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Last Updated on December 7, 2020
Oh mama this is good. It’s light and has an incredible sweet crisp finish that reminds me of exactly of paleo Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It also makes the perfect sweet crackers for snacking – hence why we ate the entire batch in the first day. I knew that I had hit my goal when Mr. Bejelly told me they reminded him of cereal after his first bite.
Now the trick is to roll them fairly thin so they get crunchy – I’d try to stay at 1/4″ thick or less. Any thicker than this and it’s a soft graham cracker type consistency. They will get a little darker brown when baking but the taste only improves.
Paleo Cinnamon Square Crunch Cereal
Ingredients
- 1 cup of coconut shreds
- 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup of chia seeds
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon power
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup B grade maple syrup
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, add the coconut shreds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds , cinnamon and sea salt. Pulse until you have a flour.
- Place the flour in a small mixing bowl and add the maple syrup and egg.
- Blend well.
- Scoop the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper and cover with another piece of parchment paper.
- Roll until you have a rectangle, roughly 8" x 10" and 1/4" thick.
- Remove the top sheet and pre-cut the dough into 1/2" x 1/2" squares.
- Place the parchment paper on a baking sheet and cook at 325 for 20 - 25 minutes until dark brown.
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Silly question I’m sure but is there no cinnamon in the recipe?
Whoops, lol. Yes, 1 tbsp of cinnamon and thanks I have update the recipe 🙂
Looks great, I love cinnamon cereals.
There’s no cinnamon listed in the ingredient list. Is that on purpose?
This looks great though. I used to love CTC.
Ha, nope. Just spinning too many plates on my end, lol. 1 tbsp of cinnamon and I’ve updated the recipe so thank you!
I can’t believe you made this, I’m so impressed!
Aren’t you creative! I will have to try this. Hubs misses his cinnamon toast crunch.
This sounds delicious!
omg, cinnamon!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anything with cinnamon has my heart immediately!
We love cinnamon in our house too 🙂 We go through a 1 lb a year.
Do you get the Ceylon Cinnamon? It is suppose to be the healthier kind. I bought a 1 pound bag of Frontier brand organic Ceylon. It tastes a little bit different but it tastes just as good.
I used Cassia. I’ll have to try it with the Ceylon.
look good! I want to eat them though this screen!
Don’t have any chia seeds at the moment, do you think ground flax would suffice?
I haven’t tried flax but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
That looks super good!
I’m sure that’s really satisfying for the belly and for the tastebuds!
This sounds fabulous. I love cinnamon toast crunch.
Yum! Yet another delicious paleo find! Thanks for sharing 🙂
here you go again with your cereal genius. I love cinnamon squares!
I love cinnamon!
these look great Kelly. I need some new grain free breakfast ideas as M’s protocol has changed and we need to drop as much grain as possible for him.
Chris buys Cinnamon Toast Crunch all the time. He hides it in the back of the pantry, but I find it and break down and eat it. Sigh. This version sounds a lot tastier, though–I much prefer seeds and coconut and maple to white sugar and flour!
Oh mama…you are so right!!! These are addictively good! I made these this morning and I practically ate the whole batch myself! They are super easy to make too! Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks Minna! I’ve made 4 batches since I shared this and I’m going to have to bake up more before the weekend. We destroyed them, lol.
I’m far from being a natural/paleo type person, but these sound super delicious and I’m going to bookmark this for when I feel adventurous in the kitchen!
If you try it, I hope that you like it 🙂
This looks so healthy and good. Thanks for sharing.
I would never even think to make homemade cereal. Really. You are amazing, Kelly!
This looks good!
This looks so good! I can almost smell the cinnamon yummyness!
A healthier, more natural version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Yes PLEASE!
This looks PHENOMENAL!
This is definitely one of the things I miss about gluten: breakfast cereal!
I will definitely be trying this in the near future. 🙂
This looks great!
This sure looks mighty tasty! I may have to pick up some coconut this week.
MMM I think this would be wonderful!!
Yum! That look just like real non-Paleo cereal.
Seriously …. HOW in the world do you keep coming up with all of this stuff?!?!?!?!?!
Looks delish and like a great snack!
I would LOVE to try this cereal. Yummy!
Now this sounds like a great way to start the day!
I made this with 3/4 cup of coconut flour instead of grinding my coconut in the food processor. It worked great! My very non-paleo sister was in visiting me, and it was all I could do to get her to stop eating the dough before I had even baked it. Her response was, “It really DOES taste like cinnamon toast crunch.”
I love that these are only mildly sweet and that the cinnamon is the star. Thanks for yet another great recipe. First cinnamon rolls, and now these . . . You are making my husband one happy and more accepting Paleo convert. Haha.
Aw, thanks Nessa 🙂 You really made my week with this comment. Good to hear that flour worked out well too 🙂
Possible to make without coconut?
I’m allergic 🙁
Oh no hun, honestly, I don’t think there is an equivalent substitute. The coconut keeps it very light. Hrmm. .. I just did a quick search on possible substitute and found something about using dried fruit. It would be much sweeter but it sounds like it may work.
Try almond flour or almonds as a substitute for coconut, I haven’t tried it in this recipe, but it seems to work in other recipes.
Kelly, This is a wonderful recipe, thank you for coming up with it. I thought at first, that 1 tablespoon was too much cinnamon, but it works.
So glad you enjoyed it Louis!
Hi there. Mine turned into a delicious gooey mess that didn’t roll out successfully. I did use flaxseed (ground in place of chia). perhaps i should add more sesame to add some dry texture back in. Any ideas?
You could try adding some coconut flour to thicken it? I haven’t made it with flaxseed but I did just make it with only coconut shreds and sunflower seeds and it came out great.
Thanks! I will definitely try again!
I tried again without the chia and found it lovely. What’s the trick for cutting them though? My pieces were all whacky as my knife dragged little bits as I pulled it through. Sorry, rookie here.
I cut them before I bake them 🙂 I would simply press the knife down onto the dough. If you’re still having issues, wet the knife.
Thank you! Delicious!
Aw, thanks Angela 🙂 I’m so glad that you liked it 🙂
I made these as listed and it was too sticky with the parchment paper on top..so I just spread it on,baked it a bit, then rolled it out to be even and then cut it…then baked the rest of the time..taste is fabulous! I did a cinnamon flax crunch cereal and a chocolate version too on my blog, rantsrevelationsandrecipes.wordpress.com. thanks for this one!
You are welcome Lori 🙂
GREAT recipe! I didn’t have sunflower seeds so we subbed with hemp seeds. They worked perfectly. My 10 year old said she was sure they would and she was right :). They are pretty mild tasting just like sunflower seeds.
Cool beans 🙂 I’m glad it work for you. This is seriously one of my favorites.
Can I replace the maple syrup with honey? Will that work?
It should be a-ok 🙂
I really liked this both as cereal and as a graham cracker like snack. After baking for about 15 minutes, mine was pretty done on the edges, but still soft in the middle. I took it out, turned the oven off, separated the pieces from each other and then put it back in the oven with the door closed to crisp up as the oven cooled down for the next hour or so. That worked perfectly and crisped it up all the pieces really well.
Thanks for the tip Rachel 🙂
what can i use instead of the coconut shreds?
Jaclyn, honestly, I do not think you can replace the coconut shreds and have this come out right. It gives it a crisp, sweet bite similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I’m sorry hun.
how key are the chia seeds? not something I keep around but I really want to make this!
You can skip them – I’ve done this many times – and it comes out perfectly!
great, thanks! cereal is my favorite late-night snack but of course it’s also one of the worst things you can eat so I’m excited to try this!
I’ve gotten lots of positive feedback on this recipe, and, it’s my kiddos favorite so I hope it becomes one of yours 🙂
Just finished my first batch and my boys and I are DEVOURING it! We’re not paleo but I’m constantly on the hunt for healthy alternatives to processed food. My oldest boy is 4 and hasn’t ever had CTC, or anything other than ‘healthy’ processed breakfast cereals when visiting grandma and grandpa, so he thinks these are the real deal and the Best Cereal! Thank you!
You are so welcome Catherine!! It’s one of my favorite for sure 🙂
Made it. Love it! Made two more batches!!!!! Thank you! I’m having a blast with the recipes from your site.
Yeah! I’m so glad you are enjoying it. It’s an addictive recipe 🙂
Just shared on FB and G+ and Pinned – yum!!!
Thanks Adrienne 🙂
Very Yummy! My 3 year old loved them too and he’s ridiculously finicky. How do you think it would taste with some coconut sugar on top? Would you recommend baking it with it?
That sounds good and would just increase the crispy sweet texture 🙂 I’m so glad you both loved it 🙂
I made these for my 5 year old son who was placed on an elimination diet as we are trying to nail down his allergies and sensitivities which cause chronic eczema. I had to tweak this a little to match what he’s allowed to have right now. He has a known allergy to egg so I used about 1 heaping Tablespoon of chia seeds in the flour mixture than replaced the egg with ground chia seeds and water. He’s not allowed to have maple syrup right now so I replaced it with the same amount of coconut sugar. The dough was pretty easy to work with and it tasted good and smelled amazing while baking. Finished product turned out well! He likes it and it got nice and crispy. Thank you!
Thanks so much for the comment Amy 🙂 I’m so glad you both enjoyed it!
I am so making these tomorrow morning! Can’t wait to wake up and get baking, they sound delicious! Love you Kelly Bejelly!
Doing a whole30 paleo program and can’t have added sugar… Can fruit juice replace honey? I was thinking apple?
I don’t think that would work because the consistency is not the same. What about apple butter?
Awesome recipe! Didn’t have sunflower seeds, so I used macadamia nuts, same measurement and I didn’t have chia seeds so I used whole flax seeds I. Same amount. It was an amazing tasting snack/cereal/cracker for my whole family. I will make it again today but will experiment using an icing bag with a very large round tip and just pipe onto the parchment or silpat and dehydrate at a low temp rather than bake. It’ll take longer but I am hoping for a more uniform crunchy cereal type of result. Can’t beat the taste though!!! We make these every week 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed them Amanda!
I know this is an old post but do you think you could store this long term some way? I would love to make a big batch for my kids for after the baby is born but am wondering if it would hold up in the freezer? Can’t wait to try it this weekend.
Hi Karyn, I have never frozen this as it disappears quickly in our house. I don’t see why it wouldn’t freeze well though. Please share your results!
Hi, I used all your ingredients to the same measurements and my “dough” was very runny. Would not be able to cut it. What did I do wrong? How long do you pulse your ingredients for?
I would think probably 30 seconds at most. Did you try adding more seed flour to thicken it?
You LITERALLY saved my life. This year I have begun my paleo journey and my mom found this recipe. I was JUST talking about how much I missed cereal!! I am definitely going to try this and let you know how it goes. Thanks again!
I hope you enjoy it Amber!
Kelly, I just made this cereal and it is delicious! The dough was very easy to roll and the taste is unbelievable…so nice to have cereal again!
I used a flax egg in mine and it worked fine, but I did have to cook it longer. After 20 minutes, I flipped it, separated the pieces and cooked an additional 25-30 minutes.
Thank you for this wonderful treat!
June
Yeah, I’m so glad you enjoyed it June!
Love this cereal it tastes great and so easy to make!
This is DELICIOUS! My neighbour just made this for me and I had to get the recipe myself because it is so, so good. It is so great to have something that my tummy can actually digest and it tastes amazing. Thank you!!
I just made them for the first time and I love them. The real test will be if my husband likes them because he LOVES cereal. As newbies to Paleo eating I am so grateful for the simplicity! Thanks so much!!!
Yeah! I hope he enjoys them also Janay!
These look delicious! My kids are excited to try them. I am allergic to eggs, do you have any suggestions for an egg free version?
Thanks for your time!
I’ve had luck using gelatin. My friend Jessica has a great recipe http://www.deliciousobsessions.com/2014/08/gelatin-egg-replacement/
I almost felt like this recipe was too good to be true, and after reading all the awesome comments I knew I had to try it. Reiterating what plenty of others have said about the cereal: THANK YOU! It is truly going to satisfy my cereal craving. I will probably always have these in my pantry from now on. Anyone reading these comments, don’t hesitate and make this recipe right now (or some time today).
I’m so glad you enjoyed it hun!
I just made these. Delicious. My Mr. who was missing his cereal is very happy.
Yeah! So glad you enjoyed it hun!
I made this cereal and its SOOOO good! It holds up in a bowl of cold milk. It doesnt get soft and mushy, but stays hard and crunchy! Its very filling, I am not hungry after eating a bowl. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. Off to make a few more batches!!!!
Hi Kelly! Just wanted to thank you for a great recipe! We’ve enjoyed these for about a year now either as a snack or cereal w/ nut milk. With 5 kids from teenager to 6yo, (+ Dad and Mom) this gets a 5 star rating. Great job and thank you so much for sharing!
Aw, so happy you all enjoyed it hun!
Yah! Thank God! Hallelujah! A crunchy cereal I can eat! Mine came out perfect! I added flax seeds too. I actually used a pizza cutter to cut the dough in the cookie sheet before I put them in the oven. It took 30 seconds and when they were done they popped right out! Thank you so much for this recipe!
You are welcome Erica!
Just bought all the ingredients and can’t wait to make tomorrow! My question is: Is this eaten warm? And is there a way to preserve this? Is it OK in the fridge or what would you recommend?
I would store it in an air tight container on your counter hun. I don’t normally eat it warm but you can 🙂
Please Respond!
I tried serving this to 8 of my friends but the servings were to small! How did you calculate that this recipe was 8 servings? In other words, how much would each service be? 1 cup? 5oz? Etc.
Thanks!
Hi Hun, a serving is 1/2 cup. I will be say we always eat way more than this and one batch would feed 3 adults.
I’m curious how you pre cut these? I’m making them and finding that with the syrup it’s so sticky it doesn’t really “cut” beforehand.
Hun, I sandwhich this between two sheets of parchment paper and you can score it then. I also have a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDy8w6VuiKM&t=73s
What could I use instead of sunflower seeds?
You can try pumpkin seeds hun.
Roasted or raw sunflower seeds? Thanks!
roasted
Do these need to be refrigerated?
You can refrigerate them but I will leave them on the counter for up to 5 days. They do tend to get soggy in the fridge.