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Better than store-bought Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Yes, you can make cinnamon toast crunch at home. It’s way easier than you think, and yes, it will be better than store-bought cereal, so much better. This homemade cereal is extra crunchy, has a touch of butter, is flaky, perfectly sweet, and heavy on the cinnamon. Every bite is roll your eyes back good. It’s best enjoyed any time of day…with milk, as an ice cream topping, or simply by the handfuls.

overhead photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal in bowl with milk being poured over cereal

Well, this is an exciting Tuesday. We’re making homemade cinnamon toast crunch and it’s truly one of my best recipes yet.

You guys? This homemade cereal recipe is so good. It brings back all the best childhood memories. And honestly, it’s not only a million times better than the boxed stuff, but it’s also simple to make. If you can roll out pie dough, you can bake up your own homemade cinnamon toast crunch cereal. Plus…it’s going to be so fun!

prep photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch on baking sheet before baking

cinnamon toast crunch before baking 

close up prep photo of cinnamon toast crunch before baking

The Inspiration.

There was a lot of inspiration from different places for this recipe, so let me walk you through it all.

First and foremost, as a kid cinnamon toast crunch was my favorite cereal (then Cheerios, but I was never that into any other cereals). I’m really not sure how one could not love cinni toast crunch…it’s one of the best cereals out there. If the boxed stuff wasn’t so bad for me, I’d probably still eat it regularly. I’ll forever love anything cinnamon toast.

Two, after making homemade Twix bars, homemade Chocolate Fudge Pop Tarts, and then, homemade Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts, I was left wanting to create more homemade versions of my childhood favorites. Something about quarantine life has left me wanting all the nostalgic foods from my past. Is that weird? I don’t know, but I sure am having a lot of fun creating (and improving) on the boxed foods we all ate (and loved) growing up.

overhead photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch after baking on baking sheet

Next, most everyone is home right now. Many of you are home with your kids and they are bored. I don’t personally have kids, but I have my little sister, Asher, visiting me often…and she is bored. Asher’s favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch…though she’s never had the boxed kind. My parents just don’t buy that stuff anymore (correction – Asher says she has had it at her cousins in Cleveland). But I’ve made this homemade version before and Asher has always loved it. When I told her what I was making on Sunday, her eyes widened with excitement and we had a lot of fun baking this together. So, my point? This is a great recipe to bake up if you have bored kids at home.

And finally, with summer so close, I feel like a bowl of homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch would be the perfect lazy summer morning breakfast. No cooking, just add cold milk…a chill laid back morning with a bowl of sweet, crunchy breakfast cereal.

overhead photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch in cereal bowl before adding milk

Pretty darn close to perfect, right?

PS. dying to know what everyone’s favorite cereal was/is? Are you all about Cinnamon Toast Crunch? What’s your favorite? Please…do share.

Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch in mug with milk being poured over cereal

Here are the steps…

This cinnamon toast crunch cereal is simple. As I mentioned, if you can roll out pie dough, you can make cinnamon toast crunch. It’s a very simple mixture of whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, butter, vanilla, and a touch of sugar too. Just seven ingredients. All of which you can find in your pantry and fridge.

At least that’s my hope.

The cinnamon adds flavor directly to the dough. The butter creates a flaky bite, the vanilla adds flavor, and the sugar sweetens it all up. Start by mixing together the cinnamon and sugar. See, super simple.

overhead close up photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch in bowl with milk

Now, mix up the dough. I like using the food processor to easily mix the dough and create the flakiest, crunchiest cereal, but you can simply use your hands as well in a large bowl. Once the dough is mixed, it’s time to roll it out.

The key is to roll the dough pretty thin, I’m talking about the thickness of a quarter. This will give you the crunchiest cereal.

Once the dough is rolled out, I then transfer it to a sheet of parchment paper, brush with butter, and sprinkle with that cinnamon sugar. At this point, cut the dough into little tiny squares.

overhead photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Next, transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet and separate the squares, spacing them apart. After a lot of testing, I find the method of cutting the dough first and then transferring to a baking sheet to be the easiest, and to work the best.

Finally, you bake. No chilling needed, just bake for a little over ten minutes, the smells are wonderful. You can eat warm, but these are best once cool. As they cool they become crunchy and so delish.

And that’s pretty much it. Could not be simpler, and the end result is roll your eyes back good.

side angled photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch in coffee mug

The real question…do they taste like the original?

Well, I don’t know for sure. It’s been a while since I had my last bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, but this cereal does taste really, really good. And if my memory serves me correctly, yes these taste just like cinnamon toast crunch. But Asher says…better. You can really taste the real cinnamon with undertone flavors of vanilla and sweet butter.

And everyone’s second question…can you enjoy this cereal with milk? YES, you can. And it’s beyond GOOD. It’s also great by the handful or when served atop ice cream or even yogurt. The options are endless, but for me, it’s best with cold milk or just by the handful for snacking. What’s your pick?

And guys, that’s about it. This cereal is the simplest to make and every single ingredient is a pantry staple. Meaning you have zero excuses to not bake these up this week. Promise it will be fun, and yes, so delicious!

overhead photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch in spoon

Watch The How To Video:

Looking for other homemade favorites? Here are a few…

Chocolate Fudge Pop Tarts

Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts

Homemade Vegan Twix Bars

Homemade Healthy Samoas Cookies

Lastly, if you make this homemade cinnamon toast crunch cereal, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 6 Cups
Calories Per Serving: 570 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Watch the How-To Reel

Ingredients

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make the cinnamon sugar. In small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon cinnamon and the sugar.
    2. In a food processor, combine the whole wheat flour, flour, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, salt, and butter. Pulse until the mix clumps together to form pea-size balls. Add the vanilla, and 1/2 cup cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together and forms a ball. If the dough feels dry, add 1-2 tablespoons additional water.
    3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a ball. Divide the dough in half. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough as thin as you can, preferably an 1/8-inch thick (about the thickness of a quarter). Transfer the dough to a large piece of parchment paper. Brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar, gently pressing the sugar into the dough. Cut into 1/2-inch squares. Repeat with the remaining dough.
    4. Carefully transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Separate the squares, spacing them a 1/2 inch apart.
    5. Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Enjoy…with milk, a top ice cream, or simply by the handful.

Notes

To Make Gluten Free: Use an equal amount of your favorite gluten free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. I recommend Cup4Cup gluten free flour
If you don’t have a Food Processor: You can use your fingers to mix the butter with the flour until the butter is pea sized. Slowly drizzle in the cold water as directed.
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overhead horizontal photo of Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch in bowl with milk

This post was originally published on May 19, 2020
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Comments

  1. One of my favorite cereals by far! Thanks for sharing…can’t wait to make and share with my kiddies! 🙂 Pinning!

    1. Haha! Thank you so much, Robyn!!

      Oh and my milk has to be ice cold too! It is the only way to drink milk!

  2. How fun! I actually might use this to add cinnamon to the pb toast crunch cereal I bought. I expected it to be pb and cinnamon toast crunch but evidently not. I want to fix that lol.

      1. The out of box pb toast crunch is just okay. I think with the addition of cinnamon and sugar it will rock.

  3. OMG – I love Lucky Charms, but I don’t love the marshmallows either! I love the little wheat pieces…the texture of the marshmallows reminds me of chalk, kinda. Once they are mushy, I don’t mind eating them, but not before then 🙂

    This looks like such a fun recipe! I never thought of making homemade cereal before 🙂

  4. OH MY GOSH. Cinnamon toast crunch is like, one of my favorites ever. And my mom’s die-hard favorite. We’re huge cinnamon girls in this house! I NEED to make this for her and I.. though I doubt it’d ever see milk or a spoon — we’d eat it plain!

  5. I read this as I finished my bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk. Yes…that boring stuff in a box is still an adult mainstay of my routine. I can only imagine what this would do to me since I actually quite love the plain old store bought not even name brand version!

    Now wondering how to get it into production so that I can have a bowl every single day.

    1. Haha! Yea,we have a box or maybe 2 in the kitchen right now since the homemade stuff is long gone. Even my brothers said the homemade is better and they have been begging me to make it ever since the last batch was finished off!

      Thanks Barbara!

  6. How cool is this! I buy this cereal often, my husband is the one who can’t get enough. I need to surprise him with this.

  7. When I was in high school, my girl friends and I would sit on the couch on the weekends and eat cinnamon toast crunch. SO GOOD! Your pictures brought back fond memories 🙂 I can’t believe how perfectly this cereal turned out! I need to have a reunion with my ladies and make a batch for old time’s sake!

  8. So fun. And so much better for you than the box. I loved cinnamon toast crunch growing up and I still love it, I just don’t buy it for fear of eating the WHOLE box. Love this, Tieghan!

    1. Hehe! I feel you you, Cassie!! This is actual whole grain so I am gonna go ahead and say you could eat bowl after bowl and not feel like you are on a sugar high! Yeah!

  9. hi,
    in the Instructions (section 2) u r writing to put the brown sugar but in the ingredients u mention only 1/8 cup of regular sugar… can u write the amount of brown sugar please?
    Thanks!
    Sabrina, Israel

    1. The amount of brown sugar is 1/3 cup and I fixed the recipe. Sorry about that and thank you for letting me know!

  10. Genius!! I love C.T.Crunch and happen to have a ton of WW pastry flour on hand from when I made homemade Graham Crackers. The process is actually very similar after reading your recipe. I am loving the melted coconut oil with cinn/sugar. Mmm, I bet your house smelled heavenly while baking!

    I am impressed that you got these so light! The only downside to my homemade grahams was that they werent as light and airy as storebought…whereas your cereal looks about a million times better! Pinned!

    1. Wow! Thanks Averie! I have to say I was really surprised how well they turned out. I was worried they would be dense and not buttery, but they tasted perfect! Oh and yes, the house smelled amazing!
      Thank you!