A morning routine can make or break your day. If your morning routine is all out of sorts and you're looking to spruce it up a bit, a nutritious breakfast is a perfect place to start. Not only will it leave you feeling great, but it can also encourage you to make healthier choices throughout the day.
This doesn't mean that you have to set aside a lot of time or wake up earlier to achieve this goal. Many nutritious meals can be made in minutes, with minimal effort—oat bran being one of them.
An excellent addition to your morning routine, oat bran is loaded with good-for-you nutrients that will start your day off on a high note. Ready to learn more about how you can make this super breakfast? Check out some of our favorite oat bran breakfast recipes below!
Oat Bran for Breakfast
What is oat bran, and what makes it so unique? It's loaded with health benefits. Derived from the oat groat—the same grain used to create rolled and steel cut oats—it's packed with essential vitamins and minerals. Check out the oat bran nutrition profile and you’ll see it an excellent source of dietary fiber and a good source of potassium. Incorporating just one bowl of oat bran a week can help boost your nutrient intake and get you on track to meet your health goals.
Do you want to learn more about oat bran? Read our complete guide for the difference between oat bran vs oatmeal.
Oat Bran Breakfast Recipes
Although oat bran can be enjoyed simply as a hot cereal, there are many other ways to incorporate this ingredient into your breakfast recipes. Here are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy oat bran..
Oat Bran Cereal
The most common way to make oat bran is as a cereal. When cooked with water and salt, oat bran creates a smooth, creamy hot cereal that's great for chilly mornings. Although cooked oat bran can be enjoyed plain like a porridge, oat bran’s light nutty flavor can easily be combined with sweet and savory ingredients, taking this dish to the next level. For a fantastic breakfast recipe that you'll want to make over and over again, we recommend topping your oat bran cereal with fresh ingredients like fruit, maple syrup, yogurt and granola. You can even add a dash of almond milk to make it creamier. Need more inspiration? Here are a few of our favorite topping combinations.
Figs
An excellent way to sweeten oat bran naturally, fresh fig or fig jam can be mixed into a warm bowl of bran for added flavor.
Blueberries
Mix blueberries into your bran as it's cooking to add color and flavor, or sprinkle them over the top of a finished bowl. No matter how you choose to work blueberries into your bran, it will taste delicious.
Raisins
A fun, homemade take on raisin bran, adding raisins to a bowl of bran will boost the flavor and take the texture of the meal up a notch.
Dates
Like figs, dates can be used to sweeten bran while providing a satisfying texture. Add chopped dates to your bran, or slice dates and mix them with other fruits before adding them to your breakfast bowl.
Nuts
Care to add a bit of crunch to your creamy bran recipes? Add tasty nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios and hazelnuts into your bowl of bran.
Shredded Coconut
Take your taste buds on a tropical vacation and add shredded coconut to your bran recipe. You can even mix in a handful of fresh pineapple chunks to sweeten the dish even more!
Honey
An excellent natural sweetener, honey can be easily mixed into your bran to create a breakfast recipe that children will love. Slightly sweet and super creamy, it's an excellent option for picky eaters.
Oat Bran Flax Muffins
If your morning routine doesn't leave you much time to make breakfast, we suggest prepping beforehand. Creating a nutritious breakfast like muffins in large batches at the beginning of the week can help ensure that you have something healthy to reach for each morning. Plus, you'll get to customize the ingredients to your taste preferences. It's a win-win! For the perfect breakfast muffin recipe, we suggest using whole food ingredients that will keep you full and energized for the day ahead. For example, oat bran can be added to several different baked goods, but it tastes especially great in muffins.
For a delicious oat bran muffin every day of the week, meal prep a batch of these Oat Bran Flax Muffins. They're the perfect on-the-go breakfast to grab as you head out the door. Plus, their high fiber content will help keep you full and energized before meals.
Smoothie
Another out-the-door kind of breakfast that can be made in minutes is a smoothie. When making smoothies, there are so many ways to do so. Smoothies can be sweet, savory, spicy, tangy—you name it! An easy way to pack a lot of nutrients into one meal, fruits and veggies are often the chosen base of smoothie recipes. And when combined, they supply you with a variety of nutrients that you'll need to remain energized and complete until your next meal.
While fruits and vegetables often get the credit for a smoothie's great taste and nutritional profile, several other ingredients work behind the scenes to make a smoothie even more delicious. Add-ins like protein powder, chia seeds and oat bran can make a good smoothie an excellent one. And, because these ingredients are pretty rich, not much is needed. So the next time you're craving a delicious breakfast that's just as good for you as it looks, make this Berry Peach Hemp Smoothie. Full of good-for-you ingredients like Hemp Protein Powder, fruit and Oat Bran, it's a nutritious snack that can be enjoyed any time of the day.
Note: Eating raw oats is generally safe, but may cause digestive issues or increase the risk of foodborne illness.
Bread
Bread is a typical breakfast enjoyed daily in several countries—France being one of the most common. While you may not have a fresh crescent to reach for each morning. Making a homemade loaf of bread will likely taste just as great. And because you're making it at home, you can customize the ingredients to your taste preferences. Now, if you are intimidated by the thought of making bread, we're here to help lessen your worries. While a flaky Danish pastry might not be the ideal recipe to bake if you're a beginner, there are several easy bread recipes out there that can help you perfect your baking skills until you're ready to try a harder one.
To create a bread that tastes great and is chock-full of whole food ingredients like oat bran, make this simple Yogurt Bread. Made with a combination of White Rice Flour, Gluten Free Oat Bran, yogurt and Potato Starch, it is a great-tasting bread that's also entirely gluten free. Cinnamon and brown sugar add a natural flavor and sweetness to this bread without artificial sugars.
Cake
We understand that you may not have expected to see cake on a breakfast recipes list, but we're here to tell you that you can have your cake and eat it too. So the next time you're craving a sweet breakfast and don't feel like whipping up a batch of pancakes, make a nutritious cake recipe instead. Or, double up on the recipe and create a loaf or two to last your family a week, ensuring that you always have something sweet to snack on.
For a cake recipe that you can feel good about, make this Applesauce Cake. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, Oat Bran Cereal, applesauce and Organic Golden Flaxseed Meal are used to create a light and fluffy cake that makes for the perfect morning treat. Pair it with your morning cup of coffee or tea to start your morning off on a truly sweet note.
Eager to begin making these delicious breakfast recipes? Don't let us stop you. While all of the recipes on this list feature oat bran, they're just a few of the many delicious dishes that can be made with this superfood ingredient. Whether you choose to enjoy oat bran as is or work it into a sweet treat like yogurt bread, the choice is yours.
If reading about these tasty breakfast recipes inspired you to learn more about oat bran, we encourage you to check out our comprehensive guide: What Is Oat Bran. Or, to learn how you can use it in gluten free baking, read the article—Is Oat Bran Gluten Free?
Do you love baking with oat bran? We'd love to learn more about the recipes you create with this tasty ingredient. Share your favorite oat bran dishes with us in the comments below.
