If wheat flakes have turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use them with confidence and how to choose them, cook them, store them, what to substitute, and 15 recipes to try them in.

What are wheat flakes?

Wheat flakes are whole wheat berries that have been steamed and pressed flat, the same treatment that turns oat groats into rolled oats. The result is a soft, broad flake that cooks faster than the whole grain but keeps the bran and germ, so it counts as a whole grain.

You will find them two ways. Plain rolled wheat flakes are a raw cereal grain for porridge and muesli and for baking. Toasted and sweetened wheat flakes are a ready-to-eat breakfast cereal, the kind you pour milk over.

Either way they bring a mild, nutty wheat flavor and a chewy bite that holds up better than oats in granola and bars.

How to Use Wheat Flakes

The easiest use is raw, stirred into a bowl of muesli with dried fruit and nuts and soaked overnight in milk or yogurt until tender. They also cook into a hot porridge in about 10 minutes, softer and milder than steel-cut grains.

In the oven their chew survives the bake, which makes granola the place they earn their keep. They carry the texture in a Fruit Granola and a Sesame Granola, toasting golden and clumping with honey or oil.

Eating Well's Granola uses them the same way.

Baking is the other big use. A handful folds into muffins or cookies and quick breads for texture and a wholegrain note, as in Peanut Butter Crunchies and the topping on a Cereal Crunch Coffee Cake. Scatter them over a loaf before baking and they toast into a rustic crust.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Wheat flakes pair with the sweet, warming flavors of breakfast: honey and maple, warm cinnamon, plus dried fruit alongside nuts and seeds. A splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt in granola makes the whole batch taste more finished.

The most common mistake is treating them like instant cereal. Raw wheat flakes are firmer than quick oats, so a quick splash of cold milk leaves them tough; give them a soak or a simmer to soften properly.

The second mistake is confusing them with wheat bran. Bran is only the outer husk, dusty and concentrated in fiber, while wheat flakes are the whole flattened berry. Swap one for the other and your texture and moisture both go wrong.

Substitutes

Rolled oats are the closest swap and work one for one in granola, muesli, and most baking. They are a touch softer and less nutty, but few people will notice in a finished bowl.

Other rolled grains trade in evenly too. Rolled rye flakes or spelt flakes each bring their own mild flavor, and for muesli a mix of two or three rolled grains often beats any single one.

If a recipe wants the flakes mostly for crunch on top, a coarse bran cereal or chopped nuts can stand in. Just do not reach for wheat bran or wheat germ as a direct swap, since neither has the flake structure that gives body to granola and bars.

Buying and Storing Wheat Flakes

Look for rolled wheat flakes in the bulk bins or the hot-cereal aisle, often labeled rolled wheat or wheat flakes, near the rolled oats. The ready-to-eat toasted flakes live in the cereal aisle instead. Choose flakes that look intact and smell sweet and grassy.

Because they keep the germ, wheat flakes carry a little natural oil that eventually goes rancid. Store them airtight in a cool, dark cupboard, where they stay fresh for two to three months.

For longer storage, the fridge or freezer keeps that oil from turning and extends them to six months or more.

A stale or faintly bitter smell means the oil has gone. Toss them rather than baking off-flavors into a whole batch.

Quick facts

In Chinese

麦片

British (UK) term

Wheat flakes

en français

flocons de blé

en español

copos de trigo

Recipes using wheat flakes

There are 15 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 15 recipes