Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Growing up, cinnamon toast crunch was an ever present staple in our pantry along with the complete arsenal of sugar-crusted cereals including pop tart crunch, remember those? These dazzling cinnamon swirl squares immediately transport me back to hectic mornings where the entire family is knocking into each other sharing one bathroom and my baby brothers are throwing things in my hair and everything is at a frantic pace because kids got up late and parents have to get to work but 3 little ones in tow is a job in itself. If it weren’t for those trusty boxes to shovel in some fuel, be it a sugar based one I doubt we could’ve invested any more thought into breakfast.
Today of course, is a different story. We’re all grown up now and as a family, we absolutely love to linger over thoughtful meals. Cinnamon toast crunch is now more reserved for treats …or dessert. Better still is the idea of a homemade version that I’ve tweaked to grow up with me. It’s still packed with both nostalgia and cinnamon sugar but I can feel better about enjoying ingredients I can pronounce and finding pleasure in tucking into a bowl of fresh, still-warm-from-the-oven cereal that’s light, crisp and only gently sweet without going overboard.
To make this homemade cinnamon toast crunch, you only need a handful of ingredients, most of which you probably already have and the hardest part is cutting them into squares. The dough is easy to work with and comes together nicely before you roll it out {the aid of wax/parchment really helps to expedite the process}, slice and bake. Since you’re making your own, you can really be creative by cutting out silly shapes, particularly fun to do for kids. You could also toss in a bit of cocoa for a chocolate cinnamon toast crunch {mexican hot chocolate, anyone?} or maybe even a bit of almond, apples and nutmeg or even honey and bananas. The options are seriously unlimited. I have to say the best part is how it makes your house smell. It’ll seem like you’ve been slaving away for hours when you haven’t. Your entire family can wake up to the wonderful warming scent of cinnamon sugar and that paired along with the novelty of homemade cereal will certainly make for an incredible Saturday morning.
- 2 c unbleached flour
- 1 ts baking soda
- 1 ts ceylon cinnamon
- ⅓ c sugar
- ¼ ts fine salt
- ½ c whole milk
- 1 ts pure vanilla extract
- ¼ c unsalted melted butter
- 2 tb salted melted butter
- 4 tb sugar
- ½ ts ceylon cinnamon
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar and salt together.
- Add in the milk, vanilla and butter.
- Stir until it binds into a dough. Work the dough vigorously with a wooden spoon or use your hands to knead it together.
- Flatten/roll out the dough as thinly as you can. Sandwiching the dough between sheets of parchment/wax helps the process along.
- Cut out into squares {how big is up to you but remember they will grow}.
- Brush with the 2 tb melted butter.
- Combine the 4 tb sugar and ½ ts cinnamon and liberally sprinkle it over the buttered dough.
- Chill this for 15-20 minutes.
- Prick each square before baking at 350 for 11-13 minutes. Keep your eye on them so they don’t burn as bake time will vary with the size of your squares but do allow them to crisp up.
- Cool and transfer into a bowl and enjoy as cereal or into an air tight container to enjoy up to 1 week.
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HI Angela!
I can’t believe you made your very own Cinnamon Toast Crunch! How cool is that, lol…
I don’t have time to watch the video right now but you best believe I will be pinning this for sure!!!
Thank you so much for sharing, Angela…
looks delicious! but do u have a recipe for Lucky Charms or Cocoa Krispies which are my favorites?!
Homemade lucky charms would be too cool. I need to work on that stat!!
Thank you so much, Louise. I always appreciate you!!
Cinnamon Toast Crunch was one of my favorite cereals. I also loved the French Toast Crunch, and the Golden Grahams. I miss those cereals so much, but I cant wait to try this out, yours looked amazing…even better than the original=).I’m giving it 5 stars just because they look like a million bucks=))).
I loove cinnamon toast crunch but never let myself buy it-so this homemade version is a life saver!
Sending you lots of love, KiKi! XO!!
Please what preservatives can I add to made it last longer? Thank u so much
I would recommend storing in a vacuum sealed bag in the fridge as I’ve never worked with added food preservatives.
what sugar is you used? granulated or something else
Hi, Harry! Yes, it’s granulated =)
can i use palm oil instead of melted butter and water instead of whole milk ? thank you
I’ve done this with coconut oil seamlessly but I would still use the whole milk or coconut milk =)