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Homemade cinnamon toast crunch is the most delicious breakfast or snack any time of day! With amazing cinnamon-sugar flavor and crunchy texture, this will quickly become a breakfast staple in your house. It is vegan, gluten-free, and so much healthier than the original version. If you've been wanting to make your own cereal at home, give this healthy recipe a try!
Cinnamon toast cereal is definitely a favorite cereal of mine, and brings back all kinds of childhood memories! When General Mills created this cereal in the 80s, it was meant to be a bite-sized version of cinnamon toast. The problem is, the store bought version from General Mills is loaded with sugar, inflammatory oils, and even BHT!
So I decided to make a homemade version that not only tastes great, but keeps you feeling great all day long. That's where this homemade cinnamon toast crunch cereal recipe comes in! It's much healthier than those store bought sugary cereals, but tastes just as good!
This homemade cinnamon crunch cereal will quickly become your new favorite treat. It gives all the satisfaction of a sweet breakfast but the healthier ingredients make a big difference.
And while it may seem complicated to make cinnamon toast crunch at home, I promise - it's actually super easy and can be done in under 1 hour! Our version is so much better than store-bought, and is crunchy, flaky, and has just the right amount of sweetness and warm spices. Enjoy it with milk, on its own, or in a variety of different ways!
👩🏽🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Great For Picky Eaters: Even the pickiest of eaters tend to like sweet treats. And luckily, this healthy cinnamon toast crunch still has plenty of sweetness.
- Healthier Option: When you take a look at a box of cinnamon toast crunch you will quickly see all these unnecessary, processed ingredients. This homemade cereal recipe is a much better way to enjoy a cinnamon sugar treat for the most important meal of the day!
- Perfect Flavor: This homemade breakfast cereal is loaded with cinnamon sugar flavor that you are sure to love. You'll even have the most tasty cereal milk left over!
- Easy Recipe: With only 15 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of chill time, the simple ingredients come together quickly and easily to make the best breakfast cereal ever!
- Great Snack: Not only is this the perfect recipe for breakfast, but it also makes for a great snack the whole family will love.
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🥘 Ingredients
You only need 8 ingredients to make cereal at home! Find all of the necessary ingredients for cinnamon toast crunch at any of the local grocery stores in your area!
Cinnamon Sugar Ingredients
- Aquafaba: In this healthy cinnamon toast crunch recipe we use aquafaba (chickpea water) to help the cinnamon sugar stick, but you can also use water or maple syrup.
- Coconut Sugar & Cinnamon: Combine ½ cup coconut sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon for the most delicious mixture that you'll dust upon the cereal pieces.
Cereal Ingredients
- Rolled Oats & Almond Flour: You will use blended rolled oats or oat flour, along with almond flour, for this homemade cinnamon toast crunch recipe.
- Coconut Sugar & Cinnamon: In addition to a sugary coating, both coconut sugar and cinnamon will also be mixed into the homemade cereal dough for extra flavor.
- Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce serves as an egg-like binder in this diy cereal.
- Vanilla Extract & Salt: Both of these ingredients enhance the overall flavor in this recipe for cinnamon toast crunch cereal!
🍲 Ingredient Substitutions
- Coconut Oil: You can use melted coconut oil in place of the aquafaba to help the cinnamon sugar coating stick.
- Flour: Whole wheat flour or traditional white flour can be used in place of the flours in this cinnamon crunch recipe. If you want to stick to a gluten free recipe, you can also use a GF all purpose flour.
- Sugar: Use brown sugar or cane sugar in place of the coconut sugar if you prefer.
- Flax Egg: You can use a flax egg made from ground flax seeds and water instead of applesauce in this easy cinnamon toast crunch recipe.
🔪 How To Make Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch
It might seem ambitious to make your own cereal at home, but I promise you will quickly get the hang of it. Here is how to make cinnamon toast crunch cereal:
Make Oat Flour: Add the rolled oats to a high speed food processor and blend until finely processed.
Blend Cereal Ingredients: Next, add all remaining cereal ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Start with ½ tbsp of water and adjust if needed. Blend until dough forms. If the dough is too dry add a little more water to reach a texture that is easily rollable.
Chill The Dough, Make Cinnamon Sugar: Place the dough in the fridge for 30 mins to chill. While the dough is chilling, prepare the cinnamon sugar by mixing the coconut sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
Preheat Oven, Roll The Dough: Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Divide the dough in half. Using a rolling pin, roll one half of the dough in between 2 sheets of parchment paper until very thin. The thinner the dough is rolled, the crispier it will be when cooked.
Form Even Rectangle, Coat With Cinnamon Sugar: Remove the top sheet of baking paper, trim the edges of dough forming a rectangle. Lightly brush with aquafaba and then sprinkle with ¼ of the cinnamon sugar mixture, gently press into the dough.
Flip & Repeat: Place the parchment paper back on top of the dough and flip the dough over. Remove the top layer of paper, brush with aquafaba and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Cut Into Squares: Using a pastry cutter or pizza cutter, cut the dough into ¼ inch squares.
Bake: Carefully transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes until crunchy and golden brown.
Cool, Repeat, Serve: Remove and allow to cool before separating the squares. Repeat the above steps with remaining dough. Serve with your favorite chilled milk and enjoy this cinnamon roll crunch cereal!
💭 Expert Tips
- For The Crunchiest Cereal: To ensure your cereal is extra crisp and crunchy, roll the dough as thin as possible without it being so thin that it tears.
- Keep A Close Eye: When baking, stay close to the oven as they can burn quite quickly. Cooking time may vary based on the oven used, so you may want to check in at the halfway mark, and each minute after that.
- Remove Outer Pieces First: You may need to remove some of the thinner outer edges and return the tray back to the oven to continue to cook if they become too brown.
- Cool Completely: Allow the cereal to cool completely before separating into smaller squares.
📖 Variations
There are so many cinnamon toast crunch recipes that you can make with this cereal! Here are a few ideas:
- Cinnamon Crunch Puppy Chow: Mix the cereal pieces in a large bowl with melted peanut butter and melted chocolate chips. Stir until evenly coated and then let the mixture cool to room temperature. Then add in the powdered sugar, mix it all up, and enjoy a tasty cereal treat.
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch Pancakes: Whip together a cinnamon streusel mixture and swirl it into each pancake as they cook on the griddle. Top pancakes with cinnamon crunch pieces and cream cheese.
- Cinnamon Rice Krispies: Combine the diy cinnamon crunch cereal into a melted marshmallow mixture with a bit of butter, as you would with regular rice crispy treats. Form them into cereal bars for a delicious snack. These cinnamon toast crunch bars are perfect for busy mornings.
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch French Toast: Make your french toast as you normally would but add crunched up cereal pieces to the egg batter. Dip bread slices in the batter and cook on the stove top over medium heat. Enjoy this as a big breakfast with other favorites.
- Cinnamon Crunch Cookies: Combine all your favorite things in one! Make sugar cookies or snickerdoodle cookies and top with a sweet milk glaze and cereal pieces.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Serve these vegan cinnamon crunchies in a bowl with non-dairy milk and a side of fresh fruit! If you are looking for a more balanced breakfast, you can pair this recipe with a wholesome smoothie like this pineapple and banana smoothie or this healthy pumpkin smoothie. For a tasty dessert, try crumbling some of this diy cereal over vanilla ice cream with a sprinkle of white chocolate chips or mini marshmallows.
🙌 Dietary Adaptations
This cinnamon toast crunch recipe is gluten-free, vegan, and refined sugar free, making it suitable for many people already!
For a nut-free option, replace the almond flour with another gluten free flour.
For a lower sugar option, use half the amount of sugar this recipe calls for (both in the dough, and in the cinnamon sugar topping!)
🫙 Storage Directions
Here is how to store and keep this diy cinnamon toast crunch:
To Store In The Fridge: Store homemade cereal in an airtight container or covered securely with plastic wrap. Keep unbaked dough in the fridge for up to 3 days. This recipe does not freeze well.
❓Recipe FAQs
WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS IN CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH?
The ingredients in classic cinnamon toast crunch (the cereal from General Mills that debuted in 1984) are: whole grain wheat, sugar, rice flour, canola and/or sunflower oil, fructose, maltodextrin, dextrose, salt, cinnamon, trisodium phosphate, soy lecithin, caramel color, rosemary extract. BHT added to preserve freshness.
While this is one of General Mills' most popular cereal flavors, most of these ingredients are concerning - the vegetable oils used are inflammatory, maltodextrin is highly processed, and caramel color and the preservative BHT are both ingredients that are banned in the EU.
This is why I feel it is so much better to make your own cinnamon toast crunch at home! You will know exactly what is going in it and you can modify it to be much healthier.
IS CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH HEALTHY?
Unfortunately, regular cinnamon toast crunch is not healthy. It's high in sugar, refined carbs, inflammatory oils and other processed ingredients.
But luckily this homemade cinnamon crunch cereal recipe is a much healthier option. The rolled oats add extra dietary fiber along with protein, vitamins, and minerals. Almond flour contains healthy fats and prebiotics which is good for gut health, along with antioxidants like vitamin E. Even coconut sugar is beneficial, as it's lower glycemic than regular sugar!
IS CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH VEGAN?
Store bought cinnamon toast crunch may appear to be vegan at first glance, but when you take a closer look it unfortunately is not considered vegan. It contains vitamin D3 which is sourced from lanolin, derived from sheep's wool, and the sugar used is not organic, which means it may be processed using bone char. For a vegan option, this homemade cinnamon crunch cereal is the way to go!
