Description
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 Better Than Store-Bought series.
Ingredients
For the cereal dough:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- 5 tablespoons ice cold water
For the coating:
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 egg white + 2 teaspoons water
Instructions
- 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 1/8" 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 3/4" thick strips. Then cut perpendicularly to the strips in 3/4" increments. You should be left with a sheet pan full of roughly 3/4" 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.
Notes
Once your cereal has cooled completely, move to a airtight jar or storage container and enjoy within 1-2 weeks.
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 1/8" inch thick.
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.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 237
- Sugar: 11.6 g
- Sodium: 49 mg
- Fat: 11.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2.6 g