Preheat oven to 450°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Assemble and measure out ingredients.

In large bowl, sift or sieve together the flours, baking powder and salt. Stir in the dry oat bran cereal and brown sugar.

Use a wire pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Quickly run fingers through the mixture several times, scooping up bits of the butter and rubbing them into long paper-thin slivers between the thumb and forefinger. It is not necessary to do this with every piece of butter – just quickly pick several at random. Make a well in the center of the ingredients.

Pour milk all at once into well in center of dry ingredients. Using a fork, mix ingredients just enough that the liquid is absorbed into the dry ingredients and the dough can be roughly brought together. Dough will be soft and sticky and some floury spots may remain. Transfer dough onto lightly floured work surface, gently working it just until the dry ingredients are barely incorporated and a shaggy dough mass forms. Do not overmix.

Lightly press dough into circle about ¾“ thick. Use a lightly floured 2” round cutter to cut biscuits from dough. Push the cutter straight down and out of the dough without twisting the cutter in the process. Re-flour the cutter before cutting out each biscuit. Gather dough scraps and form into a circle, ¾“ thick, from which to cut remaining biscuits, being careful to work the dough no more than absolutely necessary to bring it together. Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet, placing biscuits about ¾“ – 1” apart.

Lightly brush tops of biscuits with milk, if desired. Bake for apx. 14-15 minutes, or until lightly browned on top, rotating the baking sheet partway through the baking. Remove biscuits from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 3-4 minutes then transfer to wire rack.