. Does my family like them? Yes.