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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
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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.
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Mix all the remaining ingredients including fresh cinnamon into the batter after soaking is complete.
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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!
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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.
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Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
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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
Hello Sarah,
Last week I tried to make this breakfast cereal as this is one of the main bugbears in our house when trying to find alternatives to boxes of cereal. I have some notes for myself for things I need to change next time to make it better but the main problems I had were that my oven does not have a low heat setting – it’s lowest is 300 degrees so I wondered if there were any alternatives for that particular step? Also, over here in the UK, most maple syrups come under Grade 1 or 2 not A or B – I assume this this is the same principle as the one in your other article?
It came out a little biscuity and my son didn’t enjoy it so much so I’ll need to try again I think. I made my with raw milk kefir.
If I use sprouted flour do I still need to soak the flour?
Sound works now all of the sudden.
I can’t hear any sound on your video. Trying this for my husband who eats “healthy” boxed cereal every morning and insists on giving it to our 2 year old as well. He stopped eating my other granola I made him, so hoping this will work. At least maybe he’ll pour my daughter a bowl of this instead.
Made this the day before yesterday, and my kids just love it! My daughter (who loves milk, but not on her cereal) just munches it by the handful. I’m enjoying it with sliced banana. It reminds me of GrapeNuts, which I love and miss. Thank you so much!
Sarah, we are dairy free in our house, can you use anything else to soak with.
Thanks1
Greetings and Thanks,
I am gluten intolerant and am wondering whether this would work with brown rice flour, or a combination of that and coconut flour… or even all coconut flour (for the low carb cereal!), though that might not taste as good or have as good a texture… have you or has anyone tried these things? I am terribly allergic to nuts and seeds so none of that for me… Thanks!
Love your site! I have some flour on hand that I soaked and sprouted then ground. Should I soak it again in kefir? I would think I need to in order to get the consistency right, but does it make a difference nutritionally? Otherwise, I’ll just grind the grain, then soak it as you do. Thanks!
This is great…loved it and so did the kids. Making more tomorrow! Can you add cocoa to it? and how much?