The amount of times I received reels on my Instagram involving sourdough and cinnamon toast crunch cereal! I finally took the bait recently but I had to try homemade cereal a little differently than what was suggested in those reels. Here’s what I came up with using my sourdough discard graham crackers recipe.
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Why sourdough discard for homemade cereal?
I’ve always got a jar of sourdough at the ready and finding simple discard recipes is something that gets me excited!
My sourdough discard graham cracker recipe never disappoints. Or it hasn’t yet whenever I take them to fire pit gatherings or church functions. I decided to give them a whirl for homemade cereal and they certainly did not disappoint our family.
The recipe is super simple. You follow it just like you do for sourdough graham crackers except when it comes time to cut them, you cut them into much smaller squares and add a little more to the cook time so they’ll be crispy, crunchy cereal squares.
Why make your own cereal?
The ingredients list alone on regular store bought AKA what I was raised on cereal boxes is an empathic NO THANK YOU. These cereals I grew up on are not the same cereals these days, that’s for sure.
Then there are those small printed words generally well below the ingredients and food allergy cautions that state “contains bioengineered ingredients” AKA GMOs.
Sure, I’ve purchased the “organic” cereals but those choices are limited by food allergies for our family. What we are able to eat is a company owned now by a much larger company who doesn’t have a good track record. When will they taint the organic cereal my kids love?
They already have with their “natural flavors”.
Alas, a version of breakfast cereal at home that actually tastes good and honestly, didn’t take too much time. Same amount of time as the graham crackers I usually make.
How to make homemade cereal
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp real salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 cup sourdough starter, active or discard
- 4-6 tbsp local raw honey (depends on your sweetness preference)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (homemade is best )
- 1 stick of melted butter (sub- 1/2 cup coconut oil)
Instructions:
To start, heat your oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a small sauce pan and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Then, in a separate bowl, mix together your wet ingredients: honey (4-6 tbsp depends on your preference for sweetness), sourdough discard, vanilla extract, and melted butter.
Next, add the wet to dry ingredients and stir together well until you’ve made a ball of dough. Dough should not be too crumbly. If it is, the dough is too dry and you’ll need to add more butter or oil. Taste the dough for your preferred sweetness. If you need more sweet and less sourdough taste, add more honey or sugar. Your dough will become sweeter as it bakes.
Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper the size of a cookie sheet or a little larger. Lay one piece of parchment on a clean table or countertop. Split your ball of dough into 3 equal parts and put one ball on the parchment paper. Lay another sheet of parchment on top of the dough.
Next, use your hands to gently smush down the dough between the sheets. Then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick or thinner.
Now remove the top layer of parchment paper. Use a pizza or vegetable cutter to cut strips then rectangles into your dough, making about 1/2 inch squares.
Bake Time:
To prepare for baking, pick up the parchment paper with dough on it and move to the baking sheet. Repeat the steps above with the second and third balls of dough.
Now bake for about 12 mins then rotate the pan for more even baking. Bake for about 10 more minutes or until golden brown.
Keep an eye on your grahams! They bake fast around the edges since they are generally the thinnest. If you see any squares baking too dark, take out the pan and remove those graham squares before continuing to bake the rest.
How to enjoy a bowl of homemade cereal:
Allow your graham squares to cool off completely. Serve the desired amount in a bowl with milk and try not to go back for seconds! I dare ya.
How to store homemade cereal
Store in an air tight container for up to 1 week but they’ll 100% be gone before then!
The Homemade Cereal Name:
My 11 year old son decided Crunchy Crunch was a good name for our homemade cereal and if he only knew that the “crunchy” part of his cereal name fit me almost perfectly… except I don’t think Scrunchy Crunch has the same ring to it.
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If you liked this recipe, you may also like:
Sourdough Graham Cracker Cereal
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 cup sourdough starter active or discard
- 4-6 tbsp local raw honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 stick of melted butter sub- 1/2 cup coconut oil
Instructions
- To start, heat your oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a small sauce pan and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl, mix together your wet ingredients: honey, sourdough discard, vanilla, and melted butter.
- Next, add the wet to dry ingredients and stir together well until you’ve made a ball of dough. Dough should not be too crumbly (if so, it is too dry and you’ll need to add more butter or oil). Taste the dough for your preferred sweetness. If you need more sweet and less sourdough taste, add more honey or sugar. Your dough will become sweeter as it bakes.
- Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper the size of a cookie sheet or a little larger. Lay one piece of parchment on a clean table or countertop. Split your ball of dough into 3 equal parts and put one ball on the parchment paper. Lay another sheet of parchment on top of the dough. Next, use your hands to gently smush down the dough between the sheets. Then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick or thinner.
- Next, remove the top layer of parchment paper. Use a pizza or vegetable cutter to cut strips then rectangles into your dough, making about 1/2 inch squares.
- Then pick up the parchment paper with dough on it and move to the baking sheet. Repeat the steps above with the second and third balls of dough.
- Now bake for about 12 mins then rotate the pan for more even baking. Bake for about 10 more minutes or until golden brown.
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