Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

You can make cinnamon toast crunch cereal at home, and it's way better than what you get in the box! This homemade cereal is crisp and crunchy (even when it's soaked in milk) and it has that trademark cinnamon sugar coating. Better yet, it's surprisingly easy to make, with fewer than 10 ingredients.

This recipe is part of our series: Better Than Store-Bought, where we share homemade versions of our favorite store-bought snacks and meals!

If you've been following us for a while, you know that we love to recreate nostalgic childhood snacks at home, with better quality ingredients. We've been wanting to try homemade cereal for a while, but it's always seemed like such a daunting task!

It took us a few tries to get this homemade cereal right (it was a little tricky making them crisp enough for milk!), but we're so happy with how it turned out. Each little square is coated in a crunchy cinnamon sugar coating, and they're crisp, buttery and not too sweet.

We also did our best to make the process as simplified as possible. The dough comes together very quickly in a food processor, and we cut the cereal directly on the sheet pan so you don't have to transfer each individual square.

This recipe is easy enough that you can do it with your kids! You can even make a few batches of dough in advance and keep it in the freezer to make life easier next time you want to make a batch.

If you love making your own snacks/treats from scratch, try our Homemade Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts or these Homemade Cheez-Its next.

Jump to:

• What You'll Need To Make This Recipe
• How to Make This Recipe
• Storage
• Lexi & Beth's Best Tips and Tricks
• More homemade breakfast recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

What You'll Need To Make This Recipe

• All-purpose flour: We haven't tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work with a 1-to-1 or measure-for-measure gluten-free flour.
• Cornstarch: We use this in lieu of more flour, and it helps to ensure the dough is light and airy. If you don't have any on hand, replace with an equal quantity of flour.
• Baking powder: Helps to give the dough a very slight rise that contributes to an airy crisp crunch.
• Granulated sugar: For a sugar free version of this recipe, you can use your favorite granulated sugar substitute.
• Unsalted butter (chilled)
• Cinnamon
• Kosher salt
• Egg white (for brushing): this is how we get the cinnamon sugar mixture to stick to the dough.

How to Make This Recipe

To the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon and pulse a few times to combine.

Add in the cubed butter and continue pulsing a few times until the butter forms pea-sized pieces. Add the water and pulse a few more times, just until incorporated. The dough should stick together when you press it together between two fingers.

Turn the dough out onto a nonstick work surface, and use your hands to shape the dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. While the dough chills in the fridge, preheat your oven to 350˚F / 175˚C and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg white and water.

Remove the dough from the fridge and divide it in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough into a very thin (about ⅛" thick) rectangle.

Brush a very thin layer of egg white on the dough, then sprinkle with a thin layer of cinnamon sugar. Carefully lift the rectangle from the surface and transfer to a prepared baking sheet, placing it cinnamon sugar side down.

Brush the top with a very thin layer of egg white, then sprinkle with an even layer of cinnamon sugar and press it into the dough gently.

Using a small pastry cutter, first cut the dough lengthwise into ¾" thick strips. Then cut perpendicularly to the strips in ¾" increments. You should be left with a sheet pan full of roughly ¾" squares.

Bake for 12 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown. Let them cool completely on the sheet pan. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Storage

Once your cereal has cooled completely, move to a airtight jar or storage container and enjoy within 1-2 weeks.

You can also keep it stored in the freezer for up to 6 months. The dough can also be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost it overnight in the refrigerator before rolling it out.

Lexi & Beth's Best Tips and Tricks

• Letting the dough chill helps the butter re-solidify and helps the flour to hydrate, both of which help contribute to a crisp, airy texture.
• You'll want to roll the dough pretty thin - aim for ⅛" inch thick. If it's too thick, it won't crisp up in the oven.
• You can use a knife to cut the cereal into pieces, but a pastry cutter is a lot easier, more precise, and quicker.
• This cereal is homemade, so it will get soggier a bit more quickly than the stuff from the box, so we'd recommend pouring yourself a smaller bowl of cereal than you usually would and add more cereal as needed.

More homemade breakfast recipes

Print

📖 Recipe