Want Cinnamon Toast Crunch without all of the funky ingredients and preservatives?

With a handful of simple ingredients, a healthier, homemade version of the ever so popular classic can be painlessly made from the comforts of your kitchen.

You’ll be trading the convenience of the store-bought cereal (although some may argue that making it yourself is more convenient) for a wholesome alternative that’s not only comparable to the original, but is far less processed, lower in sugar, and naturally vegan and gluten-free!

Making homemade cereal may sound intimidating, but this recipe is surprisingly easy! (The hardest part is having enough patience while it bakes, although the aroma while baking is something that you’ll wish could linger longer.)

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 1 C oat flour, GF
• ½ C almond flour
• ¾ tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. stevia brown sugar or coconut sugar*
• ½ tsp. monk fruit, stevia, or sweetener*
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 5 TBSP water

Topping*

• ¾ tsp. cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp. stevia brown sugar or coconut sugar
• ¼ tsp. monk fruit, stevia, or sweetener

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 375°F
• Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl
• Add the vanilla and gradually add the water 1 TBSP at a time, mixing until a ball of dough starts to form, it should stick together and hold it’s shape – you don’t want it to be too crumbly or too wet, you want it to be able to touch the dough without having too much residue, if any, stuck to your finger
• Place the ball of dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it out as thin as possible, ~1/16” thick; a rule of thumb is if you’re questioning if it’s thin enough, keep rolling*
• Peel back the top layer of paper and sprinkle the topping ingredients onto the dough, spreading them out evenly
• Put the second piece of paper back on top of the dough and using a rolling pin or gently pressing with your hands, LIGHTLY go over the dough so the topping adheres to the dough
• Remove the paper again and with a pizza cutter, pastry wheel, or butter knife, cut the dough into bite-sized squares
• Transfer the paper to a baking sheet
• Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes, then without removing the pan or opening the oven, turn the temperature down to 275°F and bake for another 25-35 minutes, checking periodically to make sure they don’t burn – it’s done when the center pieces are no longer soft*
• Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan completely as they’ll continue to crisp as they cool, then break up the cereal and store in an airtight container

Notes

• *Stevia brown sugar or coconut sugar: can also use regular brown sugar
• *Monk fruit, stevia, or sweetener: regular sugar can be used, if desired
• *Topping: can do more or less, to taste
• *4. The key is in rolling out the dough; for that satisfying crunch, it needs to be rolled as thin as possible. Once it’s fully cooled and crisped, it’s ready to be paired with your favorite milk (which if you’re looking for an alternative to dairy milk, JOI is one of the most wholesome options out there – free from unnecessary gums and additives, it doesn’t get any more minimal than the one single ingredient JOI milks contain!), added to yogurt bowls, or a personal favorite, mixed into vanilla bean ice cream!
• *5. An egg white wash can be used prior to adding the topping, but I’ve found the texture is better and crispier without any wash
• *9. Partway through baking you can sprinkle some extra toppings on to give it more of that notable, gritty mouthfeel as some of the toppings, the sugars especially, do disintegrate while baking
• For an extra boost of protein, you can mix your favorite protein powder into your milk of choice before adding to the cereal

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

The sound of a butter knife sliding across perfectly golden toast. Instantly, the smooth butter starts soaking into the warm bread. It’s finished with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar, which slowly melts into the buttery bread, creating the ultimate fusion of texture and flavor. That was a childhood staple, especially come Sunday morning when dad would cook breakfast. And that is what the iconic combination of cinnamon and sugar always brings to mind for me.

For others, Cinnamon Toast Crunch may be the first thought following the mention of cinnamon and sugar. (After all, it’s a classic for a reason!)

However it may look for you, hopefully this cinnamon + sugar combo evokes comforting, nostalgic memories – or plays a role in forming new ones!

Recipe videos including this one, can be found on Instagram and for recipes, exclusive sneak peaks of recipes to come, and gentle reminders about a balanced, positive relationship with food, join me on TikTok.

If interested, the macronutrients are below. They are kept separate at the very end of each recipe blog so that this can remain a safe, positive space for all as not everyone wishes to see the nutritional information.

Macros for the whole recipe: 114.1 C | 30 F | 32.2 P

And 10g of sugar

1 cup (41g) of Cinnamon Toast Crunch has 12g of sugar (96g in a 12 oz. box) for comparison. So 1 C of regular CTC has more sugar than the entire batch of homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch!

As for macros per serving, it’s recommended to weigh the entire batch after it’s cooked and cooled. Then divide each macro above by the total weight in grams to determine the macros per gram. For instance, let’s say all of the cereal weighs 120 grams: 114.1 C / 120 g = 0.95 grams of carbs per 1 gram of cereal, then repeat for the fat and protein. To get the macros for your specific serving, weigh out your cereal and multiply each macro per gram by the weight of your serving (so 40 grams of cereal x 0.95 = 38 grams of carbs).

The macros for recipes are also available on MyFitnessPal. Simply search the name of the recipe followed by “ – SUNutrition” (so for this recipe, search “Cinnamon Toast Crunch – SUNutrition”).