Granula was the first manufactured breakfast cereal

Breakfast cereal

A breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...

 invented by James Caleb Jackson

James Caleb Jackson

James Caleb Jackson was the inventor of the first dry, whole grain breakfast cereal which he called granula.-Biography:...

 in 1863. Granula was an early version of Grape-Nuts

Grape-Nuts

Grape-Nuts is a breakfast cereal developed by C. W. Post in 1897. Post was a patient and later competitor of the 19th-century breakfast food innovator, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Despite its name, the cereal contains neither grapes nor nuts. The cereal is actually made from wheat and barley, in later...

, consisting of heavy grains of bran

Bran

Bran is the hard outer layer of grain and consists of combined aleurone and pericarp. Along with germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, and is often produced as a by-product of milling in the production of refined grains. When bran is removed from grains, the grains lose a portion of their...

-rich Graham flour

Graham flour

Graham flour is a type of whole wheat flour named after the American Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham , an early advocate for dietary reform...

. The grains had to be soaked overnight before use.

The cereal was manufactured from a dough of Graham flour rolled into sheets and baked. The dried sheets were then broken into pieces, baked again, and broken into smaller pieces.

See also

• Granola
  Granola
  Granola is a breakfast food and snack food, popular in North America, consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey, and sometimes rice, that is usually baked until crisp. During the baking process the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose, breakfast cereal-type consistency...
  
   - The later breakfast cereal developed by John Harvey Kellogg
  John Harvey Kellogg
  John Harvey Kellogg was an American medical doctor in Battle Creek, Michigan, who ran a sanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular focus on nutrition, enemas and exercise. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism and is best known for the invention of the corn flakes breakfast cereal...
  
  , renamed to avoid being sued by Jackson. Kellogg incorporated a rolling process to flake the grain, making it more edible. Subsequently revived in the 1960s as a somewhat similar breakfast cereal.
• Hardtack
  Hardtack
  Hardtack is a simple type of cracker or biscuit, made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Inexpensive and long-lasting, it was and is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages and military campaigns. The name derives from the British sailor slang...