48 Homemade Breakfast Cereals
Have you heard about those customizable candy bars you can order? I was all excited about it until someone posted a homemade customized candy bar on her blog and made me realize -- why settle for someone else making you a personal candy bar flavor?
This also influenced my thoughts on cereal. I'd been excited about a pricy website where you could make your own breakfast cereal combination. But why pay billions of dollars (okay, it wasn't quite that much) for one personal breakfast cereal, when you can make the components yourself, control all the ingredients you put in, and have a ton of variety?
So! I made homemade nutty bran flakes (suuuuper easy and fun, and made me promptly realize that store-bought bran flakes taste like cardboard) and homemade double coconut granola. I filled jars with these two components as well as toasted walnuts, cinnamon pecans, dried blueberries, and dried sour cherries. With just these 6 ingredients, there are over 48 cereal combinations I can enjoy!
Imagine the possibilities: Piña colada cereal with toasted coconut and dried pineapple. Cherry crumble cereal with dried cherries and cinnamon granola. A luscious combo of dates, coconut, and chocolate chips. What flavor combination would you create?
Homemade Nutty Bran Flakes
Recipe by: Adapted from Mr. Breakfast
Yields: about 3-4 servings (NOTE: Feel free to double this recipe! I wish I had.)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup almond flour (or other finely ground nuts)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add milk and water. Stir to mix well. Cut two sheets of parchment paper to fit two baking sheets, and set one sheet of parchment paper on the counter where you'll be rolling.
Place half of the dough onto the sheet of parchment paper and flatten it by hand. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and roll it out EXTREMELY THIN, almost transparent in some places. It will look like a giant bran flake -- super fun!
Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the parchment carefully to a baking sheet. Cook for 10 minutes, but check often after just 5, because such a thin dough can easily burn. You're looking for a thin, leathery cracker that is crunchy at the edges. When it's done, remove it and allow it to cool completely. While it cools, repeat the process with the other half of the dough.
After both giant bran flakes have finished their first bake, reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees. Tear the first, cooled bran flake into regular bran flake-sized pieces (about 3/4 of an inch), spreading them out on the parchment-covered baking sheet.
Bake at the reduced temperature for 20 minutes, flipping and stirring the flakes around every 5 minutes. Repeat process with the second cooled, giant bran flake. Then allow all bran flakes to cool completely. Store well in a sealed container for up to two weeks.
Nutritional Info: Serving size: about 1/4 of total yield Calories: 146.3, Fat: 5g, Sodium: 185mg, Carbs: 24.5g, Fiber: 6g, Sugars: 8g, Protein: 5.5g
Double Coconut Granola
Recipe by: Adapted from Opera Girl Cooks
Yields: 3 cups of granola (NOTE: Double if you'd like more for snacking, because you're gonna love this stuff)
Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1 scant cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup clover honey
1/6 cup virgin coconut oil (half of a 1/3 cup measure)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used almond because I was out of vanilla)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
optional: I toasted another 1/2 cup of sweetened shredded coconut to add in for sweetness, but that was before I'd tasted the cooled batch. It's probably unnecessary.
Directions:
Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine oats and shredded coconut in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt until just simmering.
Pour honey mixture over the oat mixture, stirring well with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Spread this mixture out over a large sheet pan, place in oven, and bake for 10 minutes before stirring the granola. Repeat 10 minute baking time, followed by stirring, until granola is well-toasted (takes about 4 cycles, or about 40 minutes).
Cool the granola on the baking sheet, stirring occasionally. When cooled, you can store granola in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few weeks, or at room temperature for two.
Nutritional Info: Serving size: 70 grams (about 1/2 cup) Calories: 233, Fat: 12g, Sodium: 122mg, Carbs: 32g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 8g, Protein: 4.5g (Note: I'd use half a serving if I were combining the granola with bran flakes in my cereal)
To see my BOWL OF S'MORES CEREAL, read a review of Oh! Nuts (who supplied my dried fruit and nuts), and see more ideas for your cereal buffet (cereal parties? gifts?), please head over to Willow Bird Baking!
x-posted to food_porn, bakebakebake, cooking
This also influenced my thoughts on cereal. I'd been excited about a pricy website where you could make your own breakfast cereal combination. But why pay billions of dollars (okay, it wasn't quite that much) for one personal breakfast cereal, when you can make the components yourself, control all the ingredients you put in, and have a ton of variety?
So! I made homemade nutty bran flakes (suuuuper easy and fun, and made me promptly realize that store-bought bran flakes taste like cardboard) and homemade double coconut granola. I filled jars with these two components as well as toasted walnuts, cinnamon pecans, dried blueberries, and dried sour cherries. With just these 6 ingredients, there are over 48 cereal combinations I can enjoy!
Imagine the possibilities: Piña colada cereal with toasted coconut and dried pineapple. Cherry crumble cereal with dried cherries and cinnamon granola. A luscious combo of dates, coconut, and chocolate chips. What flavor combination would you create?
Homemade Nutty Bran Flakes
Recipe by: Adapted from Mr. Breakfast
Yields: about 3-4 servings (NOTE: Feel free to double this recipe! I wish I had.)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup almond flour (or other finely ground nuts)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add milk and water. Stir to mix well. Cut two sheets of parchment paper to fit two baking sheets, and set one sheet of parchment paper on the counter where you'll be rolling.
Place half of the dough onto the sheet of parchment paper and flatten it by hand. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and roll it out EXTREMELY THIN, almost transparent in some places. It will look like a giant bran flake -- super fun!
Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the parchment carefully to a baking sheet. Cook for 10 minutes, but check often after just 5, because such a thin dough can easily burn. You're looking for a thin, leathery cracker that is crunchy at the edges. When it's done, remove it and allow it to cool completely. While it cools, repeat the process with the other half of the dough.
After both giant bran flakes have finished their first bake, reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees. Tear the first, cooled bran flake into regular bran flake-sized pieces (about 3/4 of an inch), spreading them out on the parchment-covered baking sheet.
Bake at the reduced temperature for 20 minutes, flipping and stirring the flakes around every 5 minutes. Repeat process with the second cooled, giant bran flake. Then allow all bran flakes to cool completely. Store well in a sealed container for up to two weeks.
Nutritional Info: Serving size: about 1/4 of total yield Calories: 146.3, Fat: 5g, Sodium: 185mg, Carbs: 24.5g, Fiber: 6g, Sugars: 8g, Protein: 5.5g
Double Coconut Granola
Recipe by: Adapted from Opera Girl Cooks
Yields: 3 cups of granola (NOTE: Double if you'd like more for snacking, because you're gonna love this stuff)
Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1 scant cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup clover honey
1/6 cup virgin coconut oil (half of a 1/3 cup measure)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used almond because I was out of vanilla)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
optional: I toasted another 1/2 cup of sweetened shredded coconut to add in for sweetness, but that was before I'd tasted the cooled batch. It's probably unnecessary.
Directions:
Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine oats and shredded coconut in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt until just simmering.
Pour honey mixture over the oat mixture, stirring well with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Spread this mixture out over a large sheet pan, place in oven, and bake for 10 minutes before stirring the granola. Repeat 10 minute baking time, followed by stirring, until granola is well-toasted (takes about 4 cycles, or about 40 minutes).
Cool the granola on the baking sheet, stirring occasionally. When cooled, you can store granola in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few weeks, or at room temperature for two.
Nutritional Info: Serving size: 70 grams (about 1/2 cup) Calories: 233, Fat: 12g, Sodium: 122mg, Carbs: 32g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 8g, Protein: 4.5g (Note: I'd use half a serving if I were combining the granola with bran flakes in my cereal)
To see my BOWL OF S'MORES CEREAL, read a review of Oh! Nuts (who supplied my dried fruit and nuts), and see more ideas for your cereal buffet (cereal parties? gifts?), please head over to Willow Bird Baking!
x-posted to food_porn, bakebakebake, cooking