Making your own Keto Cereal is almost as easy as pouring it from a box. It takes only 5 ingredients and 35 minutes of your time. Now that’s healthy convenience food!
What if I told you that you don’t have to give up cereal on a keto diet? And what if I told you that you don’t have to pay the exorbitant prices for pre-made keto cereal?
You might tell me I am crazy and maybe I am. But it’s a good kind of crazy. As in mad scientist and evil mastermind kind of crazy.
I’ve been making this keto cereal for about a decade now and my family loves it. Long before any companies ever thought to mass market and make a profit from it! And this homemade recipe truly is about as easy as pouring it from a box.
I’ve got other tasty cereal options too, like low carb granola and keto oatmeal.
Why you need to try this recipe
So why make your own healthier cereal? I have a whole host of reasons for you.
It’s easy: Really, this keto cereal takes only 5 ingredients and 35 minutes of your time. So it’s about as much work as picking up a box at the grocery store or ordering it online.
It has clean ingredients: Pre-made keto cereals vary a great deal in quality. Some are much better for you than others, and some are pretty dodgy, at best. Making your own at home is the best way you can guarantee the nutritional factor.
It’s crazy good: This cinnamon crunch cereal is absolutely delicious. It has great cinnamon flavor and it’s super crispy too. And did I mention how easy it is to make?
One reader says: “I would never have thought of making this but for the fact that I’m on an egg-free salt-free elimination regime, but I’m glad I did because it’s absolutely delish and so easy to make. Very satisfying for a former cereal-aholic too. Even stays crispy in cream, unlike grain cereal.”
Ingredients
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This easy keto cereal recipe has been a reader favorite for a long time and with good reason. You only need 5 simple ingredients:
- Almond flour: Make sure you are using blanched almond flour, and not the natural almond meal that contains the skins. It makes a big difference to the texture of this recipe and many other keto baked goods.
- Shredded coconut: If you don’t like coconut, you can sub flax seed meal or more almond flour in the same amount.
- Sweetener: I recommend an erythritol-based sweetener, such as Lakanto, for this recipe. These are best for a truly crispy texture. Any amount of Bochasweet or Allulose will keep the keto cereal from crisping up properly. Learn more about keto sweeteners here.
- Butter: I like salted butter here, to add more flavor, but you can also use unsalted.
- Ground cinnamon: It wouldn’t be cinnamon cereal without a healthy dose of cinnamon!
Step by Step Directions
1. Pulse the dry ingredients: Combine the almond flour, coconut, sweetener and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse to combine.
2. Work in the butter: Scatter the butter pieces over the mixture and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Press out thinly: Spread the mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with another sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Use a rolling pin and/or your hands to press down firmly so that the cereal sticks together and mixture is about ⅛-inch thick.
4. Bake until golden: Bake until golden brown, then sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and sweetener.
Expert Tips and FAQ
If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix everything by hand. Use a pastry cutter, if you own one, to work the butter into the dry ingredients. If not, use two knives to cut it up finely.
Press the mixture out as thinly and evenly as you can so that it bakes evenly. If the edges are getting too brown before the center is baked through, remove them. They will cool and crisp up while the rest is still baking.
Serve this cereal in a bowl with some almond milk or cream. You can also sprinkle bits over yogurt or your favorite keto ice cream. Some of my readers use this recipe to make a delicious crust for keto cheesecake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Many storebought keto and low carb cereals actually contain quite a few carbohydrates. However, this homemade cinnamon cereal has 6.5 grams of carbs and 3.4 grams of fiber.
Most cereals you find in the grocery store are made with wheat flours and full of refined sugar. You should not eat these if you are following a low carb or keto diet. My recipe for keto cinnamon cereal has 3 grams net carbs in a ½-cup serving, making it a great keto breakfast choice.
Store the cereal in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week. There is nothing in this recipe that will spoil. But if you live in a humid environment, it may soften up a bit. You can always return it to a warm oven to re-crisp it.
Swaps and Substitutions
Dairy-Free Option: Use melted coconut oil or any preferred oil in place of the butter. You don’t have to do this in a food processor, you can just mix everything in a bowl. Coconut oil tends to be greasier so try adding 5 tablespoons at first, and then add more if the mixture isn’t sticking together.
Nut-Free Option: Use sunflower seed flour in place of the almond flour. You will need two or three tablespoons more of it, and it may take a little longer to bake. Because this recipe contains no baking powder, you don’t need to worry about any green reaction.
Need more healthy breakfast ideas? Grab a copy of Easy Keto Breakfasts!
Easy Keto Cereal Recipe
Ingredients
Cereal:
- 1 cup (112 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (40 g) shredded coconut, OR flax seed meal
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 6 tbsp (85.04 g) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- 1 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the almond flour, coconut, sweetener and cinnamon. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Scatter the butter pieces over the mixture and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Spread the mixture on prepared pan and cover with another sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Use a rolling pin or your hands to press down firmly so that the cereal sticks together. Remove the top sheet of paper and bake 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- While baking, combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the cereal immediately after removing from oven. Let cool completely on pan (it will crisp up as it cools) and then break into small pieces.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Mine didn’t turn out super firm. It was somewhat crumbly, but not the “dust” that some have complained of. I used a silicone liner on the baking sheet for easy removal. I baked it about 5 minutes longer than recommended, but it felt set to the touch, so I removed it. I used a pizza roller while it was still warm to cut it into little squares right on the baking sheet, which were firm enough to keep their shape. DELICIOUS!! More cinnamon flavor and far tastier, but less crunch, than Cinnamon Toast Crunch from my erstwhile fat days. For the coating, I used Sukrin Gold, which is an erythritol based brown sugar sub. Wow!! Tastes like I’m eating snickerdoodles dunked in (almond) milk; the texture is similar, as well. Can’t speak highly enough for this surefire winner that just hit the spot!
Glad you liked it!
I wonder, should one press it into the pan? I just spread mine on the parchment paper–could that be why it didn’t firm up? I see others have had a similar problem … LOVE the flavor, but it turns to dust the way it came out. Thanks for any insight!!
What brand of almond flour did you use?
I used Honeyville almond flour. It is finely ground-love it for baking!
Then I don’t really know what the issue here was. Sorry!
Wow wee. Had a hard time getting it in the oven. Wanted to eat it raw! Added some unsweetened coconut and just a few sliced almonds. Omg. You have really saved my breakfast ritual with this one. Ty ty ty!
Glad you like it!
I changed it up a little, making a tasty “granola” type snack, as well as a breakfast cereal.
Add 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut, 2 tbsp sunflower seeds and 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds.
I also used coconut oil rather than butter, upping measurement by about a tbsp.
I skipped the Swerve/cinnamon sprinkled on the top
So I made this recipe and the taste is amazing! However, mine is still in more of a powder form and never got any crispness to it. So we really can’t eat it. Any suggestions on what I can do to make it right? The only difference I had was I used stevia instead of 1/3 cup of a sweetener. I even tried cooking it another 10 minutes thinking my oven just needed more time to crisp it. Thank you for your help! I have loved all the recipes I’ve tried from your site.
Something is off here. It might be the stevia swap, I am not sure. But your best bet is to add a little egg white, reroll it out really well and bake it at a very low temp until it’s dry.
Thank you so much! I had no idea what to add to it and the egg white did it! I will try another batch in the next couple days and start out with adding the egg from the beginning and let you know how it works with a fresh batch.
Glad it worked!
Carolyn, my son loves the maple taste and he loves this cereal- i was wondering if i can put some maple extract would that work well in this recipe?
“maple cinnamon crunch?”
Carolyn, my son loves the maple taste and he loves this cereal- i was wondering if i can put some maple extract would that work well in this recipe?
“maple cinnamon crunch?”
That would be fantastic!
Okay, this is THE BOMB! I’m working my way through a list of 25 low carb cereals and this is my favorite so far. And I love the idea of using it as a crust too. Going to triple the recipe and make a huge batch of it this weekend so my whole family can enjoy it (I’m hogging this batch). :). Thanks!
Glad you liked it, Brandee!
Could you please give a guide as to how thick to pat these out on the pan? Thanks!
You roll as thinly as possible. About 1/8 inch thick.
I make this recipe ALL the time. It’s so good and I’m always bummed out when run out of it. Luckily it is so quick and easy to make. It’s a great low carb cereal and I always double or triple the recipe. (Note…I use half the butter per batch and just mix it longer in my food processor until it all comes together and it comes out perfect every time.)
Thanks for mentioning your butter adjustment. I just finished a serving of my first batch and came to the comments specifically to see if anyone had success using less butter. I made it strictly following the recipe for my first time and found that it leaves a slick feeling in my mouth from all the fat. Glad to hear it works with less.
Hi. What could I use in place of flax? Chia?
Just use more almond flour.
I needed a break from breakfast chia pudding, and I found this lovely recipe. I’ve been craving sugary cereals since I started Keto. I made this the night before and had it the next morning. This was everything I wanted and more, and also super simple to make. Mine weren’t as crunchy as I’d hoped (were still soft and cookie-like next day), but were still amazing! Probably because I stored them in the fridge overnight. Either way, delicious and nutritious and took me back to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, so 10/10!!
Definitely don’t store in the fridge if you want crunchy. It will be fine on your countertop for a few days.
Amazing! How did you store yours. Mine was soft at first, but the next morning it had a nice crunch. I want to make more.
I store it a container on the counter.
Thank you so much for this recipe Carolyn! It’s been a year and a half since I became sugar free and low carb…I can’t tell you the joy I experienced eating a bowl of cold yummy cereal for the first time since then. Question though….how long will the cereal keep in a tupperware container? A week?
Yay! Yummy cinnamon cereal! Made it last night my house still smells like cinnamon- added bonus. The taste is awesome. My texture was about half crumbs & half pieces that tended to crumb. A serving in a bowl with one ripe chopped strawberry & cold almond milk is about as close to Cereal Heaven as you can get. Thank you again Carolyn!
OMG!!
I just made this and I love it! I could eat the pieces as cookies they are so yummy.
I have been preD for a year and low carb for the same period and I have been wanting some cold cereal (I use your chia/flax/protein powder hot cereal all the time-thank you!). This fits the bill perfectly! I have found that I love my low carb food and your site is a big part of making my transition fun and tasty!