Hello, I’m a cereal junkie. I’m also a mom who’s passed down her cereal habit to both her kids. It’s one of those indulgences that you’ll catch me digging into not only for breakfast, but also after long wedding shoot days, or to fulfill any random late night craving for comfort food. It’s no surprise that both my kids have picked up my cereal addiction.
As you know the problem with most store bought cereal is … well, pretty much everything: the processing, chemicals, sugar, sweeteners, coloring, artificial flavors. Making my own cereal seemed like the most logical and healthy solution. After many attempts at homemade granolas, breakfast oats and cereal bars, with only ‘meh’ reviews from my boys, I have to say this one recipe finally arose as a winner. Resembling mini chocolate cookie squares dipped in milk, what’s there not to love? It also uses whole and nutritious ingredients that I’m happy to see my kids devour anytime of the day.
The great thing about this recipe is that it is so flexible and can accommodate any number of tweaks and switches. You can try swapping out the flours to what works for you, whether gluten free or all purpose. Instead of chocolate chips, try sprinkles of coconut flakes or slivered almonds. I would absolutely love to hear any of your successful variations!
I use an ingredient called oat pulp (not to be confused with oat flour), which is basically what’s leftover when you make homemade oat milk. If you don’t make oat milk, the pulp can be easily subbed out for any nut or seed butter of your choice.
To watch this process in motion, check out this quick 5 min clip of yours truly making homemade cereal. 🙂
M.A.C. (Mom’s Awesome Cereal) Recipe
Recipe adapted from Family Fresh Cooking
Yields 1 half sheet cookie tray
Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour (easily made by grinding up rolled oats in a blender or food processor)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
Wet Ingredients:
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/4 cup oat pulp OR nut/seed butter of your choice
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup warm water
Toppings (optional):
Your choice of:
chocolate chips
coconut flakes
slivered almonds
dried fruit
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line cookie tray with parchment paper.
3. Mix dry ingredients.
4. Mix wet ingredients together. Stir so that no big lumps remain.
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir well until fully combined. Batter should be runny and not overly thick.
6. Spread batter onto lined cookie sheet until about 1/8″ thick.
7. Sprinkle any toppings of your choice.
8. Bake for 25 minutes, or until edges are browned.
9. Carefully slide parchment onto cutting board and cut into 1/2″ squares with a pizza cutter.
10. At this point you can either dig right in, or if you prefer a crunchier cookie, arrange the cereal squares back on the cookie sheet and place back in the oven for 3-5 minutes until they reach your desired crunchiness. You may need to flip them once to make sure they brown evenly.
