Bran Flake Cereal with Almonds and Cranberries

When it comes to snacking, I'm not one to shy away from having an evening snack while watching TV, but I do like to keep my snack options pretty healthy.  I like to munch on things like rice cakes and mini bags of popcorn, and my current favourite late-night treat is a bag of these apple cinnamon snack sticks that I picked up from Trader Joes.

Most often, my snack of choice is a box of cereal. I do have a few criteria though - it has to be on the healthier side with lower sugar, and it has to have a mixture of flakey pieces with smaller crunchy clusters for variety, and bonus points for having extra ingredients like nuts and dried cranberries.

Since I always have a hard time finding a cereal at the grocery store that matches those requirements, I finally decided to make my own mix, and I couldn't be happier with the results!

The inspiration to make my own cereal came from a recipe I saw on Pom Wonderful's site. It sounded pretty easy once you have the right ingredients, and I knew that I could customize the recipe a bit to make a personalized cereal mix.

When I went to the bulk bins of the nearest organic store to pick up my ingredients, I had a bit of a setback when I couldn't find any bran flakes other than the ones that come in a giant bag. Since I didn't need a huge bag, and the packaged variety also contained more sugar than I wanted, I changed directions a bit and decided to make my own bran flakes!

Using a recipe I found online, it was actually easier that I would have thought to make bran flakes using common pantry ingredients like whole wheat flour, wheat bran and ground nuts. The trick is to make sure you roll your dough out really thin so that you end up with light and crispy flakes, shown below:

Once you've made the bran flakes, you combine them with a mixture of other dry flakes and sliced almonds with a healthy dose of cinnamon and vanilla for flavour. The process is basically the same as making your own granola - mix the dry and wet ingredients, then bake in the oven - except this cereal stays looser rather than clumping up like a crunchy granola.

The only sweetness in the cereal comes from a bit of pure maple syrup, plus some dried cranberries that I added after baking.  I loved that I was able to control all of the ingredients that went into my cereal, as well as the amount of sugar. I thought it had just enough sweetness and I loved the notes of cinnamon and vanilla that came through.

This makes a great snacking cereal (my favourite bits were the larger bran flakes!), but I also tried it as a breakfast cereal with almond milk and really liked it that way too.

While I don't think I'll be making my own cereal all the time from now on, I learned that it's easier than you may think, and it's fun to be able to customize your own mix yourself!

Bran Flake Cereal with Almonds and Cranberries
Adapted from PomWonderful and Mr. Breakfast

1 cup bran flakes, purchased or homemade from this recipe*
1 cup other mixed dry flakes (I used 1/3 cup each of rye flakes, spelt flakes and barley flakes)
1/3 cup oat flakes
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat bran (can substitute wheat germ)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 275ºF and prepare a large baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.

Mix all the dry ingredients (bran flakes through to salt) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the maple syrup and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add the coconut oil. Gently mix everything together.

Spread cereal in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Remove from oven and add cranberries. Let cool completey, then transfer to a sealed container to store.

Makes 1 large batch.

*Note: I cut the bran flake recipe in half, which gave me 1 cup. If you prefer a higher ratio of bran flakes in your cereal, feel free to make the whole bran flake recipe and reduce the amount of other flakes in your cereal.

Cranberry Orange Almond Loaf

It's almost December and like many other food bloggers, I've already started my holiday baking!

Fresh cranberries are one ingredient that I always try to incorporate in my plans for holiday baked goods and desserts. I love their tartness, especially when combined with other sweet ingredients to balance them out. And even though both are sour, cranberries also seem to pair especially well with citrus flavours like lemon and orange.

For this loaf, I wanted to use the classic combination of fresh cranberries and orange, along with a third flavour: almond.  The bread itself is a soft, delicate loaf made with whole wheat and spelt flour, and studded with juicy cranberries and thinly sliced almonds.

I added orange zest and almond extract to both the loaf itself and the glaze, which is a simple icing sugar glaze made with orange juice. Finally, I used almond milk nog in the batter to add one more touch of holiday flavour!

This is a light and sweet loaf that can be served as either breakfast or dessert.  The loaf itself actually wasn't very sweet, but adding the glaze on top while it's still warm helps to add an extra layer of sweetness that absorbs into the top of each slice.

The almond flavour came through pretty strongly, which made this cake different from most of the other baked goods that I'm used to.  I also loved the sliced almonds throughout the loaf - they added a touch of crunch without being too prominent, really letting the cranberries shine!

This loaf definitely got me excited for the holiday baking season, and I can't wait to make more treats using some of my other favourite holiday ingredients, like gingerbread, eggnog, and candy cane!

Vegan Cranberry Orange Almond Loaf
Adapted from Ripe from Around Here

1 tsp egg replacer + 2 tbsp water (or 1 flax egg)

1 cup light spelt flour (or all-purpose)

1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

1 1/4 cups non-dairy milk (I used almond nog)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp orange zest

1.5 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 tbsp cider vinegar

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare an 8.5x4.5” loaf pan by spraying with cooking spray or lining with parchment paper.

First, make your egg replacer – mix 1 tsp powdered egg replacer with 2 tbsp water and set aside for at least 5 minutes.

Whisk together all dry ingredients (flour through to sugar) in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix the non-dairy milk, applesauce, coconut oil, almond and vanilla extracts and orange zest.  Pour the wet ingredients and the egg replacer mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.  Fold in the cranberries, almonds, and cider vinegar.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, until the tops are domed, the sides are starting to pull away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack. Meanwhile, make your glaze by stirring together all ingredients until a thick, smooth glaze forms.  Pour the glaze over the top of the warm loaf and let it drip down the sides (you may want to put newspaper underneath to catch the drippings). Once cool, cut into slices. 

*Note: I would recommend not covering this loaf for the first day, and storing leftovers in the fridge, then warming up pieces as needed (I covered mine with saran wrap at room temperature overnight, and it got a bit mushy).