The Simple Addition That Gives Your Baked Goods More Fiber

You've probably heard that adding more fiber to your diet can boost your health and nutrition in a number of ways. According to Mayo Clinic, upping your fiber intake can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower your risk of health issues like diabetes and heart disease. And Eating Well takes the news that increased fiber consumption is good for you a step further by outlining 10 health benefits to eating more fiber, and some benefits they include are having stronger bones, an increase in beneficial gut bacteria, and a reduced risk of certain cancers.

Of course there are a number of high fiber foods you can eat individually, such as beans, fruits, vegetables, and some grains, but if you're trying to up the amount of fiber in your food, you may want to consider adding more fiber to your homemade baked goods. As HealthLine outlines, this is easy to do through the use of high fiber flours, or by adding other high fiber items to whatever it is you are baking.

One of the simplest ways to boost the fiber content of baked goods is by incorporating oat bran. According to Better Homes & Gardens, oat bran gets its name from the outer coating of the grain, which is packed with soluble fiber. As Bob's Red Mill details, oat bran is a healthy additive, since it's low in saturated fat, has no cholesterol, and because oat bran is coarsely ground, adding it to recipes can also boost texture.

One thing to remember when cooking with oat bran is that it's not intended to be a replacement for flour. The Washington Post explains that oat bran can replace part of the flour or yeast in breads or baked items, but it doesn't contain gluten, which means it has be used in conjunction with flours that have gluten so the baked good rises during cooking. For example, this oat bran muffin recipe by Eating Bird Food uses equal parts whole wheat pastry flour and oat bran. 

If you choose to add oat bran to your next batch of muffins or bread, feel good knowing you're getting some additional fiber and increased nutritional value.