Recipe for homemade cinnamon crunch cereal that is healthy and grain-free for minimal carbs and easier digestion for breakfast.
One of the most popular videos and recipes I’ve posted on this blog is How to Make Cold Breakfast Cereal.
A frequent question I’ve gotten from that post is how to make a grain free homemade breakfast cereal for those who eat Primal or Paleo or are currently on the GAPS or SCD diet.
Why would you ever want to make your own breakfast cereal when there are oodles of brands at the store, you might ask?
The reason is because ALL boxed cereal from the store, even if organic, should be avoided due to the heavy processing required to make it.
Called extrusion, this process liquefies the cereal grains into a slurry using very high temperatures and pressures to manufacture the desired shapes, puffs, and flakes.
This violent processing denatures the proteins in the cereal grains leaving them toxic and allergenic.
Making your own healthy, homemade breakfast cereal is clearly the way to go given the highly processed boxed versions at the store.
The recipe below is a healthy version of the Cinnamon Crunch cereal from the supermarket. It was shared by Heather, a reader friend who kindly shared her creativity with all of us.
Note that homemade coconut flour and soaked almond flour made at home are best, but in a pinch store bought is fine. Kefir may be substituted for yogurt if desired.
Want a nut butter version? Try this peanut butter grain-free breakfast cereal too!
Homemade Breakfast Cereal Recipe (grain free)
Recipe for homemade cinnamon crunch cereal that is grain-free for minimal carbs and easier digestion for the morning meal.
Ingredients
- 4 cups almond flour
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 3 cups plain whole yogurt
- 3/4 cup expeller pressed coconut oil
- 1 cup honey
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp baking soda leave out if on SCD Diet
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.5 Tbl cinnamon preferably freshly ground
Instructions
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Soak almond flour and coconut flour in yogurt or kefir in a covered glass bowl for 24 hours.
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Mix in remaining ingredients into the batter. Pour batter into (2) 9 x13 pans coated with coconut oil. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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Do not overbake.
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Let cool and then crumble homemade breakfast cereal onto baking sheets and dehydrate at 200 F for about 24 hours. Take out dried cereal off the top every few hours so as not to overdry and make the cereal too hard.
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Store homemade breakfast cereal in an airtight container in the fridge.
Reference
The original wheat recipe says “use 3 cups water plus 2 TBL lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for dairy allergies”, is it really water or did you mean to say 3 cups “milk substitute” plus 2 TBL lemon juice or apple cider vinegar? I really want to make this but don’t want to go through the trouble of making non dairy yogurt right now. Thanks!
How much do these recipes make? Seems like a lot – just want to get an idea first to see if I should half it.
Does it work to use Greek yogurt or would I need to add some extra moisture somewhere?
PS NORA-
why don’t you try sunflower-seed meal? you can make it yourself with a food processor!
i am allergic to dairy/milk. is there a way i can soak this in coconut milk or applesauce?
i can’t wait to try this tasty treat!
I bet coconut milk kefir could work
OK, so I was blessed to find “cultured coconut milk” this weekend at Earthfare (and on sale for $3.99), so I grabbed it and am all set. Now with working full time, gotta figure out how to get this made since I have several things going on this week. I may have to start it at 9/10pm so I can make sure I’m back within 24 hours to “mess with it”… And I guess I’m speaking strictly in the case of the last portion where we dehydrate… Still curious if anybody has subbed any portion of the almond flour with another, less fattening, flour (like some bean flour?)
Has anybody done this dairy-free? Or what about using yogurt based on coconut milk, almond milk or soy? I’m asking because I am vegan and also grain free, so trying to figure out WHAT in the world to eat these days. My son LOVES cereal and I have week to week custody, so it’s tough to make him go with so many changes I’m making myself. So, I’m trying my best to keep cereal in his diet – but without grains and healthy – neither of which we can find in the stores. I would like to do a mix of raw granola and “crunchy” cereal for his sanity. PLEASE ADVISE. I have ALL of the ingredients already – well, except for yogurt, at least cow’s milk based. Oh, has anybody tried to sub some of the almond flour with another grain-free one – maybe garbanzo bean flour? I made some homemade crackers that called for only almond flour, and in the pursuit of trying to cut down the fat, I replaced half of the almond flour with garbanzo bean flour and you can’t tell the difference. (Asking here because those aren’t sweet crackers, they are very flavored – and here we’re going for cereal…)
I would appreciate any and all input anybody could give me! 🙂
I am going to try this recipe with coconut yogurt. I’m pretty sure it will achieve the same effect were looking for. Also why are you trying to cut your fat? Fat does not make you fat, it’s processed carbs and sugars. For more information on this theory I suggest visiting MarksDailyApple.com. He’s not big on the vegan but has a theory on natural fats that completely makes sense.
Also, as far as grain free cereal goes, there’s a grain free granola recipe at Anjas food 4 thought that is delicious, my kiddos have been loving it. It’s also vegan, and particularly delectable with coconut milk.
Hope this helps!
This is great! But my boys have nut allergies- any gluten free suggestions to replace the almond flour? Thanks!
Hi and thanks sooooo much for this recipe!! I know it’s been posted for a while but I just discovered it 🙂
My husband and I have been eating Primal/Paleo for about 6 months and I think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done for ourselves. Unfortunately, he has diabetes so that was one of the things that prompted us to change to a more “natural” way of eating and to really reduce the carbs in our diet.
The first time I made the cereal, I followed your recipe exactly and it was absolutely delicious!!! But, for my husband especially, it was a bit too high in carbs so I’ve made two different versions since then and they both turned out great.
**For my first altered version I only used 1/4 cup Maple syrup and I used 1 cup of unsweetened Apple Sauce to make up for some of the liquid. I also added 1/4 tsp of Maple Extract and I used 2.5 Tbsp of Cinnamon. It wasn’t as sweet as your version but it was sweet enough for us and we thoroughly enjoyed it!
**For my second altered version I again only used 1/4 cup Maple syrup but I used 1 cup of Pureed Pumpkin instead of Apple Sauce. I love anything pumpkin so thought this might work well. I still added 1/4 tsp of Maple Extract and I used 2 Tbsp of Pumpkin Pie spice instead of cinnamon. It felt like a cool Autumn day when I had my first bowl! Wonderful!
Both versions took away 10g of carbs per 1 cup serving so the changes were worth it.
Just wanted to share my versions in case anyone else has to watch their carbs like we do.
Thanks again for such a wonderful recipe. I’m so grateful to you for your blog and all of the wonderful ideas, information and cooking instructions you provide. You’ve made learning this lifestyle much more enjoyable and so much easier than I ever thought it would be.
Thanks for sharing these variations! I’m definitely going to try the your pumpkin version.
Thanks for sharing these variations! I’m definitely going to try the your pumpkin version.
Can I use whey in place of the yogurt/kefir? Would that really change the flavor? I also have raw goats milk. Which would be better? Thanks for this recipe!