Fiber + Protein Homemade Cereal Flakes

My son is really into fitness and nutrition, so I've been toying with the idea of making a protein cereal for him. I found a promising looking recipe to try on Running To The Kitchen. I adapted her recipe a bit -  I left out the sugar completely and added some flavored protein powder and fiber (bran) to give it a boost. Keeping my sodium-restricted father-in-law in mind, I left the salt out of this recipe. The verdict? This recipe is a definite keeper! I feel spoiled eating this cereal, and I don't know if I could go back to store-bought cereal now - these flakes are so crunchy, toasty and wholesome. They make a great crispy snack without milk too! And I love that this is such a flexible recipe...you could experiment with different flavored protein powders (cake batter, strawberry, cinnamon bun, chocolate truffle, oh my!~) and/or different extracts to create so many wonderful unique cereal flavors!

Printable Recipe


Fiber + Protein Homemade Cereal Flakes
adapted from Running To The Kitchen

Makes approx. 6 x 1/2-cup servings

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup all purpose flour (Bob's Red Mill Unbleached AP flour)
1/4 cup brown rice flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup bran
2 scoops protein powder (I used whey protein in a vanilla flavor)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons fat free plain yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil*

Directions: 
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until all mixed and mixture clumps when pressed together, then pour mixture out onto parchment-lined baking sheet:

Spread the mixture out evenly, pushing down firmly on the surface with your open palm, until the mixture is evenly spread and pressed firmly on the cookie sheet, you want it spread thinly and evenly like this:

Next, bake the cereal for 20 minutes at 350 F. Remove the cereal from the oven and turn the oven down to 300 F. Carefully break the cereal into smaller flake-sized chunks (it will be hot!):

Place the cereal flakes back in the oven for 5 minutes at a time, stirring with each interval, until your cereal flakes are evenly browned - my cereal took another 15 minutes at 300 F:

When they are completely baked, turn the oven off but leave the cereal flakes in the oven, with the door open, until the oven and the cereal are cooled down....this extra step helps them stay crunchy in milk! Store in an airtight container.


* you can also sub unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil...mine cooked much faster with the applesauce; in fact, it was completely baked through after just 15 mins at 350 F, I didn't have to put them in again at 300 for any time.

Here is the nutrition information for both methods (most of the fat is heart-healthy fats from the almond flour):

Cereal Flakes with Coconut Oil: 

Cereal Flakes with Coconut Oil + Applesauce: