Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Many people might be surprised to learn that making your own homemade cereal is well worth your time! The reason is that boxed breakfast cereals are some of the most toxic, unhealthy foods you can possibly buy!
What’s more – believe it or not – organic cereal brands and whole grain cereals are the absolute worst!
The reason is that the violent processing required to make boxed cereal (called extrusion) is so high in temperature and pressure that the proteins in the grains are completely denatured and rendered toxic from the ordeal. Organic boxed cereal is the worst of all because it is whole grain and therefore higher in protein. (source)
Ever wondered how all those shapes and flakes are made? The cereal grains are actually liquefied in order to create the slurry necessary to create the desired form. This destroys the integrity of the grains making them difficult to digest and toxic for the body too.
So don’t be fooled by boxed cereals that only have a few ingredients. The ingredients label tells you nothing about the dangerous processing that occurred to produce the cereal!
Toxic foods are frequently the most addictive (think MSG and aspartame/nutrasweet), so even though it is difficult, you simply must eliminate these foods from your pantry for good! Cold breakfast cereals are some of the most addicting processed foods on the market in fact.
I just cringe when I see parents giving their toddlers Cheerios and other boxed cereals as finger foods. If these parents only knew how toxic these foods are, perhaps they would think twice about handing it out so freely to their children.
The good news is that you can make a very delicious, healthy alternative yourself at home!
How to Make Breakfast Cereal (How-to Videos)
The first video below demonstrates how to make and bake the breakfast cereal batter. The second video shows you how to crumble it into bite size pieces and gently dehydrate for the satisfying crunch in a bowl with milk!
The written recipe follows 🙂
If you would like to know how to make this cereal Paleo, here is a homemade grain free cereal recipe to try instead.
Homemade Breakfast Cereal Recipe
Recipe for how to make cold breakfast cereal so that you can avoid the toxic, overly processed boxed versions at the store. Organic cereal isn’t any better!
Ingredients
- 6 cups flour preferably freshly ground for optimal nutrition
- 3 cups whole yogurt plain
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup maple syrup dark, preferably organic
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
-
Mix fresh flour and soaking medium of choice in a large, glass bowl. Cover with a clean cloth and rubber band and leave on the counter for 24 hours.
-
Mix all the remaining ingredients including fresh cinnamon into the batter after soaking is complete.
-
Pour into 2 – 9×13 pans and bake at 350 F/ 177 C for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Do not overbake!
-
Let cool and crumble the coffee cake into small pieces (see second video above for ideal size) and dehydrate on cookie sheets at 200 F/ 93 C for about 12-18 hours. Turn cereal pieces every few hours to dry evenly.
-
Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
-
Serve alone as a finger food snack or in a bowl with either dairy or nondairy milk.
Recipe Notes
Substitute whole milk kefir, buttermilk, or clabbered milk for yogurt if desired.
For dairy free cereal, use 3 cups water plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice or store bought or homemade apple cider vinegar.
Substitute date syrup for the maple syrup if you wish to sweeten only with fruit. Do not substitute honey as cooking honey is not healthy.
More healthy breakfast cereal ideas
Sarah, I just made the cereal and it is YUMMY!!! I made it with kefir because that is what i had and I placed in dyhradator for about 12-13 hrs on 155 (saw another blogger do that) and I can’t believe how good this stuff is. Alot of bloggers said it tasted like raisin bran or grape nuts but to me those cereal taste like the cardboard box. This actual had a great taste plus so much better for you than the industralized stuff. Thanks for another great real food recipe!
So glad you like it Teresa. As a matter of fact, I’m out of fresh flour at the moment and am going to be grinding a bunch today to make a batch or two of this cereal for my family as we’ve been out for a few weeks and everyone is really missing it!!
Sarah,
Can you clarify when to clabber the milk in the fridge versus on the counter? I have made your cream cheese / whey before and so when I planned to make this cereal I went ahead and put all my sour milk on the counter. Is this ok? How long can it stay on the counter and how do you know it has clabbered? Can you then put the excess back in the fridge an use down the road for other things or once it stays out for a period does it loose its nutritional value. Thanks so much for all you do for us, I am plugging along getting more health wise everyday!
Hi Stephanie, clabbering in the fridge just takes more time than the counter. If you want to clabber faster, put it on the counter. It has clabbered when the milk and the liquid whey separate.
So the cereal was pretty good- Actually it reminds me of grape nut cereal (maybe because I used some almond flour also?)- Is grape nuts also made by extrusion?
If I remember correctly, grape nuts is all the same size granules etc. If that’s the case I would think yes it’s made by extrusion. Cereal is basically made into a slurry, injected into a tube and cut to shape.
Hi Sara, proteins are denatured quite easily at high temperatures .. this is the main reason why pasteurized milk is so allergenic – the fragile milk proteins are compromised to a great degree. It is also why low temp pasteurization is better tolerated digestively than ultra pasteurized where the proteins are so messed up they don't even fit together with the body's digestive enzymes anymore. The proteins in grains are similarly fragile and can be damaged at high temperatures. Extrusion is much higher temps even than pasteurization. Glad you are trying the cereal! That is a great step forward!
Still not convinced, but I am trying my hand at making my own cereal anyway, with your recipe 🙂 Seems easy enough, and I am trying to make more of our own food.
I had read the article at Weston A. Price Foundation already. It's not that I don't think that it's possible; it's just that I think that other countries would have done their own research and banned it by now if it really is so toxic to our health. I know in this country we are blinded to a lot of research on health, but generally other cultures figure it out eventually- are we the only country that eats boxed cereal?
Oh, and I did finally lose the extra 20 pounds, but not because my diet changed, but because I'm breastfeeding ! Maybe it will come back and maybe not…I'm hoping that adding in good fats and soaked grains will help the weight stay away.
Hi Sarah,
I hate to admit it, but I don't know how to follow a blog. I sent my e-mail in to the 'subscribe' option near the top of your page. I do really well with websites. Do you have one? Or just the blog? I also don't have any of the accounts to post a comment, so am anonymous. I am really interested in the information you share. There are a few things I would like to discuss with you, but not with my personal e-mail listed.
Thanks,
Katie
[email protected]
Hi Sara, the info on extrusion comes from the following essay which was gleaned by poring through industrial food processing manuals:
http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-foods/567-dirty-secrets-of-the-food-processing-industry.html
It would be wise to heed the warnings. I know so many folks who are addicted to their industrialized food choices (cereal and protein powder are the #1 and #2) and then suddenly and tragically have their health deteriorate precipitously. You have no idea what this stuff is doing to your insides. The rat studies on the corn flakes tells the tale quite well.
I have a hard time believing that box cereal is so detrimental to health. It seems that if this were the case, the results would be more obvious. I am speaking from personal experience- I love cereal and it has made up a measurable percentage of my diet for the past several years. Although I admit to not being able to lose weight, I would not say that it was Toxic- I exercise regularly and maintain a high energy level even with such a "toxic" food in my diet.
Also I feel that two unpublished studies to not an argument make. Is there any other evidence that extrusion actually damages and changes the proteins in cereal?
Hi Erin, its fine. You did exactly the right thing – just take off the hard crust on top and blend the rest of the ingredients.
Hi Sarah,
I missed 24 hours and ended up soaking the flour for 48 hours. The top had a hard crust on it that I tore off and the rest of it seems to be fine but is definitely dryer than how yours appears in your video. Should I proceed or start over? Can you suggest any adjustments? Thanks so much!